Peter Glen Chandler (born 18 July 1965) is an Australian politician. He was a

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

member of the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method fo ...

, and held the seat of Brennan from 2008 to 2016. He was

Deputy Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

from 2014 to 2015 and a minister under both Terry Mills and

Adam Giles Adam Graham Giles (born 10 April 1973) is an Australian former politician and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013–2016) as well as the former leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) in the unicameral Northern Territory Par ...

. He lost his seat at the 2016 general election. Chandler lives in Palmerston with his wife, Robyn, and four children.

Early life

Chandler was born in

Swan Hill Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508. Indigenous Peopl ...

, Victoria, and was educated at Warialda High School in

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 joined the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

in 1985 in Queensland, and later transferred to the Northern Territory where he worked as a dog handler for the RAAF, and later worked for the

City of Darwin The City of Darwin is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia. It includes the central business district of the capital, Darwin City, and represents two-thirds of its metropolitan population. The City covers an area of a ...

. He also worked as a public servant for the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

and

Defence Housing Australia Defence Housing Australia (DHA) is an Australian government business enterprise established by the ''Defence Housing Australia Act 1987''. DHA supplies housing and related services to Australian Defence Force members and their families in lin ...

Political career

Chandler was elected to the

at the 2008 NT election on 9 August, representing the seat of Brennan for the

(CLP). He was Shadow Minister for Natural Resources, Environment, and Heritage; Parks and Wildlife in Terry Mills' shadow cabinet, and took on several ministerial portfolios in the

Mills Ministry The Mills Ministry was the ministry of the ninth Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Terry Mills. It came into operation on 4 September, following the election of the Mills Country Liberal government in the 2012 election. Terry Mills and ...

when the CLP won government at the 2012 election. On the

's victory at the 2012 election, Chandler was appointed as a minister in the

in September 2012, and continued to serve as a minister in the

Giles Ministry The Giles Ministry was the ministry of the tenth Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Adam Giles. It came into operation on 14 March 2013, following the replacement of Terry Mills as Chief Minister and leader of the Country Liberal Party by ...

Other political positions held

* Minister for Business (2012–2013) * Minister for Trade (2012–2013) * Minister for Economic Development (2012–2013) * Minister for Employment and Training (2012–2013) * Minister for Housing (2012–2013) * Minister for Lands, Planning and the Environment (2013–2014) * Minister for Education (2013–2014, 2015–2016) * Minister for Lands and Planning (2014–2015) * Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services (2014–2016) * Minister for Defence Industries and Veterans Support (2014–2015) * Minister for Transport (2015–2016) * Minister for Infrastructure (2015–2016) * Minister for Veterans Support (2015–2016) * Minister for Essential Services (2016).

Fourth deputy chief minister

Deputy Chief Minister

Dave Tollner David William Tollner (born 31 January 1966) is an Australian politician. He was the Country Liberal Party member for Solomon in the Australian House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, and then served in the Northern Territory Legislative Ass ...

was asked to resign from his position in August 2014. However, following a threat to move to the crossbench unless he was reinstated by Tollner, Chief Minister

opened the leadership and deputy leadership to a party room ballot on September 1. Giles was re-elected as CLP leader, and Chandler was voted in as the fourth deputy chief minister of the CLP government. However, in February 2015, in the fallout from an unsuccessful leadership challenge against Giles from

Willem Westra van Holthe Willem Rudolf Westra van Holthe (born 22 August 1962) is an Australian politician. He was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2008 to 2016, representing the electorate of electoral division of Kathe ...

, Chandler was replaced as Deputy Chief Minister by Westra van Holthe.

2016 general election

Chandler lost his seat in his party's landslide defeat 2016 election. He stated:

"I was resolute that we would probably lose government, given the feedback from the community, I certainly didn't think I would lose my seat".

He raised concerns about what he would do now that defeated MPs were no longer entitled to a parliamentary pension, stating:

"I look at history and I know that there are many former members of parliament who've actually had to leave town...I've got a family to feed, a family to support so I'll be looking for employment opportunities."

He was highly critical of Giles' leadership and role in the party's defeat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, Peter 1965 births Living people Deputy Chief Ministers of the Northern Territory Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Australian public servants 21st-century Australian politicians