Robert Tickner

The Honourable
Robert Tickner
Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs
In office
4 April 1990  11 March 1996
Prime Minister Bob Hawke
Paul Keating
Preceded by Gerry Hand
Succeeded by John Herron
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Hughes
In office
18 February 1984  2 March 1996
Preceded by Les Johnson
Succeeded by Danna Vale
Personal details
Born 24 December 1951
Sydney, New South Wales
Nationality Australian
Political party Australian Labor Party
Occupation Lecturer, solicitor

Robert Edward Tickner (born 24 December 1951) is an Australian politician. He became Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Red Cross in February 2005.

Tickner was born in Sydney and educated at the University of Sydney. Prior to entering parliament, he worked as a university lecturer at the NSW Institute of Technology from 1974 to 1979, then as principal solicitor for the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service from 1979 to 1984.[1]

Tickner was one of the early and influential members of Friends of the Earth Australia in Sydney in 1975 being the lease owner of a three story terrace on Crown St, Surry Hills which became the FoE Sydney bookshop and office. He was convenor of the FoE urban campaign which opposed Sydney City Council inappropriate high rise development.[2]

From 1977 to 1984 he was elected as a Labor Councillor on the Sydney City Council,[3] He also served as Deputy Mayor and a brief time as Acting Lord Mayor (in 1983).[4][5]

After failing to gain election at the 1981 Wentworth by-election, Tickner was successful at the 1984 Hughes by-election as a Labor MP. He was Federal Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs from 1990 to 1996. His tenure in office was marred by the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy. Partly due to this affair, he was resoundingly defeated in the 1996 election by Liberal challenger Danna Vale, suffering an 11-point swing. He was one of three ministers in the Paul Keating government to lose his seat.[3]

He is the chief executive of the Australian Red Cross.[6]

Bibliography

Notes

  1. Linked In Public Profile, Robert Tickner, Retrieved 6 April 2015
  2. Cam Walker (ed) 2004, pp 17 Thirty Years of Creative Resistance. Retrieved 6 April 2015
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Biography for Tickner, the Hon. Robert Edward". ParlInfo Web. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
  4. Cam Walker (ed) 2004, pp 20 Thirty Years of Creative Resistance. Retrieved 6 April 2015
  5. City of Sydney, Robert Tickner, Sydney Aldermen website, Retrieved 6 April 2015
  6. Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Sean (20 February 2009). "Red Cross abandons annual appeal". ABC Online. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  7. "Taking a stand : land rights to reconciliation / Robert Tickner". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Les Johnson
Member for Hughes
1984 1996
Succeeded by
Danna Vale