Ross Vincent Free (born 7 March 1943) is a former Australian politician who served as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

representing the seat of Macquarie from 1980 until 1984, then Lindsay from 1984 until 1996. He served as a minister from 1990 until 1996 in both the Hawke and Keating ministries.

Biography

Free was born in

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council. Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in ...

, and completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Graduate Diploma of Education 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 ...

, following which he worked as a school teacher. Free won Labor preselection for the outer Sydney federal seat of Macquarie ahead of the 1980 election, and defeated the incumbent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member Reg Gillard. He served as a member of several house standing parliamentary committees, in opposition and then in government upon Hawke winning the prime ministership in 1983. When a redistribution ahead of the 1984 election erased most of his majority in Macquarie, he transferred to the newly created seat of Lindsay, based around Penrith. In 1985 he led a delegation to the European Parliamentary Institutions in Strasbourg and Berlin, and again in Germany in 1986. After the 1990 election, at which Hawke won a fourth term, Free was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister in the Fourth Hawke Ministry. Following

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

's first, and unsuccessful, challenge for the leadership in June 1991, a number of changes were made to the ministry, with Free being promoted to

Minister for Science and Technology A Science Ministry or Department of Science is a ministry or other government agency charged with science. The ministry is often headed by a Minister for Science. List of Ministries of Science Many countries have a Ministry of Science or Ministry ...

and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Science. Hawke was ultimately defeated in a second challenge on 20 December 1991, and Free continued in the First Keating Ministry in the same portfolios. After the 1993 election, he served in the Second Keating Ministry as Minister for Schools, Vocational Education and Training. He was one of several ministers to lose his seat at the 1996 election, at which

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

became Prime Minister. Free went into the election sitting on a seemingly daunting margin of 10.2 percent, but lost Lindsay to

candidate

Jackie Kelly Jacqueline Marie Kelly (born 18 February 1964) is a former Australian politician who served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until November 2007, representing the Division of Lindsay, New South Wale ...

on a swing of almost 12 percent—one of 13 Labor MPs from New South Wales to lose his seat. Kelly was subsequently found to have run while still a serving RAAF officer, and both contested the resulting by-election (as did 10 other candidates), but Free lost by a greater margin.

References

Publications

* (White Paper, 52 pages) * (Statement in response to Standing Committee report, 4 pages) {{DEFAULTSORT:Free, Ross 1943 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macquarie Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Lindsay Members of the Australian House of Representatives University of Sydney alumni 20th-century Australian politicians