Glenister Fermoy Sheil (21 October 192929 September 2008) was an Australian politician, representing the National Party in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the state of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

from 1974 to 1981, and again from 1984–90. He was an amateur

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player who competed at the

Australian Championships The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

in the 1940s and 1950s.

Biography

Glen Sheil was born 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 ...

and moved to Queensland at a young age. He attended

The Southport School , motto_translation = Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it. , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglican , headmaster = Andrew Hawkins , ...

on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and studied medicine at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

, after which he was a medical practitioner. He also owned the Dungarvan Private Hospital in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. He was elected to the Senate at the 1974 election, taking his seat immediately on 18 May because the election followed a

double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...

. In an early parliamentary speech, he read the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

in nine

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n languages. He was re-elected in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. After the 1977 election,

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

announced the make-up of the new ministry that he would be recommending to the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

. Sheil was to be Minister for Veterans' Affairs. This announcement was made at 5 p.m. on 19 December 1977. On 20 December he was sworn as a member of the Federal Executive Council, a constitutional pre-requisite for appointment as a minister. That same day, in an interview on ABC Radio, he professed his support for the South African

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

system, which was very much at odds with the Fraser government's position. Fraser decided not to proceed with Sheil's appointment to the ministry. In a very rare move, he advised the Governor-General, Sir

Zelman Cowen Sir Zelman Cowen, (7 October 1919 – 8 December 2011) was an Australian legal scholar and university administrator who served as the 19th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1977 to 1982. Cowen was born in Melbourne, and attended ...

, to terminate Sheil's appointment as an Executive Councillor (such appointments are normally for life). Cowen was required by convention to act on the Prime Minister's advice, and the termination occurred at midday on 21 December. This was widely described as "the shortest ministerial career in Australia's history". In fact, Sheil was never a minister at all, but he was a member of the Executive Council for two days. On 6 February 1981 he resigned from the Senate to contest 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 ...

for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

seat of McPherson. He was defeated by

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 ...

candidate Peter White. The

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by his resignation was filled by

Florence Bjelke-Petersen Florence Isabel Bjelke-Petersen (née Gilmour; 11 August 1920 – 20 December 2017) was an Australian politician and writer. She was a member of the Australian Senate from 1981 to 1993, and was the wife of the longest-serving Premier of Queensl ...

, the wife of the then-

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

Joh Bjelke-Petersen Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen (13 January 191123 April 2005), known as Joh Bjelke-Petersen, was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland, holding office from 1968 to 1987, during ...

. At the 1984 election on 1 December, he was re-elected to the Senate, again taking his seat immediately because the Senate was being increased from 64 to 76 members. He was defeated at the 1990 election, his term expiring on 30 June 1990.

Other

Sheil led the joint Australian Monarchist League (AML) and Queenslanders for Constitutional Monarchy (QCM) ticket in the campaign to send candidates to the

Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 The 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention was a Constitutional Convention which gathered at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 2 to 13 February 1998. It was called by the Howard Government to discuss whether Australia should become a rep ...

which was held in Canberra from 2–13 February in that year. Active in

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in Queensland, he was known as "Thumpa", a nickname from a

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

-farming company he part-owned.

Death

Glen Sheil died on 29 September 2008, aged 78.

Bibliography

* ''Footnotes to History'' (3 vols.) * ''A Companion to the Australian Constitution on Understanding the Constitution''.

References

External links

*
Queenslanders for Constitutional Monarchy

Portrait of Dr Glenister Sheil taken at the Constitutional Convention, Canberra, 2–13 February 1998

* ttp://www.bookfinder.com/author/glenister-sheil/ Bookfinder.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheil, Glenister Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Australian monarchists Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Australian male tennis players 1929 births 2008 deaths People educated at the Southport School Australian sportsperson-politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Tennis people from Queensland