Michael John Maher (11 July 1936 – 29 September 2013) was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he attended

De La Salle College Ashfield (Used in context as "to be the best man you can be." If translated directly from Latin it means "Be a man") , established = , type = Independent, comprehensive, single-sex school, secondary school, day school , denomi ...

and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and became a solicitor. A member of the Labor Party, he was elected to 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 ...

at the 1973 election, representing the seat of

Drummoyne Drummoyne is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drummoyne is six kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative center for the local government area of the City of ...

. He held Drummoyne until resigning to contest the 1982 Lowe by-election, caused by the resignation of former

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 ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

William McMahon Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, t ...

. Maher was successful, and held the seat until 1987, when he was defeated by Bob Woods. Michael Maher was described in 2000 by a subsequent ALP Member for Lowe, John Murphy, as 'one of the most genuine and most loved members to grace this House'. In 2000, Maher was honoured with the

Medal 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 parliament at state and federal levels, and to the Maltese community of New South Wales.'' Maher died in Sydney on .

References

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Lowe Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 1936 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub