Diane Beamer (born 15 July 1960) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

politician. As an

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 the f ...

member of the

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 ...

Legislative Assembly, she represented the state electorates of

Badgerys Creek Badgerys Creek, also known as Badgery's Creek, is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Liverpool. It i ...

(1995–1999) and

Mulgoa Mulgoa is a village, located in the local government area of the City of Penrith, in the region of western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mulgoa is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district. Mu ...

(1999–2011). This included ministerial roles in the Carr and Iemma governments. Beamer chose not to recontest the 2011 election. In December 2018, Labor endorsed Beamer as their candidate for the

Division of Lindsay The Division of Lindsay is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Ever since Lindsay was first contested at the 1984 Australian federal election, 1984 federal ele ...

at the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 18 May 2019 to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissolut ...

. She was defeated by the Liberals'

Melissa McIntosh Melissa Iris McIntosh (; born 24 August 1977) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Liberal Party and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2019 federal election, running in the New South Wales seat of Lindsay. Ear ...

Early life and education

Born in England, Beamer migrated with her parents to Australia in the early 1960s. During their first years in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, the family lived in a

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Majo ...

Cabramatta Cabramatta ('Cabra') is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cabramatta is located south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Cabramatta ...

Migrant Hostel. In 1975, Beamer joined the

Emu Plains Emu Plains is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney re ...

Branch of the Australian Labor Party. She later graduated from 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 ...

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 ...

(BA). From 1985 to 1989, Beamer worked as an electorate officer for the Minister for Sport and Tourism

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...

Civic roles

Between 1989–95, Beamer served as an elected

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

of the

City of Penrith The City of Penrith is a local government area in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The seat of the city is located in Penrith, located about west of Sydney's central business district. It occupies part of the traditional lands of the ...

. This included 1992-93 as Deputy

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

and 1993-94 as Mayor. She has also been a member of the Board of Ripples Aquatic Centre and a Parliamentary Patron of the Spokeswomen Program.

New South Wales state politics (1995-2011)

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, Beamer unsuccessfully contested the seat of

, however was elected to it in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

. Following Badgerys Creek's abolition in 1999, she was elected as Member for

. In April 2003, Beamer became Minister Assisting the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning (Planning Administration),

Juvenile Justice A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...

and Minister for Western Sydney. When

Morris Iemma Morris Iemma (; born 21 July 1961) is a former Australian politician who was the 40th Premier of New South Wales. He served from 3 August 2005 to 5 September 2008. From Sydney, Iemma attended the University of Sydney and the University of Techno ...

became Premier in August 2005, Beamer was appointed Minister for Fair Trading and Minister assisting the Minister for Commerce while continuing to be Minister for Western Sydney.

Orange Grove Affair

''see also

Orange Grove affair The Orange Grove affair was a political scandal in Australia concerning the dealings of the New South Wales state Australian Labor Party government with multinational corporation The Westfield Group. It resulted from a court decision in 2004 to f ...

'' On 16 June 2004, the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, advised Beamer as Minister Assisting the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning (Planning Administration) to approve a variation of the Local Environment Plan (LEP) which would have retrospectively validated the planning approval for an Orange Grove shopping centre. On 8 July 2004, Beamer declined to approve the proposed variation on the grounds that the shopping centre tended to undermine the viability of the

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

shopping centre. The owners of the Orange Grove centre subsequently

claimed "Claimed" is the eleventh episode of the The Walking Dead (season 4), fourth season of the Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic Horror fiction, horror television series ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'', wh ...

that this decision was corrupt. This led to an investigation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which made no findings of corruption against any person.

Retirement from state politics

After the 2007 election, Beamer served as a

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

and chose not to recontest the 2011 election.

Australian federal politics (2019)

In December 2018, the

Australian Labor Party National Executive The Australian Labor Party National Executive is an internal executive body of the Australian Labor Party charged with directly overseeing the general organisation and strategy of the party. Twenty members of the National Executive are elected b ...

endorsed Beamer to take over from

Emma Husar Emma Husar (born 20 April 1980) is a former Australian Labor Party (ALP) member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Lindsay, which she represented from 2016 to 2019. During an internal investigation and media reports ...

as the Labor candidate for the

at the

. The seat was won by the Liberals'

. Beamer's previous state electorates of Badgerys Creek and Mulgoa cover much of the same geographic area as the seat of Lindsay.

Family and personal life

Beamer has six children. She was married to former Australian politician Stephen Hutchins, but is now married to Sydney journalist David Humphries.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Beamer, Diane 1960 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Mayors of Penrith, New South Wales University of Sydney alumni English emigrants to Australia Women mayors of places in New South Wales