Christopher John Back (born 11 February 1950) is a former 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 ...

member of 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

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 2009 until his resignation in 2017.

Early life and education

Back was born in

Perth 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 ...

and was educated at

Aquinas College, Perth , motto_translation = Truth ConquersMassam, p. 18 , location = Salter Point, Perth, Western Australia , country = Australia , patron = Saint Thomas Aquinas , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Perth , pushpin_image ...

. In 1971, he graduated from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

and was then posted to Merredin as a Veterinary Officer in 1972. He served there until being transferred to Moora in 1974. In the middle of that year, Back resigned and went into racehorse practice in

Caulfield, Victoria Caulfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Caulfield recorded a population of 5,748 at the 2021 census. It is bound ...

. Back lectured in Animal Science and Production at

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

(

Muresk Institute Muresk Institute is an educational, training, research, conference and function facility based in Northam, situated approximately east of Perth, in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Until 1985 it was known as Muresk Agricultural Colleg ...

) from 1975 to 1988. During this period, he also spent time at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

in 1980 and 1984, working in the Department of Equine Reproduction. At Muresk, Back developed Australia’s first tertiary course in Equine Management in 1977. Graduates were then able to find a range of employment internationally because of this. In a change of career direction, he was then appointed as the first CEO of the

Rottnest Island Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...

Authority and served for seven years in the mid-1990s. Back was then CEO of the WA Bush Fires Board. In this role, Back introduced water bombing aircraft and updated volunteer equipment. He received the Prime Minister's Gold Award for technological achievement recognising the work undertaken in using satellites to track wildfires in remote locations. Back then moved to

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

and purchased the wholesale and retail businesses of the

Shell Company A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...

, which was his introduction to the Oil and Gas industry. He continued to work in Australia, South East Asia, India and the Middle East servicing oil majors and military clients and subsequently assisting in the establishment of a multi-national oil and gas services company until 2008. In 2012, he was awarded the Kendall Prize by the Australian Veterinary Association for his service to the profession in Australia.

Political career

In 2009, Back was appointed by a joint sitting of the

Western Australian Parliament The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...

to replace

Chris Ellison Chris Ellison may refer to: * Chris Ellison (actor) (born 1946), English actor * Chris Ellison (politician) Christopher Martin Ellison (born 15 June 1954) is an Australian lawyer and former politician. He served as a Senator for Western Austral ...

, who had resigned that January. Back was sworn into the Senate as a Liberal Senator for Western Australia on 11 March 2009. He was the first veterinarian elected to the Senate of the Federal Parliament. In the 44th Parliament, Back was chairman of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislative Committee. Before that he was chairman of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee, and actively contributed to the Rural Affairs and Transport committee, where his main focus centred around biosecurity, food and animal health, and the welfare of agricultural industries generally. He was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Gambling Reform and involved in multiple hearings, including: animal welfare standards in Australia’s live export markets; reform of the Australian Federation; and review of the Professional Services Review (PSR) Scheme. He was Deputy Whip in the Senate in 2012. On 13 June 2017, Back announced his intention to resign from the Senate, with the following sitting week to be his last. In July, the WA Liberal Party preselected

Slade Brockman William Edward Slade Brockman (born 27 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has served as a Senator for Western Australia since 2017, representing the Liberal Party. He was elected President of the Australian Senate in October 2021 followi ...

to be appointed in Back's place. He delayed his resignation until 31 July 2017.

Personal life

Back married in 1974 and has three children.

References

External links

Official website

APH biography

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senitor Chris Back on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Back, Chris 1950 births Living people Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Australian veterinarians Male veterinarians University of Queensland alumni Abbott Government Turnbull Government 21st-century Australian politicians