John Saunderson (born 31 May 1948) is a former Australian politician and trade unionist. He was 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

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 1983 to 1990, representing the electorates of Deakin (1983–84) and

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

(1984-90).

Early life

Saunderson was born on 31 May 1948 in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

, England. He was a senior technical officer for Telecom from 1964 to 1980, state president of the

Australian Telecommunications Employees Association The Australian Telecommunications Employees' Association (ATEA) was an Australian trade union representing technician, technical and tradesperson, trades employees in the telecommunications industry from 1912 to 1992. Its members were primarily ...

from 1976 to 1980, and an industrial officer for the union from 1980 until 1983.

Political career

In 1983, Saunderson was elected to the

as the

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 ...

member for Deakin, and in 1984 successfully contested the new seat of

. A convenor of the

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

faction in the later years of the Hawke government, Saunderson was a consistent opponent of attempts to privatise government assets, opposed

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

sales to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, played a significant role in the defeat of the

Australia Card The Australia Card was a proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987. History The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in 1 ...

by opposing his own government's bill as a member of the select committee into it, supported restricting

negative gearing Negative gearing is a form of financial leverage whereby an investor borrows money to acquire an income-producing investment and the gross income generated by the investment (at least in the short term) is less than the cost of owning and manag ...

to assist first-home buyers, heavily criticised the

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

state government over its handling of tramway disputes, supported broadcasting legislation reform in response to the

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

scandal, opposed liberalising foreign ownership of television stations, and supported the introduction of pay television. He was defeated by Liberal candidate Peter Nugent at the 1990 election amidst a large anti-Labor swing related to the collapse of the

State Bank of Victoria The State Bank of Victoria was an Australian bank that existed from 1842 until 1990 when it was taken over by the Commonwealth Bank. It was owned by the Government of Victoria, State of Victoria. History A government-controlled savings bank had ...

Later activities

After his defeat, Saunderson returned to his old union, which became the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union, as a policy and research officer and then industrial officer.

References

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Deakin Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Aston Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1948 births Living people 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub