Neville Laurence Oliver (born 11 November 1944) is a former
Australian politician. Before entering politics, he was an
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
sports commentator. On 22 April 2002, he was elected to the
Tasmanian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart.
The Assembly has 25 m ...
as a
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 la ...
member representing
Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
in a recount following the resignation of
Fran Bladel. Oliver represented the
Labor Party. He was defeated for re-election on 30 July that year.
In his previous career as a sports commentator, he frequently covered Test cricket on radio as part of the BBC's
Test Match Special
''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. It broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 LW ...
team.
Brian Johnston recalled in his stage act that as the commentators' roster only showed their initials, Oliver was listed as NO. Johnston told Oliver "From now on, I will call you 'the Doctor'" (after the James Bond villain
Doctor No). According to Johnston, this nickname 'stuck' to the point that listeners believed Oliver was a real doctor, and it was not unknown for surgeries to telephone him to ask if he could act as a locum.
References
1944 births
Living people
Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania
21st-century Australian politicians
Australian cricket commentators
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