Ross Vincent Free (born 7 March 1943) is a former
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 ...
n politician who served 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 of 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 ...
representing the seat of
Macquarie from 1980 until 1984, then
Lindsay from 1984 until 1996. He served as a minister from 1990 until 1996 in both the
Hawke and
Keating ministries.
Biography
Free was born in
Bathurst, New South Wales
Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in ...
, and completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Graduate Diploma of Education at 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 ...
, following which he worked as a school teacher.
Free won Labor preselection for the outer Sydney federal seat of
Macquarie ahead of the
1980 election, and defeated the incumbent
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 ...
member
Reg Gillard. He served as a member of several house standing parliamentary committees, in opposition and then in government upon Hawke winning the prime ministership in 1983. When a redistribution ahead of the
1984 election erased most of his majority in Macquarie, he transferred to the newly created seat of
Lindsay, based around
Penrith. In 1985 he led a delegation to the European Parliamentary Institutions in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
and Berlin, and again in Germany in 1986.
[
After the 1990 election, at which Hawke won a fourth term, Free was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister in the Fourth Hawke Ministry.][
Following ]Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
's first, and unsuccessful, challenge for the leadership in June 1991, a number of changes were made to the ministry, with Free being promoted to Minister for Science and Technology A Science Ministry or Department of Science is a ministry or other government agency charged with science. The ministry is often headed by a Minister for Science.
List of Ministries of Science
Many countries have a Ministry of Science or Ministry ...
and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Science. Hawke was ultimately defeated in a second challenge on 20 December 1991, and Free continued in the First Keating Ministry in the same portfolios. After the 1993 election, he served in the Second Keating Ministry as Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training.[
He was one of several ministers to lose his seat at the 1996 election, at which ]John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
became Prime Minister. Free went into the election sitting on a seemingly daunting margin of 10.2 percent, but lost Lindsay to 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 ...
candidate Jackie Kelly
Jacqueline Marie Kelly (born 18 February 1964) is a former Australian politician who served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until November 2007, representing the Division of Lindsay, New South Wale ...
on a swing of almost 12 percent—one of 13 Labor MPs from New South Wales to lose his seat. Kelly was subsequently found to have run while still a serving RAAF officer, and both contested the resulting by-election (as did 10 other candidates), but Free lost by a greater margin.
References
Publications
* (White Paper, 52 pages)
* (Statement in response to Standing Committee report, 4 pages)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Free, Ross
1943 births
Living people
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macquarie
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Lindsay
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
University of Sydney alumni
20th-century Australian politicians