Bruce George Baird, AM (born 28 February 1942), is a former Australian politician whose career included a stint as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales.

Early life

Baird was born in Sydney, and was educated at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and 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 ...

, holding a master's degree in business administration from the latter. He was Assistant Trade Commissioner at the Australian Embassy in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, Germany, 1972–76 and Trade Commissioner at Australian Consulate-General in New York 1977–80. He was Government Affairs Manager for

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

Australia 1980–84.

Political career

Baird was a member for the electorate of Northcott in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

1984–95. He was Minister for Transport 1988–95, Minister for Sydney's Olympic Bid 1990–93 and Minister for Tourism and Roads 1993–95. He was also deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1992 to 1994. Baird was a

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 ...

member of 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 of the ...

from October 1998 to November 2007, representing the electorate of

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

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 also held the positions of chairman of the National Rail Corporation, and was a board member of ABN Amro Hoare Govett, Tourism Training Australia and Tourism Education Services. Baird along with fellow Liberal MPs

Petro Georgiou Petro Georgiou AO (born 30 November 1947) is a Greek Australian politician who was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from November 1994 to July 2010, representing the Division of Kooyong, Victoria. Early life Born i ...

Russell Broadbent Russell Evan Broadbent (born 25 December 1950) is an Australian politician who is a Liberal Party member of the House of Representatives, representing the Division of Monash (previously McMillan). He is one of the longest-serving current members ...

and

Judi Moylan Judith Eleanor Moylan (born 24 February 1944) is a former Australian politician. She served in the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2013, representing the Western Australian seat of Pearce for the Liberal Party. She served as Minister for ...

opposed mandatory detention of

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

. In April 2007, he announced that he would retire at the next election. A fierce battle over his successor ensued; Michael Towke was initially preselected as the Liberal candidate, but was subsequently disendorsed and replaced with

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

, who went on to win the seat. Despite being a former deputy leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales, Baird never served as a Federal Government minister during his time in Federal Parliament. Baird had been overlooked for promotion by Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

because he was a supporter of Deputy Liberal leader and Howard's heir apparent

Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...

. Another factor that precluded Baird's promotion by Howard was that Baird's preselection for Cook prior to the 1998 election came against Howard's wishes as Howard had supported the previous Liberal member and preselected candidate for Cook, Stephen Mutch. Sensing that he would not be promoted by Howard, Baird in 2004 sought to become Speaker but was unsuccessful with David Hawker chosen as the Government's candidate for Speaker instead.

After politics

Baird was appointed Chairman of the Tourism and Transport Forum, a peak industry lobby group, in 2008. In the same year, he was also appointed as chair of the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council, which advises the Australian government on resettling refugees in Australia. In 2010 on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

, he was appointed a Member 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 ...

for service to the Parliament of Australia, and to the community of New South Wales through a range of business, tourism and welfare organisations. In August 2017, Business Events Sydney announced the appointment of Baird as their new Chairman, commencing from 1 September 2017.

Private life

Bruce and Judy Baird's children are Steve Baird, Chief Executive Officer

International Justice Mission International Justice Mission is an international, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization focused on human rights, law and law enforcement. Founded in 1997 by lawyer Gary Haugen of the United States, it is based in Washington, D.C. All IJM em ...

Australia;

Julia Baird Julia Baird (née Dykins; born 5 March 1947) is a British retired teacher and author. She is the younger half-sister of English musician John Lennon, and is the eldest daughter of his mother Julia Lennon and John 'Bobby' Albert Dykins. She also ...

, columnist with the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' and host of the ABC News program '' The Drum''; and

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South W ...

, now Chief Executive Officer of HammondCare, and previously the

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

from 2014 to 2017. (Baird himself made an attempt to become Premier when he was a candidate to succeed Nick Greiner in 1992, but lost out to John Fahey.) Following the financial collapse of a number of private providers of education to international students, in 2009 Baird agreed to head up a review into international education in Australia. Baird delivered the report in a joint press conference in March 2010. Included in his recommendations were tighter regulation including stronger entry requirements, improved risk assessment, and where breaches occur, tougher penalties. He is a patron of the Asylum Seekers Centre, a not-for-profit that provides personal and practical support to people seeking asylum in Australia.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baird, Bruce 1942 births Living people Australian businesspeople Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Cook Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Politicians from Sydney Members of the Order of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians