John Michael Spender (2 December 1935 – 13 October 2022) was an Australian politician, diplomat and barrister. He was a member of 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 ...
from 1980 to 1990, representing the
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 ...
, and was a shadow minister under
Andrew Peacock
Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the par ...
and
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 ...
. He later served as
Ambassador to France from 1996 to 2000.
Early life
Spender was born in Sydney on 2 December 1935. He was the son of
Jean (née Henderson) and
Percy Spender
Sir Percy Claude Spender (5 October 18973 May 1985) was an Australian politician, diplomat, and judge. He served in the House of Representatives from 1937 to 1951, including as a cabinet minister under Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden. He was ...
. His mother was a novelist and his father was a politician, diplomat and judge who served as
Ambassador to the United States
The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, sorted by the representative country or organization.
See also
*Ambassadors of the United States
Notes
{{reflist, 30em
External linksCurrent and former Ambassadors to the United Sta ...
in the 1950s.
Spender was educated at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
and
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
. He returned to Australia and practised as a
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...
in Sydney from 1961 to 1980. He was appointed
Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...
(QC) in 1974.
In 1978, he represented the
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is the largest private sector trade union in Australia, representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and has branches in every state and territory. Its membership is pre ...
(SDA) in a lawsuit against the
Australian Workers' Union
The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...
(AWU).
Spender was commissioned by the Government of New South Wales to report on the collapse of Gollin Holdings Limited. He found that the company's managing director Keith Gale had falsified accounts to cover a $10.8 million loss in 1975, and had also misappropriated company funds. His final report was tabled in state parliament in March 1979, and recommended changes to company laws and practices.
Politics
Spender served as treasurer and metropolitan vice-president of the
Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division)
The Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division), commonly known as the New South Wales Liberals, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party currently governs in New South Wales in coalition wi ...
. In 1979, he and state president David Patten conducted an inquiry into
Lyenko Urbanchich, a Liberal Party official who had been accused of collaboration with the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in war-time Slovenia. They found no clear evidence to verify the allegations but recommended he be barred from holding party office with the permission of the state executive. However, the state executive subsequently voted that Urbanchich be expelled from the party.
Spender unsuccessfully sought Liberal
preselection
Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...
at the
1969 federal election (in
Warringah Warringah is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to:
*Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922
*Electoral ...
) and the
1973 Parramatta by-election. He was eventually elected to the House of Representatives at the
1980 federal election, succeeding
Bill Graham in
North Sydney. After the Coalition's defeat
in 1983, he was appointed to
Andrew Peacock
Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the par ...
's
shadow ministry with responsibility for aviation and defence support. He was later removed for opposing the
Costigan Commission
The Costigan Commission (officially titled the Royal Commission on the Activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union) was an Australian royal commission held in the 1980s.
Headed by Frank Costigan QC, the Commission was establ ...
.
Following the
1985 leadership spill, the new opposition leader
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 ...
appointed Spender as shadow attorney-general. In June 1986, he strongly criticised proposals for a
bill of rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
. In April 1987, he succeeded
Peter Baume
Peter Erne Baume, AC (born 30 January 1935) is a retired Australian doctor and politician. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1974 to 1991, representing the Liberal Party. He served as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (1980–1982) an ...
as the Coalition's spokesman on the status of women, in the absence of any women in the shadow ministry. After the
1987 federal election Spender was given the foreign affairs portfolio. In August 1988, he called for all Australian sanctions against South Africa to be removed, stating they had slowed reform.
Spender held the seat until his defeat by prominent
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
Ted Mack at the
1990 election. He lost over 18 percent of his primary vote from 1987, allowing Mack to win when
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
and
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 ...
preferences flowed overwhelmingly to him.
Ambassador
In 1996, Spender was appointed Australian Ambassador to France, a position he held until 2000. He was also non-resident ambassador to Portugal (1996–1998) and special envoy to Cyprus (1996–2000). He was awarded a Legion D'honneur by the French government for the work he did to build French and Australian relations.
Personal life and death
Spender was married to fashion designer
Carla Zampatti
Carla Maria Zampatti , (19 May 1942 – 3 April 2021) was an Italian-born Australian fashion designer and businesswoman, and executive chair of the fashion label Carla Zampatti Limited.
Background
Born in Lovero, Italy in 1942, Zampatti se ...
and had two children. They married in 1975, but separated in 2008 and divorced in 2010. He then married Catherine Spender.
His daughters are Bianca Spender, a fashion designer
[ and Allegra, who was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2022 federal election, standing as a ]teal independent
The teal independents, sometimes simply referred to as teals, are a loosely-aligned group of independent and minor party politicians in Australian politics. They have been characterised as strongly advocating for increased action to mitigate cli ...
against an incumbent Liberal MP. He publicly endorsed his daughter's candidacy.
Spender died in Sydney on 13 October 2022, at the age of 86.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spender, John
1935 births
2022 deaths
Ambassadors of Australia to France
Ambassadors of Australia to Portugal
Australian barristers
Yale Law School alumni
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for North Sydney
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Australian King's Counsel
21st-century King's Counsel
20th-century Australian politicians