Stephen Shane Parry (born 31 October 1960) is an Australian politician who was a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

senator for

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

from 2005 to 2017. He was elected

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

in 2014. On 31 October 2017, Parry informed the government that he may be a British citizen, and issued his intention to resign from his position if dual nationality was confirmed. The next day he reported that he had received confirmation of his dual citizenship and, on 2 November, he resigned as president and from the Senate. He was replaced in the Senate by next Liberal Party Tasmanian Senate candidate and former senator

Richard Colbeck Richard Mansell Colbeck (born 5 April 1958) is an Australian politician. He has been a Senator for Tasmania since 2018, representing the Liberal Party, and served a previous term in the Senate from 2002 to 2016. Colbeck served as the Minister ...

after a recount.

Early life

Parry was born on 31 October 1960 in

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popu ...

, Tasmania, to William Stephen ("Bill") Parry (1940–2015) and Patricia Dawn Evans; his father had been born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, UK and had emigrated to Australia in the 1950s. He was educated at Burnie's

Marist Regional College Marist Regional College is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, secondary school, located in Parklands, a suburb of Burnie, Tasmania, Australia. Marist Regional College is part of the Marist Schools Australia MSA network of catholic high schoo ...

, after which he enrolled at the Tasmania Police Academy in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Career

Parry was employed as an officer with the

Tasmanian Police Tasmania Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Tasmania. Established in 1899, the force has more than 1,300 officers policing Tasmania's population of over half a million people. History Colonial history Prior ...

from 1977 to 1986, and was promoted to detective in 1983. After leaving the police force, he completed a certificate in

Mortuary Science Mortuary science is the study of deceased bodies through mortuary work. The term is most often applied to a college curriculum in the United States that prepares a student for a career as a mortician or funeral director. Many also study embalmi ...

at the Australian College of Funeral Service, and was a

funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

from 1986 to 2004, becoming president of the Australian Funeral Directors Association. Parry performed a significant role in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, acting as the Team Leader of the Embalming Team. Parry was also president of the Burnie Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2000 to 2004, and a director of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2000 to 2005.

Politics

In 2004, Parry was elected to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

for the state of Tasmania as a member of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

. He was elected government deputy

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in the Senate in November 2006 and government whip in April 2007 in succession to the late Senator

Jeannie Ferris Jeannie Margaret Ferris (née Whitlow; 14 March 1941 – 2 April 2007) was an Australian politician, lobbyist, journalist, and Liberal Senator for South Australia. Early life Ferris was born in Auckland, New Zealand. She was educated at Monash ...

. Senator Parry was elected opposition whip after the 2007 federal election, and on 16 February 2009, in addition to his role as whip, he was appointed manager of

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

business in the Senate. On 4 July 2011, Parry was elected by the Senate as the deputy president and chairman of committees, replacing Alan Ferguson. On 7 July 2014, the Senate elected him as its president. On 31 October 2017, Parry informed the government he believed he may be a British citizen through descent, which would disqualify him from sitting in Parliament under Section 44 of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. The next day he confirmed he did indeed hold dual British-Australian citizenship and announced he would be resigning as senate president and Senator for Tasmania on 2 November 2017. Upon the election of his successor, there was all-party praise for Parry's performance as President. Parry's senate position was filled by

who was sworn in on 12 February 2018.

Post-politics

In 2019, Parry was appointed to the

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) is an Australian tribunal that conducts independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT review decisions made by Australian Gover ...

as a part-time member with an initial term of seven years.

References

External links

Stephen Parry, Senate Biography

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Stephen Parry on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Stephen 1960 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania Presidents of the Australian Senate Australian police officers Funeral directors People from Burnie, Tasmania 21st-century Australian politicians Australian people of British descent