Michael Randolph Freelander

FRACP Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, abbreviated as the post-nominal initials FRACP, is a recognition of the completion of the prescribed postgraduate specialist training programme in internal adult or internal paediatric medicin ...

(born 23 April 1953) is an Australian politician and

paediatrician Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

. He is a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

(ALP) and has held the Division of Macarthur in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

since the 2016 federal election.

Early life

Freelander 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 Mounta ...

. His father Selwyn was a dentist and president of

West Harbour RFC The West Harbour Rugby Football Club is a team in the Shute Shield, the premier club rugby union football competition in New South Wales. The club is based in Concord in the Inner West of Sydney, and plays home matches at Concord Oval. Concor ...

, while his mother Ruth was a preschool teacher. His paternal grandfather William Freelander arrived in Australia as a cabin boy and became mayor of Katoomba. Freelander attended Trinity Grammar School from 1965 to 1977 playing cricket and rugby and being appointed a prefect of the school. In the Higher School Certificate he qualified to study Medicine at

Sydney University 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 six ...

Medical career

Freelander studied medicine 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 ...

and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP). He trained as a

at the

Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children The Children's Hospital at Westmead (formerly Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children) is a children's hospital in Western Sydney. The hospital was founded in 1880 as "The Sydney Hospital for Sick Children". Its name was changed to the "Royal Alex ...

. In 1984 he moved to the Macarthur region of Sydney and established his own practice, also working at Camden and Campbelltown Hospitals for several decades. He additionally lectured at the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...

Politics

Freelander was elected to parliament at the 2016 federal election, defeating sitting Liberal member Russell Matheson in the Division of Macarthur. He was assisted by a favourable redistribution. He became the first Labor MP to hold Macarthur since the Keating Government lost the 1996 election, and gained increased majorities, after preference distribution, at the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

elections. Freelander has served on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport from 15 September 2016 and on the standing committee for Social Policy and Legal Affairs from 12 October 2016. He has also served as the Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport.

Personal life

Freelander has six children with his wife Sharon, and had five grandchildren as of 2016. He has said that he is "not a particularly religious Jew, but I still describe myself as Jewish".

References

1953 births Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macarthur Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Jewish Australian politicians Living people 21st-century Australian politicians Australian paediatricians University of Sydney alumni {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub