Peter Debnam
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| Peter Debnam | |
 Former NSW Liberal leader Peter Debnam |
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| In office 1 September 2005 – 2 April 2007 |
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| Preceded by | John Brogden |
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| Succeeded by | Barry O'Farrell |
| Constituency | Vaucluse |
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| Born | 21 April 1954 Sydney, New South Wales  |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Spouse | Deborah Debnam |
| Children | Ben and Angela {Step-Children} |
| Website | http://www.peterdebnam.com.au |
Peter John Debnam (born 21 April 1954), is an Australian politician and member for the New South Wales seat of Vaucluse. He is a former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Western Sydney, Redfern/Waterloo and Citizenship. He also held the shadow portfolios of Infrastructure and Energy, but is currently a backbencher.
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[edit] Biography
Debnam was educated at the Royal Australian Naval College, where he graduated in 1974. He served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1972 to 1980. During his Naval career, Debnam served on many ships including the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, destroyer escort HMAS Torrens, destroyers HMAS Vampire and HMAS Anzac and patrol boats HMAS Attack and HMAS Barricade. After leaving the Navy, Debnam studied at the Macquarie University Graduate School of Management, where he gained an MBA. He held positions at Dalgety Farmers Limited, Hawker de Havilland and Australian Aircraft Consortium before entering politics.[1]
In 1994 Debnam was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as Liberal member for Vaucluse. The following year the Liberal government was defeated by Labor under Bob Carr. Between 1997 and 2005 Debnam was successively Shadow Minister for Housing and for Planning and Urban Affairs, Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Transport, Shadow Minister for Police and Shadow Minister for Transport Services.[2]
Following Brogden's sudden resignation as Liberal Leader, Barry O'Farrell, as Deputy Leader, was initially the favourite to become leader, but Debnam steadily gained ground as he lobbied Liberal MPs, and on 31 August O'Farrell withdrew from the contest.
He led the Liberal/National coalition to defeat in the 2007 state election. The Coalition gained a total of four seats from Labor and independents -- too few to significantly reduce Labor's majority. Following the election, Deputy Liberal Leader and member for Ku-ring-gai, Barry O'Farrell challenged Debnam for the Liberal leadership, and on 2 April 2007 Debnam withdrew from the contest. On 11 April 2007 O'Farrell appointed Debnam as opposition infrastructure and energy spokesman.[3] He resigned in May 2008 because of his party's decision to support the Labor Government's plan to privatise the electricity system.[4]
[edit] Allegations against Attorney General
On 16 November 2006, Debnam suggested under Parliamentary Privilege that NSW Attorney General Bob Debus was under investigation by the Police Integrity Commission. In response the Government released a Police report stating that a minister had been the subject of complaints (not an investigation) which were dismissed in 2003 as spurious and groundless. The report did not name the minister concerned as it was deemed to be 'not in the public interest'.[5] When Mr Debnam declined to provide evidence to support his claims, he was censured by Parliament for misleading the House.[6]
It was subsequently reported that Mr Debnam's source for the accusation was a convicted child sex offender and bank robber with a history of making unsubstantiated allegations.[7] Opinion poll support for the Opposition leader declined markedly in the wake of the allegations,[8] which also distracted attention from a campaign against the Government over the sacking of Ministers Milton Orkopoulos and Carl Scully.
[edit] Family
Peter is married to wife Deborah and has two stepchildren, Ben and Angela, and a grandson, Bill.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Peter Debnam, Opposition Leader. Liberal Party of Australia. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ Mr Peter John Debnam, MBA MP. Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
- ^ "Debnam lands role in O'Farrell cabinet", The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 April 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ Debnam's backbench retreat over power plan - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
- ^ "Allegations against Debus 'spurious'", The Australian, 2006-11-17. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
- ^ "Parliament censures Debnam over Debus claims", Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2006-11-16. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ ""Rotten" Debnam refuses to apologise", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2006-11-21. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ "Election becomes race for the biggest loser", The Sydney Morning Herald, 2006-11-21. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
[edit] References
- Marr, David. "Interview with Peter Debnam", "Debnam's not drowning, he's waving", The Sydney Morning Herald, September 2, 2006 page 25. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
