Robert Leslie Brown (born 1950/1951) is an Australian politician. He was a

Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (SFF) is an Australian political party. It primarily advocates for increased funding and services for rural and regional Australia, protecting the right to farm, enhancing commercial and recreational fishi ...

member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

from 2006, when he filled a casual vacancy sparked by the retirement of long-time party leader

John Tingle John Saxon Tingle (2 November 1931 – 5 August 2022) was an Australian politician, journalist and broadcaster. He was the founder of the Shooters Party in New South Wales, and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1995 ...

, until 2019, when he was defeated for preselection by Mark Banasiak.

Background and early years

Brown was born into a working-class family in the Sydney suburb of

Leichhardt Leichhardt may refer to: * Division of Leichhardt, electoral District for the Australian House of Representatives * Leichhardt Highway, a highway of Queensland, Australia * Leichhardt Way, an Australian road route * Leichhardt, New South Wales, inn ...

. He was raised and attended school in the Ryde district, where he took an interest in hunting. He left school in 1966 at the age of 15 to take an apprenticeship as a fitter and turner at the

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

, rising to become plant superintendent. Brown left the dockyard in 1978 to take up a management position with a subsidiary of

Lend Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

, and remained with the group when it was sold to

James Hardie Industries James Hardie Industries plc is a global building materials company and the largest global manufacturer of fibre cement products. Headquartered in Ireland, it is a dual-listed company, being listed on the Australian and New York Stock Exchanges. ...

in 1985. He was also involved in a partnership operating a game fishing charter business in

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

from the 1970s until 1982. He is married with two sons.

Political career

Shooters Party

Having taken an interest in hunting from an early age, Brown joined the Shooters Party soon after its creation. He was elected to the state committee in 1994, and served in that role until his election as party chairman in 2005. Brown also became involved with a number of shooting lobby groups, serving as state president of the

Australian Deer Association The Australian Deer Association Inc (ADA) is an Australian not-for-profit association incorporated in South Australia with branches in all states and territories. The Australian Deer Association was established on September 5, 1969 (first named as ...

from 1995 to 1998 and becoming a life member of the

Sporting Shooters Association of Australia The Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia (SSAA) is a federated non-government organisation established in 1948 as a representative body to promote shooting sports and protect the legal rights and interests of firearm owners in Australia ...

. When the Shooters Party held the balance of power in the

Legislative Council of New South Wales The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

, Brown exerted pressure for the passage of the ''

Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002 The ''Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002'' is an act to manage and regulate the hunting of game in New South Wales in Australia. The Act established the Game Council New South Wales. See also *Hunting in Australia Australia has a populati ...

'', which saw the establishment of the

Game Council New South Wales Game Council New South Wales was a statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales established in 2002 pursuant to the '' Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002'' ('the Act'), subject to the control and direction of the Minister for P ...

and a reduction in restrictions upon hunting of feral animals. However, a government review of the governance of the Game Council, completed in 2013 found that: The Game Council was abolished on 4 July 2013.

New South Wales parliament

Brown's role as Chairman of the Shooters Party meant that he emerged as a leading contender to enter parliament when long-serving MLC and party leader John Tingle announced his intention to retire in late 2005. Brown was duly confirmed by the party's state conference, and, when Tingle formally resigned in May 2006, Brown was appointed to the resulting casual vacancy in the Legislative Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Robert Leslie Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Living people Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party politicians 21st-century Australian politicians 1950s births