Gary Humphries

Infobox Politician (general)
name =Gary Humphries
nationality =Australian


order =4th Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
term_start =18 October 2000
term_end =5 November 2001
deputy =
predecessor =Kate Carnell
successor =Jon Stanhope
birth_date =Birth date and age|1958|7|6|df=y
birth_place =Sydney, New South Wales
death_date =
death_place =
constituency =
party =Liberal Party of Australia
spouse =Cathie Humphries
Children =Felix and Owain
profession =Australian Senator
religion =


footnotes =|

Gary John Joseph Humphries (born 6 July 1958) is a member of the Australian Senate from the Australian Capital Territory. He represents the Liberal Party of Australia.

Humphries was born in Sydney in 1958 and went to the Australian National University in Canberra where he was elected President of the ANU Students' Association. He worked as a solicitor and political adviser before his election to the ACT Legislative Assembly in 1989. He served in the ministry of Trevor Kaine and in the Kaine and Carnell shadow ministries. When Kate Carnell became the Chief Minister in 1995, Humphries became a member of her team. In 1997 he became Deputy Chief Minister and in 1999 Treasurer (finance minister). In 2000 he succeeded Carnell as Chief Minister. At the 2001 ACT election Humphries was defeated by the Australian Labor Party under Jon Stanhope.

In December 2002, Humphries was elected by the party membership as nominee to fill a forthcoming casual vacancy in the Senate caused by the announced resignation of Margaret Reid. Reid formally resigned on 14 February 2003, and Humphries was elected by the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly on 18 February to fill the casual vacancy.

In 2004 there was speculation the Liberals would reject his preselection for the Senate spot, but he won the ballot unopposed 97 votes to 43 votes (43 people voted for 'none of the above'). [Scott Hannaford, 'Humphries may face rebel Liberals', "Canberra Times", 21 Apr 2004.] [Andrew Fraser, "Humphries to recontest poll", "Canberra Times", 24 April 2007.] Unopposed in the pre-selection ballot held on 26 June 2007, he was chosen to contest the election later that year.

Gary Humphries was the first Liberal senator to vote against the Howard Government in its 10 years in office, when he voted to reverse the Federal Government's ban on the ACT's civil unions law in the Senate, however there is controversy over the reason why he did this. [ [http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,19478808-421,00.html "Gay civil union fight not over, says ACT"] , News.com.au June 15, 2006] In the Senate, Humphries has served on several Australian Senate committees, including the Select Committee on Mental Health (2005-2006). In September 2006 Humphries became Chairman of the Standing Committee on Community Affairs. [Australian Senate, [http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=BIOGS&Criteria=NAME_ID:KO6%3B Biography of Senator Gary Humphries] ]

Humphries' Senate seat was targeted in the 2007 election by online activist organisation GetUp, as part of their broader campaign to prevent any one political party from having a majority of the seats in the federal upper house. [GetUp!, [http://www.getup.org.au/ home page] , retrieved October 2007] [Kerry-Anne Walsh, [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/10/27/1192941400143.html 'Trio gang up to beat Senate majority'] , "Sun Herald", 28 October 2007] The profile of the campaign was bolstered by polling that suggested that for the first time a coalition Senator might struggle to retain their seat in the ACT. [Emma Macdonald, 'Battle to break Senate control begins in ACT', "Canberra Times", 15 October 2007] Normally, the two Senate seats in each Australian territory are considered safely in the hands of the two major parties owing to the very high quota of votes required to win a territory seat under the Australian electoral system.

Despite the GetUp campaign Humphries easily won his senate seat and the Coalition retained control of the Senate until July 2008.

Gary Humphries has a wife, Cathie, and two sons, Felix(15) and Owain (12).

References