Wayne Bruce Berry (born 14 November 1942), 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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, was a member of the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...

from 1989 to 2008, representing the electorate of Ginninderra (from 1995–2008) for the Labor Party. Berry served as

Deputy Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

from 1991 to 1994,

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

from 1997 to 1998 and Speaker of the Assembly from 2001 to 2008.

Early years and background

Berry was born in

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 ...

and educated in

Taree Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distri ...

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 ...

. Prior to entering politics, Berry was active in the union movement and a member of the Labor Party's

left faction The Left Faction ( he, סיעת שמאל, ''Siat Smol'') was a short-lived political party in Israel. History The Left Faction was formed on 20 February 1952 (during the second Knesset) as a breakaway from Mapam in the aftermath of the Prague Tr ...

. He served in the New South Wales Fire Service from 1963 until 1972 and the

Australian Capital Territory Fire Brigade The ACT Fire and Rescue (previously known as ACT Fire Brigade) is the urban fire and rescue service for the Australian Capital Territory. It along with the ACT Ambulance Service, ACT State Emergency Service and ACT Rural Fire Service are part o ...

from 1972 until 1989. Berry is a Graduate Member of the Institute of Fire Engineers (UK). He was a member of the Federal Firefighters Union, serving as National President between 1986 and 1989.

Political career

Berry was elected the first Legislative Assembly, initially as a member in a

multi-member An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...

single electorate covering the entire

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

(ACT) at the 1989 ACT general election and re-elected at the 1992 general election. Berry stood for the electorate of Ginninderra at the 1995 general election and was re-elected; and again at the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

elections. He was the first Minister for Community Services and Health in the Follett-led Labor government in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...

. After a

vote of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

was passed on Follett, Berry was forced to cross-benches. Surprisingly, Follett's deputy,

Paul Whalan Paul Russell Whalan (born 10 July 1941) is an Australian political lobbyist, former politician and member of the first Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, representing Canberra for the Labor Party. Whalan was elected in 1989 and ...

resigned from the Assembly in November 1990 and Berry became Follet's deputy. In 1991, when Follett succeeded

Trevor Kaine Trevor Thomas Kaine (17 February 1928 – 3 June 2008), was an Australian politician who served as Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 1989 to 1991. Kaine was elected into a multi-member single electorate in the unicameral ...

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

, Berry again assumed responsibilities as

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

and became

. The responsibilities of industrial relations and sport were added, and he held all three portfolios until the a ministerial reshuffle in 1994 when

David Lamont Colin David Lamont (born 24 August 1953) is an Australian politician and was a member of the second Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, elected to the multi-member single constituency Assembly for the Labor Party in 1992. Lamont ...

replaced Berry in the ministry. During his time in the Assembly, Berry campaigned strongly on pro-choice and abortion decriminalisation initiatives. In the early years of the Assembly, anti-abortion activism was led by

Paul Osborne Paul Anthony Osborne (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, administrator and politician. He played first-grade rugby league for the St George Dragons and Canberra Raiders before serving as a ...

and

Dave Rugendyke David Ross Rugendyke (born 3 April 1953) is an Australian politician, and was a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly for the multi-member electorate of Ginninderra. Prior to entering politics, Rugendyke was a police of ...

. The Assembly legislated that a 72-hour "cooling-off" period was required before a woman who requested an abortion could access one. Additionally, "information" that must be provided to women considering abortions was significantly weighted in favour of the decision to continue with a pregnancy instead of having an abortion. Berry eventually successfully lobbied for abortion to be decriminalised in 2002. He became leader of the ALP in 1997 and his leadership ended when he led the party to defeat at the 1998 election. He and his predecessor Andrew Whitecross are the only ALP leaders who did not become Chief Ministers. Berry went on to serve as

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a title commonly held by presiding officers of parliamentary bodies styled legislative assemblies. The office is most widely used in state and territorial legislatures in Australia, and in provincial and ter ...

between 2001 and 2008. As Speaker, in 2006, he met with the

Australian Governor-General The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Michael Jeffery Major General Philip Michael Jeffery, (12 December 1937 – 18 December 2020) was a senior Australian Army officer and vice-regal representative. He was the 28th governor of Western Australia from 1993 to 2000, and the 24th governor-general of ...

and urged him not to disallow the ACT's civil union legislation. Berry asked that the Commonwealth suggest amendments that the ACT Legislative Assembly could make so that the law was acceptable to the Federal Government. The Governor-General passed the request to the Commonwealth Government. Two hours later, the Commonwealth Attorney-General

Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born 12 March 1943 in Canberra) is an Australian politician and the current mayor of Hornsby Shire. Ruddock is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and currently the state president of the party's New South W ...

and

Minister for Territories The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by following the swearing in of the full Albanese ministry on 1 June 2022. The Minister for Regio ...

Jim Lloyd James Eric Lloyd (born 17 July 1954) is an Australian former politician who served with the Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from the March 1996 election until the November 2007 election, representin ...

arrived at Government House and together with the Governor-General moved to disallow the ACT laws permitting civil unions. Berry retired from politics at the 2008 election. His daughter

Yvette Yvette is female given name, the French feminine form of Yves, which means yew or archer in some cases. Name days *Czech Republic: ''7 June'' *Hungary: ''13 January'', ''6 May'' and ''29 June'' *Poland: ''13 January'' *Slovakia: ''27 May'' ...

was elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly at the 2012 election and she in 2016 she became Deputy Chief Minister, a position that Wayne himself held between 1991 and 1994.

References

External links

* http://www.wayneberry.net/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Wayne Deputy Chief Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 1942 births Living people Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Speakers of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in the Australian Capital Territory 21st-century Australian politicians