Paul Francis Patrick Whelan (12 December 1943 – 30 October 2019) was an Australian politician, who served as the

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 ...

Minister for Police between 1995 and 2001.

Early years and background

Whelan was born and raised in Ashbury, a suburb of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to Mary Bridget and John Joseph Whelan. He was the youngest of their seven children. He was educated at St Francis Xavier Primary School, Ashbury, De La Salle College, Ashfield, 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 ...

, where he received an

LL.B 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 ...

. He was admitted as a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

in 1968 and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

in 1988. He married Colleen Mary Healey in 1968 and had two daughters, two sons and eight grandchildren. He was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

on the Ashfield Municipal Council from 1970 to 1976 and Mayor from 1971 to 1976.

Political career

Whelan represented Ashfield from May 1976 to March 1999 and

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A ...

from March 1999 to February 2003 for the Labor Party. He was Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister for Roads from October 1981 to February 1983 and then Minister for Water Resources and Minister for Forests until April 1984 during the Wran government. He was also Minister for Aboriginal Affairs from February to April 1984. He was Minister for Police from April 1995 to November 2001 during the Carr government. Whelan retired from politics in 2003.

Virginia Judge Dianne Virginia Judge (born 19 August 1956) is a former Australian politician, who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Strathfield for the Labor Party from 2003 until 2011. Early life Judge was born in Cooma ...

succeeded in replacing him in his seat.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, Paul 1943 births 2019 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians Mayors of Ashfield