Robert Stuart Ives (born 16 December 1938) is a former Australian politician. He was born in

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, and attended Eastern Goldfields High School. He graduated from the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

in 1959 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(Honours), adding a

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on the ...

in 1960 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1963. He worked as a teacher, and in 1965 moved to

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 ...

, where he became a management consultant with BCA. Having joined the Labor Party in 1967, he was officer-in-charge of the Personnel Practice Section of the Commonwealth Department of Labour and National Service from 1972 to 1974. In 1975 he became a lecturer in Management and Organisational Behaviour at Swinburne College of Technology before joining the staff of Senator John Button in 1978. He returned to Swinburne in 1982, leaving again in 1986 to work as a government liaison officer to the Victorian Ministry for the Arts. He joined Senator

Barney Cooney Bernard Cornelius Cooney (11 July 1934 – 9 February 2019) was an Australian politician. Cooney was born at Currie on King Island in Tasmania. His family moved to the regional Victorian town of Culgoa in 1937, and subsequently moved through se ...

's staff in 1987. Ives was active in Labor Party branches, serving as president of the

Balwyn Balwyn () is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 10 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Boroondara local government area. Balwyn recorded a population of 13,495 at the 2021 census. Whitehor ...

branch from 1973 to 1978, and secretary of the Kooyong Federal Electorate Committee from 1973 to 1978 and 1982 to 1984. He was a state conference delegate (1975–86), member of the Administrative Committee State Branch (1980–89) and secretary of the Foreign Affairs Policy Committee (1986–90) In 1983, he ran unsuccessfully in a by-election for

East Yarra Province East Yarra Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both h ...

in the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

. In 1985, he stood for election in the Council province of

Nunawading Nunawading is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 18 km (11 miles) east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Whitehorse local government area. Nunawading recorded a population of 12,413 at the 2021 cens ...

. At the end of counting, Ives and the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate, Rosemary Varty, were tied. Ives was declared the winner on the casting vote of the returning officer, who drew Ives’ name from a hat. The result was particularly important because the outcome decided control of the Legislative Council. However, before Ives could take his seat, the result was voided by a Court of Disputed Returns, on the basis that 44 votes had been incorrectly excluded from the count, and the court ordered a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, which Varty won. Ives was elected for

Eumemmerring Province Eumemmerring Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council. It existed as a two-member electorate from 1985 to 2006, with members holding alternating eight-year terms. It was a marginal seat throughout its existence, changing p ...

in 1988, serving until his defeat in 1996. During that time, he served on numerous committees but never left the back bench.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ives, Bob 1938 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Members of the Victorian Legislative Council for Eumemmerring Province People from Kalgoorlie University of Western Australia alumni People from Melbourne