Roderick Alexander Mackenzie OAM (born 17 October 1933) is an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...

from 1979 to 1992, representing

Geelong Province Geelong Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council until 2006, located around Geelong. It was abolished from the 2006 state election in the wake of the Bracks Labor government's reform of the Legislative Council. The a ...

for the Labor Party (1979–1987) and then as an independent (1987–1992). A minister in the

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

government and

President of the Victorian Legislative Council The President of the Victorian Legislative Council, also known as the presiding officer of the council, is the presiding officer of the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of Victoria and equivalent to the President of ...

from 1985 to 1988, he resigned from the Labor Party in December 1987 and unsuccessfully recontested his seat in 1992 as part of the Geelong Community Alliance, a team of local independent candidates. Mackenzie was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, and was educated at Geelong South, Geelong West, Belmont and Forrest State Schools,

Geelong High School Geelong High School is a co-educational, public, secondary school located in East Geelong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The school opened in 1910, making it one of Victoria's oldest state secondary schools, and moved to its curr ...

, and the Gordon Institute of Technology. He was variously a plumber, plumbing inspector for the Geelong Water and Sewerage Trust, an architectural plumbing designer, a technical officer for the Commonwealth Department of Science, and a plumbing consultant before entering politics. He was a member of Australian Antarctic expeditions in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1973 and 1974. He served as president of the Matthew Flinders Girls' High School Parents and Citizens and the Geelong Movement Against Uranium Mining, and was a youth club leader in the Geelong suburbs of Belmont and

Highton Highton is a residential suburb of Geelong, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. With views across Geelong, Corio Bay and the surrounding region, Highton is located along the banks of the Barwon River (Victoria), Barwon River and across t ...

for 24 years. Mackenzie joined the Labor Party in 1971 over opposition to conscription for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, was president of the Geelong branch from 1973 to 1974, and established a party regional office in Geelong. He contested the Geelong Province seat in the Legislative Council at the 1976 election, losing to Liberal Glyn Jenkins, but ran again successfully at the 1979 election. He served as party spokesperson on public works from 1979 to 1982 when Labor was in opposition, and served as Minister for Soldier Settlement (1982), Minister for Forests and Minister For Lands (1982–1983), and Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands (1983–1985) in the first term of the Cain government after their 1982 election victory. Mackenzie was then appointed

, serving as the first Labor member ever to chair the traditionally conservative chamber from 1985 to 1988. In 1987, Mackenzie crossed the floor to vote with the conservative parties against Labor electoral reforms that he viewed as "blatantly political". The party moved to expel him for voting against the Labor caucus, and he resigned from the party in December, one day before the planned vote on his expulsion. He stepped down as President of the Legislative Council in 1988 when Labor refused to support him continuing in the role, and served out his term as an independent. Mackenzie sought to run for re-election at the 1992 state election under the banner of the Geelong Community Alliance, a group of independents he had founded and formally registered as a political party. The alliance, which included radio announcer Roger Kent and former Geelong trades hall secretary Malcolm Brough, received significant local media attention, but was unsuccessful, as Mackenzie was soundly defeated by Liberal candidate

Bill Hartigan William Anthony Neville Hartigan (9 November 1934 – 13 July 2023) was an Australian politician. Life and career Hartigan was born in Sydney and attended St Joseph's College in Hunters Hill. He studied economics at the Australian National Unive ...

and only Kent in the Legislative Assembly seat of

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

polled well enough for his preferences to affect the outcome. Mackenzie subsequently contested the 1996 local government elections for the

Shire of Golden Plains The Golden Plains Shire is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018, had a population of 23,120. It includes the towns of Bannockburn, Dereel, Gheringhap, Let ...

, but was unsuccessful. A long-time campaigner for

voluntary euthanasia Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years. Some forms of ...

, he has served as patron of Dying With Dignity Victoria and has been a frequent spokesperson in favour of law reform in this area. He has also campaigned with former opponent and Liberal minister Glyn Jenkins around issues of water supply to the Geelong region. In retirement, Mackenzie has also been an occasional columnist for the ''

Geelong Advertiser The ''Geelong Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper circulating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas. First published on 21 November 1840, the ''Geelong Advertiser'' is the oldest newspaper title in Victor ...

''. He received the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 1999 for his services to the Geelong community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Roderick 1933 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Independent members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia