Graeme Campbell (politician) explained

Graeme Campbell
Constituency Mp:Kalgoorlie
Parliament:Australian
Predecessor:Mick Cotter
Successor:Barry Haase
Term Start:18 October 1980
Term End:3 October 1998
Office2:Leader of the Australia First Party
Predecessor2:Position established
Term Start2:June 1996
Term End2:June 2001
Birth Date:1939 8, df=yes
Birth Place:Oxfordshire, England
Nationality:English Australian
Spouse:Michele (née Lelievre)
Party:Labor (1980–95)
Independent (1995–96, 2004–present)
Australia First (1996–2001)
One Nation (2001–2004)
Occupation:Various

Graeme Campbell (born 13 August 1939) is an Australian far-right politician. Campbell represented the seat of Kalgoorlie in the Australian House of Representatives from 1980 to 1998 as a member of the Australian Labor Party.[1] Campbell later founded the nationalist Australia First Party, before joining Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

Biography

Campbell was born in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, and came to Australia as a child. He was educated at Urrbrae Agricultural High School in South Australia. In 1972, Campbell met his future wife, French-Australian Michele Lelievre, at a sheep station in the Nullarbor Plain.[2] Campbell worked in a range of occupations before entering federal parliament in October 1980 as the Labor member for Kalgoorlie.

Considered a maverick, he was an ardent supporter of the mining industry,[3] and crossed the floor on gold tax in 1988,[4] and was also a vocal critic of the Mabo decision[5] and sanctions on the apartheid regime in South Africa, and a proponent of uranium mining. In October 1993, and again in May 1995, he delivered a speech at the national seminar of the Australian League of Rights, a far-right group for which he was believed to hold sympathies,[6] and in by-elections in Mackellar and Warringah (safe Liberal seats on the Northern Beaches of Sydney) in 1994, he urged electors to vote for Australians Against Further Immigration (AAFI).[7]

After numerous run-ins with the Labor leadership and considerable media attention to his exploits, he was finally expelled from the party on 30 November 1995[8] after addressing an AAFI meeting where he criticised Labor's immigration policies. He continued to sit in parliament as an independent, and was reelected as an independent in the 1996 election,[9] when he only received 35% of the primary vote, but defeated the Labor candidate, former Deputy Premier of Western Australia Ian Taylor, on Liberal preferences.

In June 1996, Campbell founded the Australia First Party,[10] but was officially reckoned as an independent. He was defeated for reelection at the 1998 federal election[9] after being eliminated on the seventh count.[11] Campbell blamed his loss on Australia First being eclipsed by One Nation. In 2009, he claimed that, if not for the presence of a One Nation candidate, he would have picked up an additional 8.5% of the vote, which would have been enough to keep him in the race.[12]

He remained Australia First's leader until June 2001, when he left the party to stand (unsuccessfully) as a One Nation Senate candidate in Western Australia. In 2004, he attempted unsuccessfully to regain his old federal seat as an independent.[9] He stood for the Senate in Western Australia at the 2007 federal election as an independent, but only achieved 0.13% of the vote.[13]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biography for Campbell, Graeme . https://archive.today/20121128013936/http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=BIOGS&Criteria=NAME_ID:CF4; . dead . 2012-11-28 . . August 2008 . 24 January 2010.
  2. Web site: 4 March 2018. Finding love in the regions: 'A different set of rules apply'. .
  3. News: The Age. 2 October 1986. Dust Makes the Wealth of Kalgoorlie and its Golden Mile. Catherine Menagh.
  4. Web site: House of Representatives Official Hansard . 9 December 1999 . 37 . 24 March 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091026141708/http://Brendan.O%7CWA%7CConnor.MP@aph.gov.au/hansard/reps/dailys/dr091299.pdf . 26 October 2009 . dmy.
  5. Web site: The Graeme Campbell Tragedy . 3 December 1993 . On Target . 24 January 2010 . Eric D. Butler . Australian League of Rights . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090916075856/http://www.alor.org/Volume29/Vol29No47.htm . 16 September 2009 . dmy.
  6. Web site: The Campbell Affair and the League of Rights . 11 August 1995 . On Target . 24 January 2010 . David Thompson . Australian League of Rights . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090916115845/http://www.alor.org/Volume31/Vol31No30.htm . 16 September 2009 . dmy.
  7. Book: Jupp, James . From white Australia to Woomera: the story of Australian immigration . . Cambridge . 2002 . 136 . 978-0-521-53140-5.
  8. Web site: The Decline in Support for Australian Major Parties and the Prospect of Minority Government . Scott Bennett . 16 February 1999 . 24 January 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100713000218/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/1998-99/99rp10.htm . 13 July 2010 . dmy.
  9. Web site: Kalgoorlie. ABC News. Australia Votes 2007. 21 December 2007. Green. Antony. Antony Green. 24 January 2010.
  10. Web site: The Eight Core Policies of the Australia First Party . https://web.archive.org/web/20070612213249/http://www.australiafirstparty.com.au/cms/ . dead . 12 June 2007 . 2005 . 24 January 2010.
  11. http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1998/1998repswa.txt 1998 Western Australia election results
  12. Destiny Magazine, Issue No. 6
  13. Web site: Senate Results Western Australia. ABC News. Federal Election 2007. 2007. ?Antony Green. 24 January 2010.