Bernard Cornelius Cooney (11 July 1934 – 9 February 2019) was an Australian politician. Cooney was born at

Currie Currie ( gd, Currach, IPA: �kʰuːᵲəx is a village and suburb on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated south west of the city centre. Formerly within the County of Midlothian, it now falls within the jurisdiction of the City of Edi ...

King Island King Island, Kings Island or King's Island may refer to: Australia * King Island (Queensland) * King Island, at Wellington Point, Queensland * King Island (Tasmania) ** King Island Council, the local government area that contains the Tasmanian is ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. His family moved to the regional Victorian town of

Culgoa Culgoa is a town in the Mallee region in the north west of the Australian state of Victoria. The town is approximately from the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2021 census, Culgoa had a population of 86, declining from 101 in 2016. Primary ...

in 1937, and subsequently moved through several other Victorian towns and suburbs: Deer Park, Gunbower, Yarck and

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

. He was educated at the

Cohuna Cohuna is a town situated north of Melbourne, on the Murray Valley Highway, in northern Victoria, Australia. At the , Cohuna had a population of 2,428. History A post office opened in the area on 18 September 1875, known as Mologa until 1876, ...

and

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

high schools and at St Kevin's College in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, before studying law at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. Cooney undertook his

articled clerk Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously thre ...

ship with Melbourne firm Alexander Grant Dickson and King, and was admitted to the bar in 1961. He practised largely in personal injury and industrial law. In 1984, he was elected to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Senator for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. He served on a wide range of parliamentary committees and chaired several, including the Scrutiny of Bills Committee. He argued strongly in favour of civil liberties throughout his time in parliament, strongly opposing the

Australia Card The Australia Card was a proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987. History The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in 1 ...

, restrictions on the legal rights of asylum seekers and anti-terror laws he viewed as "draconian". He stated that he "never contemplated the ministry", but "used to oppose things in caucus a lot". He held his Senate seat until his retirement in 2002. Cooney continued to practise as a barrister throughout and after his parliamentary career. He died in February 2019 after a long illness.

References

1934 births 2019 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Members of the Australian Senate People educated at St Kevin's College, Melbourne Melbourne Law School alumni 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-senator-stub