Paul Anthony Edward Everingham (born 4 February 1943) is a former Australian politician who was the

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

of Australia from 1977 to 1984, serving as the second and last Majority Leader (1977–1978) and the first

Chief Minister of the Northern Territory The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier. When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government wa ...

from 1978 to 1984. He represented the northern Darwin seat of Jingili in the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method fo ...

from 1974 to 1984. He was then elected to the federal

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 ...

, representing the

between 1984 and 1987. He was a member of the

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

while in territory and federal parliament, and sat with the

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 ...

in federal parliament. After federal parliament, he continued to be a member of the Liberal Party and was the president of the Queensland state division of the party.

Territory politics

Everingham was elected to the northern Darwin seat of Jingili in the newly-created

in October 1974. He briefly served as Deputy Majority Leader (the equivalent of a deputy premier in the states) under

Goff Letts Godfrey Alan "Goff" Letts (born 18 January 1928) is the former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Majority Leader of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1974 to 1977. Born in Donald, Victoria, Letts attended Melbourne Grammar Sc ...

from 1974 to 1975. He remained on the backbench for the remainder of the First Assembly. Just months after being re-elected to the legislature, he was named leader of the CLP and Majority Leader after Letts was unexpectedly defeated in his own electorate despite the CLP comfortably winning another term in government. He thus oversaw the transition to self-government, which occurred in 1978. At that time, he became Chief Minister with greatly expanded powers. As the second and longest-serving head of government in the Territory, he led the CLP to comprehensive election victories in 1980 and 1983. During his tenure, the Northern Territory was essentially a one-party state; he never faced more than seven opposition MLAs.

Federal politics

In October 1984, Everingham resigned as CLP leader and from the Legislative Assembly to seek election to 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 of the ...

for the

Division of Northern Territory The Division of Northern Territory was an Australian Electoral Division in the Northern Territory for the Parliament of Australia. Throughout its existence, it was the only Division in the Northern Territory. At the redistribution of 21 Decembe ...

in the upcoming 1984 federal election. He was initially heavily favoured against

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 labour ...

incumbent John Reeves. However, Reeves significantly closed the gap during the campaign. On election day, the race was very close, but Everingham's first-count lead proved too much for Reeves to overcome. He was elected on the fourth count, winning by 1,800 votes. After his election, both the Liberal and National parties sought his membership in federal parliament. In December 1984, Everingham declared he would sit with the Liberal Party. Reflecting on his service as Northern Territory Chief Minister, Everingham was immediately appointed to the Opposition frontbench by Liberal leader

Andrew Peacock Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the par ...

as Shadow Minister for Local Government and Northern Development. He was a member of the shadow ministry until September 1985 when Peacock was replaced as Liberal leader by

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 s ...

. It was reported that Everingham supported Peacock in the latter's attempt to retain party leadership, and Howard reportedly had a "low opinion" of Everingham's ability and hence dumping the latter from the shadow ministry. It was reported in December 1985 that Everingham and his family had planned to move to Brisbane. He retired at the 1987 election.

Post-federal politics

After his time in the House of Representatives, Everingham served as President of the Queensland Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He resigned as Queensland Liberal President in 1994 in abrupt circumstances. He had supported a merger of the Liberal and National Parties in Queensland but negotiations on this broke down. Liberal officials denied this was the reason for his resignation. The two parties would eventually merge in 2008 into the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

. In 2019, Everingham and two other former CLP chief ministers,

Marshall Perron Marshall Bruce Perron (born 5 February 1942) is a former Australian politician, who was a Country Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly in the Northern Territory from the formation of the Assembly in 1974 until his resignation in 1995 ...

and

Shane Stone Shane Leslie Stone (born 25 September 1950) is an Australian political figure. He is currently the Chair of the Council for the Order of Australia. He was also the Coordinator-General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency and its pre ...

, called for "fresh blood" to replace retiring CLP senator

Nigel Scullion Nigel Gregory Scullion (born 4 May 1956) is a former Australian politician who was a Australian Senate, Senator for the Northern Territory from 2001 to 2019. He was a member of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) and sat with the National Party of A ...

References

External links

Biography for EVERINGHAM, the Hon. Paul Anthony Edward
(ParlInfo)
Northern Territory University honorary doctorate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Everingham, Paul Country Liberal Party members of the Parliament of Australia Chief Ministers of the Northern Territory Deputy Chief Ministers of the Northern Territory Officers of the Order of Australia Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Northern Territory Living people 1943 births Attorneys-General of the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia