Peter Damian Kavanagh (born 1959) is a former Australian politician, teacher, barrister and legal academic, who served as a member of the
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
n
Legislative Council representing the
Democratic Labor Party (DLP).
Early years
Kavanagh was born into a family with a long connection with the DLP. His maternal grandfather,
Bill Barry was a key player in the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
split that saw the creation of the original
Democratic Labor Party – a party from which the current DLP has descended although is legally separate – to the extent the party was informally dubbed "Barry Labor" in its infancy.
Education
Before entering parliament, Kavanagh attained
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
,
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
and
Bachelor of Letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second undergraduate university degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been t ...
degrees from the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
, and a
Diploma of Education
The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Overview
The diploma can build on the ...
from the
Mitchell College of Advanced Education
Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus public university located in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Established in 1989, it was named in honour of Captain Charles Napier Sturt, a British explorer w ...
. He has worked as a barrister, law lecturer and teacher.
Kavanagh has travelled extensively within Australia and around the world, especially in East Asia. He has spent a total of more than two years in China and formally studied in
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
,
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
, Beijing, Tokyo and Rome. He lectured in a college in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
between 1994 and 1996. Kavanagh has working fluency in written and spoken Mandarin Chinese and retains some abilities in Japanese,
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
and
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
. He later obtained a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in Asian Studies with Honours and a Graduate Diploma in Arts (Asian Studies) from the University of Melbourne.
Political career
At the
2006 Victorian election Kavanagh stood as the DLP's lead candidate in the newly formed
Western Victoria Region
Western Victoria Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was created in ...
, which elects five members via proportional representation. Despite winning only 2.5% of the vote, Kavanagh was able to win the final seat due to receiving preferences from both of the major parties.
Peter Kavanagh maintained he was attempting to use his share of the balance of power constructively, in particular encouraging the Government and Opposition to work towards and achieve agreement on some legislation.
Kavanagh led opposition within the Parliament to the decriminalisation of abortion under the Crimes Act in Victoria. In opposing the Abortion Bill 2008 Kavanagh also sent a photograph to other MPs of American Samuel Armas who, after being operated on while still in the womb, reached from inside his mother's body and grasped the surgeon's finger, in a gesture that looks like an expression of gratitude. Sending this photo prompted a storm of abuse and vitriol from some other MPs. In Parliament Kavanagh also proposed amendments to the Abortion Bill 2008 (including a requirement for pain relief for the fetus) which would have mitigated the legislation. He also made an impassioned three and a half-hour speech against the Abortion Bill (Victoria, Legislative Council (2008) Debates, 9 October, p. 4093.) which earned him extraordinarily enthusiastic, loud and sustained applause from the public gallery. His proposed amendments were all rejected however and the Bill was passed unamended by 23 to 17 votes.
Surprising many, Kavanagh has also expressed a willingness to consider gay civil unions in Victoria "providing there is a special status retained for marriage".
Kavanagh was defeated at the Victorian state elections held on 29 November 2010. The DLP was again unrepresented in the Victorian parliament until the 2014 election when
Rachel Carling-Jenkins
Rachel Carling-Jenkins (née Carling) (born 2 September 1975) is an Australian politician. She was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 2014 to 2018, representing Western Metropolitan Region for the Democratic Labour Party (2014- ...
won a
Legislative Council seat for the DLP.
References
External links
Peter Kavanagh's maiden parliamentary speech*
ttp://peterkavanagh.blogspot.com Peter Kavanagh websitebr>
DLP website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kavanagh, Peter (Australian politician)
1959 births
Living people
Australian people of Irish descent
Politicians from Melbourne
Melbourne Law School alumni
Members of the Victorian Legislative Council
Democratic Labour Party (Australia) politicians
Democratic Labor Party (New) members of the Parliament of Victoria
21st-century Australian politicians
Charles Sturt University alumni