Alasdair Paine Webster (born 12 February 1934) is a retired Australian politician.

Early life

Webster was born in

East Maitland East Maitland is a suburb in the City of Maitland, New South Wales, Australia. It is on the New England Highway and it has two railway stations, Victoria Street (opened in 1857 with the Newcastle- Maitland line) and East Maitland (opened initi ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. He underwent military service in 1953, attended the University of New England, and became a teacher. From 1973 to 1984, Webster was chief superintendent of Daruk Boys' Home in

Windsor, New South Wales Windsor is a historic town north-west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the council seat of the Hawkesbury local government area. The town sits on the Hawkesbury River, enveloped by farmland and Australian bush. Many of the oldest s ...

Politics

Federal politics

In 1984, Webster was elected to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

for the seat of Macquarie as a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. He held the seat until his defeat in 1993 by Maggie Deahm, representing the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

, who won by a margin of 105 votes. Webster challenged the result in the

Court of Disputed Returns The Court of Disputed Returns is a court, tribunal, or some other body that determines disputes about elections in some common law countries. The court may be known by another name such as the Court of Disputed Elections. In countries that derive ...

. He made 22 allegations of irregularities, including widespread electoral fraud, and that an advertisement misled voters into thinking Deahm was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Candidate. Justice

Mary Gaudron Mary Genevieve Gaudron (born 5 January 1943), is an Australian lawyer and judge, who was the first female Justice of the High Court of Australia. She was the Solicitor-General of New South Wales from 1981 until 1987 before her appointment to ...

dismissed all but three of the allegations.. The allegations that remained concerned allegations of multiple voting and impersonation. After the Electoral Commission had investigated the errors made in marking of the certified lists, Webster accepted that the additional marks were explicable as scanning errors. Justice Gaudron dismissed the petition, ordering that the Electoral Commission bear its own costs because of its own errors, but Webster was required to pay the Deahm's costs.

Later activities

Webster subsequently joined the Call to Australia Party and unsuccessfully contested the Senate for them in 1996. He also contested the New South Wales Legislative Council for the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

at the

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and 2003 state elections. Webster was a delegate to the 1998

Australian Constitutional Convention In Australian history, the term Constitutional Convention refers to four distinct gatherings. 1891 convention The 1891 Constitutional Convention was held in Sydney in March 1891 to consider a draft Frame of Government for the proposed federation ...

, which met to discuss the issue of an Australian republic. He was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

on Australia Day 2008 for "services to the Parliament of Australia, and to the community, through

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

, educational and service organisations".

Child sexual abuse charges

In 2018, 60 Minutes reported that during his time at Daruk Boys' Home, he had facilitated and wilfully ignored rampant child abuse, including

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

. On 11 March 2020, it was revealed that Webster was facing historical sexual abuse charges dating back to his time as superintendent of the home.Former federal Liberal MP Alasdair Webster facing historical sexual assault charges

Seven News ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are ...

, 11 March 2020 In May 2020, his application for a suppression order on the case was refused by the court.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Alasdair 1934 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Christian Democratic Party (Australia) politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macquarie Members of the Australian House of Representatives People from Maitland, New South Wales Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian monarchists Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians