Daryl Melham

Daryl Melham
MP
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Banks
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 March 1990
Preceded by John Mountford
Majority 1.5%
Personal details
Born 27 November 1954 (1954-11-27) (age 57)
Sydney, New South Wales
Nationality Australian
Political party Labor
Alma mater Sydney University
Occupation Solicitor
Website ALP web page

Daryl Melham (born 27 November 1954), Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1990, representing the Division of Banks, New South Wales. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, to a family of Lebanese descent[1] and studied Law and Economics at Sydney University. He was a barrister and solicitor and a public defender before entering politics. He has been Vice-President of the New South Wales Labor Party since 1999.

Melham worked as a solicitor with the Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales, specialising in criminal law from 1979 to 1987. He was subsequently admitted to the bar as a barrister, and was a public defender until his entry into federal politics in 1990. He is also a foundation member of the NSW Society of Labor Lawyers.

Melham entered the Opposition Shadow Ministry following Labor's electoral defeat in 1996. He served as Shadow Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs but resigned in 1998 after a policy disagreement with the then Labor leader Kim Beazley. He returned to the Opposition Shadow Ministry in 2001 and he was Shadow Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Local Government from December 2003, resigning from the front bench soon after the Labor Party's election defeat in October 2004.

Daryl Melham is a Life Member and President of the Revesby Workers' Club. In 2004 on ABC program The Chaser Decides he quipped that Alan Jones was a "closet socialist".

Melham and colleague Lindsay Tanner were the only Labor MPs to openly speak out against the Howard government's proposed anti-terrorism legislation which provides for harsher punishments for sedition and grants police new shoot-to-kill powers.

Melham also spoke out against the Howard government's changes to the rules concerning political donations, which allowed donations of up to $10,000 to be given to political parties without public disclosure.[2] Said Melham in May 2006:

"We're going to have the best politicians money can buy, but we won't see [how much].""[2]
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
John Mountford		 Member for Banks
1990–present		 Incumbent

External links

References

  1. ^ "Daryl Melham MP, First Speech To Parliament". Parliament of Australia. 1990-09-11. http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/firstspeech.asp?id=4T4. Retrieved 2008-07-20. 
  2. ^ a b "How red tape strangles the ballot boxes". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-09-01. http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/how-red-tape-strangles-the-ballot-boxes/2007/08/31/1188067365988.html. Retrieved 2007-09-01.