| Michael Moore | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Health and Community Care |
|
| In office 1998–2001 |
|
| Preceded by | Kate Carnell |
| Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly |
|
| In office 4 March 1989 – 18 February 1995 |
|
| Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly |
|
| In office 18 February 1995 – 20 October 2001 |
|
| Succeeded by | Katy Gallagher |
| Constituency | Molonglo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Michael John Moore 2 April 1950 |
| Nationality | Australia |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations |
Residents Rally Moore Independents |
| Residence | Canberra, ACT, Australia |
| Alma mater | Flinders University Adelaide University Australian National University |
| Profession | Teacher |
Michael John Moore (born 2 April 1950), former Australian politician and socially progressive health academic, was the first independent Member of any Australian Parliament to be appointed as a Minister to a Government Executive; serving as Minister of Health and Community Care from 1998 to 2001 in the Liberal minority government led by Chief Minister, Kate Carnell and later, Gary Humphries. Moore served four terms in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, from 1989 to 2001.[1]
Since 2008, Moore has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Health Association of Australia.[2]
In 1989 Moore was elected to the first mutlti-member single-constituency unicameral ACT Legislative Assembly on the Residents Rally party ticket, led by Bernard Collaery. Residents Rally secured four seats in the first Assembly, including Collaery, Moore, Norm Jensen, and Hector Kinloch. No party had won a majority, and Rosemary Follett's Labor Party formed a minority government. Moore resigned from Residents Rally on 24 October 1989 and sat in the Assembly as an independent.[1] He was re-elected at the single-consistuency 1992 general election, and at the 1995 and 1998 general elections, representing the electorate of Molonglo on a ticket called Moore Independents.
Moore was a social progressive who was responsible for the legalisation of prostitution,[3] the decriminalisation of cannabis[4] and who was a strong advocate for trialling the provision of heroin to dependent users.[5] He was a joint founder of the Australian Parliamentary Group on Drug Law Reform,[6] the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and sponsored the early meetings of the group Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform.[7] Despite, his socially progressive stance, he was criticised for accepting the role as Health Minister in the Liberal Government.[4][8]
Prior to politics Moore was a high school teacher and faculty head. He holds a post-graduate diploma in education, a master’s degree in population health and is an adjunct professor with the University of Canberra.[9] He was awarded a Master's Degree in Population Health at the Australian National University in December 1997. From November 2007 he has been a political and social columnist with the Canberra City News.[10] In January 2008, Moore was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Public Health Association of Australia[2] and has advocated, on behalf of its members, for retention of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre.[11][12]