John Woodley (born

Brisbane, Queensland 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 ...

, 9 February 1938) is an ordained

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister and was a Senator representing 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_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

Life before politics

Woodley was briefly in the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

from 1957 to 1959.

Education

Woodley was educated at the

Melbourne College of Divinity The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. It is constituted by eleven theological colleges from eight denominations. The University of Divinity is the direct successor of the second oldest ...

and

Brisbane College of Theology Brisbane College of Theology, located in Auchenflower, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was an ecumenical theological education consortium (1983–2009), comprising St Francis' Theological College (Anglican), St Paul's Theological College (Roman ...

Christian ministry

Prior to entering politics, Woodley was ordained a minister of the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

in October 1962 and continued his clerical duties with its successor, the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

, after church union in June 1977. During his ministry, Woodley worked mainly in rural churches and had extensive contact with Aboriginal people. He served as Director of Social Responsibility in the Uniting Church,

Queensland Synod ) , 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 , establishe ...

, from 1977 to December 1984 and was very active fighting for justice during the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era in Queensland. He was also a member of the Uniting Church in Australia's National Social Justice Committee between 1977 and 1982. After his election, Woodley wished to remain a "Minister of the Word" and the church deemed his

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

to be the Senate and his parishioners to be the people of Queensland. He officially retired as a Uniting Church minister on the grounds of age on 1 September 2001. The 23rd Synod meeting of The Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland Synod, in October 2002 received a minute of appreciation for his ministry.

Politician

Before his election, Woodley had been President of the Queensland Democrats, the Queensland Division of the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...

. Woodley was elected in March 1993 as the second Australian Democrats Senator for Queensland to a term commencing on 1 July 1993. Woodley was for a time the Democrats' spokesperson on Aboriginal and

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

Islander Affairs, Family Services, Regional Development and Agriculture. Woodley chaired the year-long 1999/2000 Senate Inquiry entitled ‘Air Safety and Cabin Air Quality in the BAe 146 Aircraft’ which was overseen by the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee. Woodley resigned from the Senate in August 2001 with three years to run in his second term, not long after the party's members voted for

Natasha Stott Despoja Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AO (born 9 September 1969) is an Australian politician, diplomat, advocate and author. She is the founding Chair of the Board of Our Watch, the national foundation to prevent violence against women and their childr ...

to replace Meg Lees as the Parliamentary Leader of the Democrats. The reason given for his resignation was health reasons, but he also stated that "I don't have the same commitment to the new leadership team." Woodley was among the Democrat Senators who voted with Meg Lees to introduce the GST. The casual vacancy for his seat for the Democrats was filled by Senator John Cherry.

After politics

Woodley made several public statements about Democrats' internal politics, consistently voicing support for former Leader Meg Lees. He left the Democrats not long after retiring from the Senate and soon joined the

Australian Progressive Alliance The Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) was a minor "small-l-liberal" party in Australia, formed by Meg Lees, an independent senator and former leader of the Australian Democrats, in April 2003. The party ceased to operate and was deregister ...

, the breakaway party set up by

Meg Lees Meg Heather Lees (née Francis, born 19 October 1948) is a former member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 2005, representing the state of South Australia. She represented the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 2002, and was her party's le ...

after she resigned from the Democrats. He served as the National President of this Party, which wound up after unsuccessfully contesting the 2004 federal election. In 2006, Woodley became a founding Patron of the Global Cabin Air Quality Executive (GCAQE), a position he still holds today. Woodley is featured in the documentary 2010 Broken Wings and the 2015 feature film

A Dark Reflection ''A Dark Reflection'' (aka ''Flight 313: The Conspiracy'') is a 2015 British independent investigative thriller film directed and produced by former British Airways airline captain Tristan Loraine.

.Internet Movie Database
/ref> In retirement, Woodley continues to be active in church circles in Queensland.

Memberships

* Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee * Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (October 1997 – February 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodley, John 1938 births Living people Uniting Church in Australia ministers Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians