Kerry Walter Sibraa (born 12 October 1937) is a former

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 ...

Senator 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 ...

who represented the Labor Party for the state of

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 ...

. He was educated at North Sydney Boys High School. He served as a Senator for from 13 December 1975 to 30 June 1978, and then again from 9 August 1978 until 1 February 1994, and was

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

from 17 February 1987 to 31 January 1994. During the 1970s Sibraa provided inside-information about Labor to the United States of America in what an historian has called "a discreet relationship". After leaving Parliament, Sibraa was the Australian High Commissioner to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

from March 1994 until February 1998. On 26 January 1997 Sibraa was made an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

"for service to the Parliament of Australia, to international relations and to the community." On 1 January 2001 he was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

. Sibraa was a special counsel for the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

and government relations firm Wells Haslem.

References

1937 births Living people People educated at North Sydney Boys High School Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Presidents of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales High Commissioners of Australia to Zimbabwe High Commissioners of Australia to Malawi High Commissioners of Australia to Zambia Ambassadors of Australia to Angola High Commissioners of Australia to Botswana High Commissioners of Australia to Namibia Ambassadors of Australia to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Officers of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-senator-stub