Ronald Frederick Edwards (born 2 July 1945) is a retired Australian politician. Born in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, he was educated at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

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 ...

, after which he became a lecturer in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

. In 1983, he was elected to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

as the

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 labour ...

member for

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, defeating the sitting member,

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 ...

minister

Ian Viner Robert Ian Viner AO (born 21 January 1933) is an Australian solicitor and barrister,Eoin Cameron Eoin Harrap Cameron (4 January 1951 – 23 June 2016) was an Australian radio personality in Perth, Western Australia and member of the Australian House of Representatives. Until August 2015 he presented the ABC's Perth local station 720 ABC Pe ...

in 1993.

Early life

Edwards was born on 2 July 1945 in West Midland, Western Australia. He was the second of two children born to Daphne () and Norman Frederick Edwards; his father was an

engine driver A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...

. He was educated at

Governor Stirling Senior High School Governor Stirling Senior High School (abbreviated as GSSHS) is a public co-educational partially selective high day school, located in Woodbridge, a north-eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The school provides both a vocational and ...

, going on to complete a Bachelor of Education at the

in 1966. In 1966, Edwards moved to Canberra to become an administrative trainee with the Public Service Board. He then moved to Sydney where he was a research officer with the

Department of Labour and National Service The Department of Labour and National Service was an Australian government department that existed between October 1940 and December 1972. Scope Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be ...

from 1967 to 1970. He later taught economics and industrial relations at

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now known as the TAFE New South Wales Sydney Institute, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education i ...

and was then head of social sciences at the New South Wales Department of Technical Education. In 1976, Edwards returned to Western Australia and settled in the suburb of Trigg. He became a lecturer in economics and industrial relations at the Churchlands College of Advanced Education, also completing a Master of Education degree at the

by correspondence in 1983.

Politics

Edwards was Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees from 29 August 1989 to 8 February 1993. During his term in office the position was renamed from just "Chairman of Committees". Just prior to the calling of the 1993 federal election, Speaker

Leo McLeay Leo Boyce McLeay (born 4 October 1945) is a former Australian politician who served as a Labor Party member of the House of Representatives from June 1979 to October 2004. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives 1989–93. During 1992 h ...

resigned. It had been expected that if the election had not been called so soon after McLeay's resignation as Speaker or if Edwards had held his seat in the election upon the re-election of the Keating Government, Edwards would have been elected Speaker.

Other activities

Edwards is the co-founder and board member of The Graham (Polly) Farmer Foundation, an educational not-for-profit founded in 1995.

References

Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Stirling Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1945 births Living people 20th-century Australian politicians University of Western Australia alumni University of Sydney alumni Australian educators Academic staff of Edith Cowan University People educated at Governor Stirling Senior High School {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub