Ian Macphee
Encyclopedia
Ian Malcolm Macphee AO (born 13 July 1938) is an Australia
n former politician
who was a member of the House of Representatives
from 1974 until 1990. He is best known for his contributions in developing Australian multiculturalism
and for being one of the most prominent moderate Liberal Party of Australia
politicians.
in 1938, Macphee studied at the University of Sydney
and the University of Hawaii
, attaining a Bachelor in Law and a Master in Arts, before moving to Melbourne
where he served as Director of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce.
In 1974 he won the blue-ribbon seat of Balaclava
as the Liberal candidate. After the Liberals gained government under the leadership of Malcolm Fraser
the following year, Macphee initially remained on the backbench
, but in November 1976 Macphee was promoted to the junior ministry
where he served as Minister for Productivity.
as the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs
. Fraser and MacKellar had already adopted the recommendations of the Galbally
report, which led to a new framework for migrant settlement. Macphee, with the full support of Fraser, continued the pace of reform, allowing large numbers of Indochinese refugees into Australia and he also introduced a family reunion scheme for these refugees. Macphee was assisted by receiving full bipartisan support from the shadow
Immigration Minister Mick Young
.
In the 1980
and the 1983 elections
, Macphee retained his seat defeating Labor candidate Chris Kennedy. Macphee helped oversee the introduction of the Special Broadcasting Service
. He played an important role in the opening of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs and he would work with the Institute's director, Petro Georgiou
, in overseeing government policy in this area.
After his retirement Macphee described his time as Immigration Minister as the most 'exciting...[and] absolutely enriching' time of during his period in parliament.
Macphee became a Cabinet minister in May 1982 when Fraser promoted him to Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs
. Macphee defended the role of compulsory arbitration
as a means to protect wages in spite of pressure from the more conservative elements within the party, and held this post until the Fraser Government was defeated in March 1983.
(wet) and the conservative
(dry) forces within the party. Macphee, as one of the party's leading moderates, became a strong supporter of Andrew Peacock
, who defeated John Howard
for the leadership of the party. Macphee remained in Shadow Cabinet, continuing as shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations before he was given the job of shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs after the 1984 election.
In 1985 Howard successfully challenged for the leadership but kept Macphee in the Shadow Cabinet, although he became shadow Minister for Communications. Macphee kept this position until April 1987 when Howard sacked him despite not having any significant reason to do so.
In 1988 Howard commented that immigration from Asia
should be slowed down. This position attracted criticism from the Labor Party
but also many of his colleagues in the Liberal Party, especially from those who had implemented multicultural policies under Fraser. In order to expose Liberal divisions on the issue, Prime Minister
Bob Hawke
moved a motion in Parliament
that race or ethnic origin should never be a criterion for becoming an immigrant to Australia. Macphee was one of the several Liberals who crossed the floor
to support the motion and he received support from prominent Liberal Party politicians such as Nick Greiner
and Jeff Kennett
for his stand.
for his seat of Goldstein
(Balaclava having been abolished in 1984). This challenge was portrayed in the media
as a 'wet' versus 'dry' battle, although some commentators, such as Gerard Henderson
, argued that Macphee had simply lost the support of the Liberal members in his electorate. Macphee blamed his loss on his decision to oppose Howard's position on Asian immigration. This event further crippled an already divided party and contributed to Howard losing the leadership back to Peacock in May 1989.
With the next election not due until 1990, Macphee briefly returned to Shadow Cabinet under Peacock, again serving as shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, before returning to the backbench until retiring prior to the 1990 election, when David Kemp was elected as the new member for Goldstein.
for a period of five years. Macphee also worked with fellow former Liberal MP
Alan Hunt
in reforming the Victorian Legislative Council
in a Constitutional Commission set up by the Bracks
Labor Government.
On 26 January 1992 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
(AO) for "service to the Australian parliament".
Macphee was critical of the Howard Government, stating that he was "consistently outraged" by the Government's position on refugee policy. He also publicly supported the 2005 'backbench revolt' of Petro Georgiou
, Judith Moylan, Bruce Baird
and Russell Broadbent
, which saw the softening of some aspects of the legislation.
Macphee was also highly critical of the Howard Government's role in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n former politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
who was a member of the House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
from 1974 until 1990. He is best known for his contributions in developing Australian multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
and for being one of the most prominent moderate Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
politicians.
Early years
Born in SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
in 1938, Macphee studied at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
and the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
, attaining a Bachelor in Law and a Master in Arts, before moving to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
where he served as Director of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce.
In 1974 he won the blue-ribbon seat of Balaclava
Division of Balaclava
The Division of Balaclava was an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It was named for the suburb of Balaclava, which in turn was named for a battlefield of the Crimean War...
as the Liberal candidate. After the Liberals gained government under the leadership of Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
the following year, Macphee initially remained on the backbench
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
, but in November 1976 Macphee was promoted to the junior ministry
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
where he served as Minister for Productivity.
In Office
After three years in the Productivity portfolio, Macphee replaced Michael MacKellarMichael MacKellar
Michael John Randal MacKellar, AM is an Australian politician and was the Liberal Member for Warringah from 1969 until 1994. He is the current president of the National Ageing Research Institute , Melbourne, Australia....
as the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (Australia)
In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship is responsible for overseeing the Department of Immigration and Citizenship....
. Fraser and MacKellar had already adopted the recommendations of the Galbally
Frank Galbally
Francis Eugene 'Frank' Galbally CBE was an Australian criminal defence lawyer.Galbally initially trained to be a priest after he left school at the age of 16 but after the events of Pearl Harbor joined the Navy....
report, which led to a new framework for migrant settlement. Macphee, with the full support of Fraser, continued the pace of reform, allowing large numbers of Indochinese refugees into Australia and he also introduced a family reunion scheme for these refugees. Macphee was assisted by receiving full bipartisan support from the shadow
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
Immigration Minister Mick Young
Mick Young
Michael Jerome Young was an Australian politician. He rose through the Australian Labor Party to become its National Secretary, before serving as a Labor member of the House of Representatives from the 1974 election to 1988...
.
In the 1980
Australian federal election, 1980
Federal elections were held in Australia on 18 October 1980. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Malcolm Fraser with coalition partner the National Country Party led by Doug...
and the 1983 elections
Australian federal election, 1983
Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...
, Macphee retained his seat defeating Labor candidate Chris Kennedy. Macphee helped oversee the introduction of the Special Broadcasting Service
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
. He played an important role in the opening of the Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs and he would work with the Institute's director, Petro Georgiou
Petro Georgiou
Petro Georgiou , Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from November 1994 to July 2010, representing the Division of Kooyong, Victoria.-Early life:...
, in overseeing government policy in this area.
After his retirement Macphee described his time as Immigration Minister as the most 'exciting...[and] absolutely enriching' time of during his period in parliament.
Macphee became a Cabinet minister in May 1982 when Fraser promoted him to Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs
Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations (Australia)
The Australian Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations is currently the Hon Senator Chris Evans.The Minister administers this portfolio, through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations....
. Macphee defended the role of compulsory arbitration
Compulsory arbitration
Compulsory arbitration. In labor disputes, some laws of some communities force the two sides labor and management, to undergo arbitration. These laws mostly apply when the possibility of a strike seriously affects the public interest...
as a means to protect wages in spite of pressure from the more conservative elements within the party, and held this post until the Fraser Government was defeated in March 1983.
In opposition
Upon this defeat, the Liberal Party became badly divided between the moderateModerate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
(wet) and the conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
(dry) forces within the party. Macphee, as one of the party's leading moderates, became a strong supporter of Andrew Peacock
Andrew Peacock
Andrew Sharp Peacock AC, GCL , is a former Australian Liberal politician. He was a minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments, and was federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia 1983–1985 and 1989–1990...
, who defeated John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
for the leadership of the party. Macphee remained in Shadow Cabinet, continuing as shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations before he was given the job of shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs after the 1984 election.
In 1985 Howard successfully challenged for the leadership but kept Macphee in the Shadow Cabinet, although he became shadow Minister for Communications. Macphee kept this position until April 1987 when Howard sacked him despite not having any significant reason to do so.
In 1988 Howard commented that immigration from Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
should be slowed down. This position attracted criticism from the Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
but also many of his colleagues in the Liberal Party, especially from those who had implemented multicultural policies under Fraser. In order to expose Liberal divisions on the issue, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
Bob Hawke
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....
moved a motion in Parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...
that race or ethnic origin should never be a criterion for becoming an immigrant to Australia. Macphee was one of the several Liberals who crossed the floor
Crossing the floor
In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...
to support the motion and he received support from prominent Liberal Party politicians such as Nick Greiner
Nick Greiner
Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988. He is married...
and Jeff Kennett
Jeff Kennett
Jeffrey Gibb Kennett AC , a former Australian politician, was the Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999. He is currently the President of Hawthorn Football Club. He is the founding Chairman of beyondblue, a national depression initiative.- Early life :Kennett was born in Melbourne on 2 March...
for his stand.
Preselection challenge
Early in the following year, Macphee was challenged by conservative academic David Kemp for the Liberal preselectionPreselection
Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties...
for his seat of Goldstein
Division of Goldstein
The Division of Goldstein is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1984, when the former Division of Balaclava was abolished. It is named for Vida Goldstein, an early feminist parliamentary candidate. It is located in the bayside suburbs of Melbourne, including...
(Balaclava having been abolished in 1984). This challenge was portrayed in the media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
as a 'wet' versus 'dry' battle, although some commentators, such as Gerard Henderson
Gerard Henderson
Gerard Henderson is a conservative Australian newspaper columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald.. He is also Executive Director of the Sydney Institute, a privately funded current affairs forum. His wife Anne Henderson is Deputy Director.-Education:Henderson attended the Jesuit Xavier College in...
, argued that Macphee had simply lost the support of the Liberal members in his electorate. Macphee blamed his loss on his decision to oppose Howard's position on Asian immigration. This event further crippled an already divided party and contributed to Howard losing the leadership back to Peacock in May 1989.
With the next election not due until 1990, Macphee briefly returned to Shadow Cabinet under Peacock, again serving as shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, before returning to the backbench until retiring prior to the 1990 election, when David Kemp was elected as the new member for Goldstein.
After politics
Macphee remained in public life. He served on the board of CARE Australia and from 1994 he served as a director of the Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
for a period of five years. Macphee also worked with fellow former Liberal MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Alan Hunt
Alan Hunt (politician)
Alan John Hunt AM is an Australian politician, having been a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1961 until 1992....
in reforming the Victorian Legislative Council
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council, is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia; the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Council serves as a house of review, in a similar fashion to...
in a Constitutional Commission set up by the Bracks
Steve Bracks
Stephen Philip Bracks AC is a former Australian politician and the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Australian Labor Party, and was party leader and Premier from 1999 to 2007....
Labor Government.
On 26 January 1992 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(AO) for "service to the Australian parliament".
Macphee was critical of the Howard Government, stating that he was "consistently outraged" by the Government's position on refugee policy. He also publicly supported the 2005 'backbench revolt' of Petro Georgiou
Petro Georgiou
Petro Georgiou , Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from November 1994 to July 2010, representing the Division of Kooyong, Victoria.-Early life:...
, Judith Moylan, Bruce Baird
Bruce Baird
Bruce George Baird, AM , is a former Australian politician.-Early life:Baird was born in Sydney, and was educated at the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, holding a master's degree in business administration from the latter...
and Russell Broadbent
Russell Broadbent
Russell Evan Broadbent , Australian politician, was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as member for the Division of McMillan, Victoria for the Liberal Party of Australia at the 2004 federal election. He previously represented the Division of Corinella 1990-93 and McMillan 1996-98...
, which saw the softening of some aspects of the legislation.
Macphee was also highly critical of the Howard Government's role in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
.