Michael Robert Yabsley (born 30 June 1956) is an Australian former politician. He was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

, representing the electorates of Bligh from 1984 to 1988 and

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Lismore. His father, Bob Yabsley, was a prominent pastoral farmer and a decedent of settler William Yabsley. Yabsley attended private schools in Lismore, and was a prefect at St John's College, Woodlawn. After graduating from school he spent a year in South Africa on an exchange with

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

. He then attended the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

(ANU), where he received a

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with a double major in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. In 1977, Yabsley wrote an article for the ANU student newspaper

Woroni ''Woroni'' is the student newspaper of the Australian National University (ANU), based in Canberra, ACT, Australia. The name "Woroni" derives from an Indigenous Australian word meaning "mouthpiece". ''Woroni'' is published bi-monthly in full co ...

denying that South Africa still practised

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 ...

, and saying "even the most iniquitous aspects of apartheid" was preferable to the country being ruled by Africans. After university he went on to work as a public relations manager for the Livestock and Grain Producers Association.

Political career

At 24 Yabsley was a Liberal party

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

at the 1980 federal election for the seat of

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ele ...

in the

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, though was defeated by

Ken Fry Kenneth Lionel Fry (8 November 192010 October 2007) was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives representing Fraser, Australian Capital Territory for the Australian Labor Party, from 1974 to 1984. Early years Fry was born in Inverel ...

. In 1984, Yabsley defeated Labor MP Fred Miller to win the NSW state seat of Bligh in Sydney for the Liberal Party. However, in 1988 he was defeated by

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 ...

candidate

Clover Moore Clover Margaret Moore (née Collins, born 22 October 1945) is an Australian politician. She has been the List of Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney, Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney since 2004 and is currently the longest serving Lord Mayor of Syd ...

. The death of Ray Aston, the Liberal member for

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Minister for Corrective Services. Yabsley took an extremely punitive approach to prison, saying he wanted to be remembered as "someone who has put the value back in punishment". He led a campaign to make conditions in custody harsher, which included banning prisoners from having personal belongings including photos of their children, wedding rings, religious items, educational materials and hats. The NSW Assistant Ombudsman determined that Yabsley's decision to ban two magazines produced in prison was illegal. Yabsley decreased the amount of visits a prisoner could receive from one a week to one a month, and severely cut funding for

prison education Prison education is any educational activity that occurs inside prison. Courses can include basic literacy programs, secondary school equivalency programs, vocational education, and tertiary education. Other activities such as rehabilitation pr ...

and rehabilitation programs, as well as funding to a

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. When prison chaplains at

Bathurst Correctional Centre Bathurst Correctional Centre, originally built as Bathurst Gaol in 1888, is a prison for men and women located in the city of Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, and operated by the Department of Communities and Justice. Bathurst holds inmate ...

complained to the media about conditions caused by Yabsley's policies, he shut down church services at the prison, and forbid chaplains from making any statements without his prior approval. Yabsley expressed outrage that an anti-apartheid activist, who was imprisoned for one-month for altering a piece of graffiti, was released after one week in prison. He subsequently introduced the 1989

truth in sentencing Truth in sentencing (TIS) is a collection of different but related public policy stances on sentencing of those convicted of crimes in the justice system. In most contexts, it refers to policies and legislation that aim to abolish or curb parole so ...

legislation, which ended the early release of prisoners for good behaviour, and resulted in severe

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. Yabsley's reforms yielded no positive effects, though attracted significant media attention, and made prisons a political issue in NSW for the first time since the mid 1970s. As his austere approach continued, inmates rioted widely, leaving the entire prison system in a state of turmoil. NSW prisons experienced record levels of assaults, deaths and expenditure, and increased self-harm among prisoners and resignations among staff. Staff morale deteriorated, and the Probation and Parole Officers Association accused Yabsley of putting the safety of prison officers at risk. The

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retained power at the

1991 New South Wales state election Elections to the 50th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 25 May 1991. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election. The Liberal-National Coalition government of Prem ...

, though Yabsley was removed from his position as Minister for Corrective Services; according to '' Police Studies'', the government deliberately transferred him to a portfolio where "he could do less harm". Following his removal, the more extreme policies he initiated in prisons were relaxed, and the next decade saw "cautious penal politics in which the major political imperative asto keep prisons off the front pages and keep quiet about any reforms." After being removed from his position as Minister of Corrections, Yabsley was made the Minister for State Development and Minister for Tourism. He resigned from the ministry in 1992, "in protest" of the circumstances that brought about the resignation of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Nick Greiner Nicholas Frank Hugo Greiner (;) (born 27 April 1947) is an Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. Greiner was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 an ...

and Environment Minister Tim Moore. Greiner resigned after three independents, who held the balance of power, told Greiner that unless he resigned, they would withdraw their support from the government and support a no-confidence motion. Yabsley resigned from parliament in 1994.

Personal life

On 5 November 1983, Yabsley married Susan Clatworthy, and they had two children. Following a diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2019, Yabsley separated from his wife and came out as gay in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yabsley, Michael 1956 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly LGBT legislators in Australia Australian National University alumni Australian gay men Gay politicians LGBT conservatism