Paul Russell Whalan (born 10 July 1941) is an Australian political

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

, former

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, ...

and member of the first

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 ...

, representing

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

for the Labor Party. Whalan was elected in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and resigned from the Assembly on 30 April 1990. During his short term in the Assembly, Whalan served as the first

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 ter ...

and the first Minister with responsibilities for industry, employment and education in the first ACT Government led by

Rosemary Follett Rosemary Follett (born 27 March 1948) is a former Australian politician who was the inaugural Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, serving in 1989 and again between 1991 and 1995. She was the first woman to become head of gover ...

. Prior to entering politics, Whalan served as the ACT secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association and as Senior Adviser to five Ministers in the Hawke Labor federal government. Whalan now runs his own political lobbying business in Canberra.

References

Deputy Chief Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 1941 births Living people Members of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly {{Australia-Labor-politician-stub