Philip Ruddock

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Philip Ruddock
Philip Ruddock
Incumbent
Assumed office 
2003
Preceded by Daryl Williams
Succeeded by Incumbent
Born March 12, 1943
Canberra, Australia
Constituency Berowra
Political party Liberal Party of Australia
Religion Anglican (Christianity)

Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born March 12, 1943), Australian politician, is the Attorney-General in the Coalition Government of Australian Prime Minister John Howard. He also serves on the Board of Advisors of the Global Panel Foundation-Australasia.

Contents

[edit] Early Life

Ruddock was born in Canberra, the son of Max Ruddock, who was a Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He was educated at Barker College in the Sydney suburb of Hornsby and the University of Sydney, and became a solicitor. He joined the firm Berne, Murray and Tout, and was promoted to partner.

[edit] Elected to the House

In 1973, he was elected to the House of Representatives, as a Liberal member for the seat of Parramatta. He shifted to the seat of Dundas in 1977 and to Berowra in 1993. In the 1980s and early 1990s, he was an active member of the parliamentary group of Amnesty International.

Ruddock was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry from 1983 to 1985 and from 1989 to 1996. In 1988, while a backbencher, he "crossed the floor" to support a Labor move to ensure that immigration did not discriminate on the basis of race. Crossing the floor, or voting against a parliamentary party decision is unusual in Australian politics, although more so now than in 1988.

[edit] Immigration Minister

In 1996, when the Liberals gained office, Ruddock was appointed to the Cabinet as Immigration Minister. In this role, he presided over the Howard government's policies on asylum seekers. He maintained and extended the practice of mandatory detention of asylum seekers, and played a key role in both the Tampa crisis and Children overboard affair.

The asylum seekers issue played a role in the Liberal victory at the 2001 election, and Ruddock was subsequently rewarded with the additional portfolio of Indigenous Affairs. By 2001 he had become a high-profile figure enjoying considerable support within the Liberal Party, while being strongly opposed by left-wing activists and some human rights advocates. At one point he was one of the few senior ministers (besides the prime minister) to have needed personal security details.

Areas in Ruddock's portfolio and some of his decisions were highly controversial in Australian politics, and led to Amnesty International's public attempt to distance the organisation from him by asking him to remove his lapel badge.

In 2003, Ruddock was accused by the Labor immigration spokesperson, Julia Gillard, of personally intervening to give a Filipino with a criminal record, Dante Tan, favourable treatment in exchange for donations to the Liberal Party. Ruddock acknowledged his role in representing a constituent but strongly denied any linkage between his actions and any financial support for the Liberal Party.

[edit] Attorney General

Soon afterwards Ruddock was promoted to the position of Attorney-General in a ministerial shakeup. He is now responsible for the government's policy on national security, and has introduced legislation giving greater powers to Australia's security agency, ASIO. He has spoken out against the United States decision to ban torture: "The point the United States has made is that it will not use torture and those instructions have been given to their agencies and that may well limit the capacity of intelligence organisations in the future."[1] His views on the use of sleep deprivation in interrogation, expressed at the same time, are in contradiction to the Australian Defense Departments's "interrogators' handbook" which states that sleep deprivation is against the Geneva Convention[1].

Ruddock is the longest serving member of the House of Representatives or the Father of the House. His name had been mentioned in some circles as a potential deputy leader for the federal Liberal Party in the late 1990s. This possibility now seems remote.

In 2006, Philip Ruddock blocked a gay Australian man from marrying in Europe. Ruddock refused to grant a gay man living in the Netherlands a 'Certificate of No Impediment' document required by some European countries before marriage, to prove foreigners are in fact single. Ruddock decided that such documents were not to be released to gay and lesbians individuals intending to marry overseas [2]. The government made the statement, ""Following the advice of the Australian Attorney-General's Department we herewith certify that Australian law does not allow the issue of a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage to persons wishing to enter into a same-sex marriage." He went on to say that he did not believe there was community support for same-sex marriage.


[edit] Related article

[edit] External Links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/11/01/1162339918806.html The Age Army contradicts Ruddock on torture Sarah Smiles
Preceded by:
Ian Sinclair		 Longest serving member of the Australian House of Representatives
1998-present		 Succeeded by:
(current)
Preceded by:
Daryl Williams		 Attorney-General of Australia
2003-present		 Succeeded by:
(current)
Current Cabinet of Australia
Abbott | Andrews | Bishop | Brough | Campbell | Coonan | Costello | Downer | Howard | Macfarlane | McGauran | Minchin | Nelson | Ruddock | Truss | Vaile | Vanstone
Persondata
NAME Ruddock, Philip Maxwell
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH 12 March 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney, Australia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
  1. ^ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/11/01/1162339918806.html The Age Army contradicts Ruddock on torture Sarah Smiles
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