Neville George Warburton (23 February 1932 – 5 August 2018) was an Australian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

from

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_ ...

, who served as

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

from 1984 to 1988, and as a minister in the

Goss Ministry The Goss Ministry was a Ministry of the Government of Queensland, led by Labor Premier Wayne Goss. It commenced on 7 December 1989, five days after the Cooper Ministry, led by Premier Russell Cooper of the National Party, was defeated at the 19 ...

from 1989 to 1992.

Career

Early career

Warburton was elected at the 1977 election as the Labor Party candidate for the seat of Sandgate, succeeding Harold Dean who had held the seat for the ALP since 1960. In 1982, following a string of poor election results under

Ed Casey Edmund Denis Casey (2 January 1933 – 1 May 2006), known as Ed, was best known as the leader of the Australian Labor Party in Queensland between 1978 and 1982. He also served as Primary Industries Minister in the government of Wayne Goss betwe ...

, a leadership contest lead to fellow opposition frontbencher Keith Wright defeating Casey in a secret ballot. Warburton was appointed deputy opposition leader in Wright's shadow cabinet, despite having served only five years in parliament. Warburton became a member of the then dominant Trades and Labour Council faction, an affiliation he retained during his later career.

Leader of the Opposition

In 1984, Wright resigned from the Legislative Assembly to stand for election to

federal parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-gen ...

. Warburton was elected by caucus as the new Labor leader in Queensland on 29 August 1984. Warburton was often portrayed in the media as being an "old style" Labor leader; uncomplicated and honest. Peter Bowers, a columnist with the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'' declared that Warburton was "...a straight up and down politician, no charisma, no nonsense". Labor approached the 1986 election being given little hope of taking power, given the continued existence of the

Bjelkemander The Bjelkemander was the term given to a system of malapportionment in the Australian state of Queensland in the 1970s and 1980s. Under the system, electorates were allocated to zones such as rural or metropolitan and electoral boundaries drawn ...

, despite continued disunity and infighting between the

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 ...

and

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

parties that formed government. Warburton's policies included the introduction of random breath testing in Queensland, and a ban on

uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50 thousand tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account f ...

in Queensland, an idea that would become longstanding Labor party policy. Warburton also made overtures to the Liberals, offering to form a coalition government with them in order to break the National Party's grip on power. However, on polling day, the National party won a resounding victory that enabled them to govern in their own right, and Labor lost two seats, despite polling more votes than the Nationals. Warburton hung on as leader of the opposition after this defeat, but eventually handed over the party leadership to

Wayne Goss Wayne Keith Goss (26 February 1951 – 10 November 2014) was Premier of Queensland from 7 December 1989 until 19 February 1996, becoming the first Labor Premier of the state in over thirty two years. Prior to entering politics, Goss was a solic ...

in 1988.

Minister in the Goss Government

Warburton stayed on the opposition frontbench at the invitation of Goss, and when Labor won power for the first time in over thirty years at the 1989 election, he was appointed as Minister for Employment, Training and Industrial relations. In 1991, he switched portfolios and became Minister for Police and Emergency Services, a post he held until he retired from Parliament in 1992.

Lawn bowler

In addition to his political career, Warburton was also an enthusiastic participant in the sport of

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

Death

Warburton died on 5 August 2018 on the Sunshine Coast. At the time of his death he was the only surviving ALP leader who did not become Premier and the last surviving Opposition Leader who had led his party during its 32 years in Opposition between 1957 and 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warburton, Nev 1932 births 2018 deaths People from Brisbane Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in Queensland Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland