Robert Doyle
Encyclopedia
Robert Keith Bennett Doyle (born 20 May 1953) is an Australia
n politician and the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008. He was previously Member for Malvern
in the Legislative Assembly of Victoria from 1992 to 2006 and Leader of the Victorian Opposition from 2002 to 2006, representing the Liberal Party of Australia
.
, Doyle attended secondary school in Geelong. He graduated from Monash University
in 1977, and the following year began work as a teacher at Geelong College, his alma mater. In 1982, he moved back to Melbourne, working as a departmental head at Lauriston Girls' School. After three years, he again changed schools, becoming a senior administrator and English teacher at Scotch College
.
, won government, defeating Joan Kirner
. After the election, Doyle was immediately placed on the Crime Prevention Committee, and several other taskforces, particularly in the area of health. In April 1996, Doyle was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Human Services.
The Kennett government suffered an unexpected defeat at the 1999 election, and Kennett himself resigned soon afterwards. Kennett's deputy and Health Minister, Denis Napthine
, became leader, and Doyle took Napthine's place, becoming the opposition's health spokesman.
He lost the 2002 election by a large margin; the result was in fact the Liberal Party's worst-ever Victorian defeat. The party lost control of the Legislative Council
for only the second time in Victorian parliamentary history, and retained only 17 of the 88 lower house seats. Also, the campaign suffered a large blow when the party's Treasurer, Robert Dean, was deemed ineligible to stand because he was not on the electoral roll.
For some time after the 2002 defeat, Doyle remained Opposition Leader, partly through the sheer shortage of potential alternative candidates for the job. However, following the decisions of Shadow Minister Victor Perton
and Deputy Leader Phil Honeywood to resign, and the further resignation of Doyle's Chief of Staff Ron Wilson and his Director of Communications Rob Clancy, debate as to Doyle's future was re-ignited. Even many of Doyle's key supporters—including Upper House MPs Andrea Coote
and Philip Davis, and Michael Kroger
and Helen Kroger
—eventually recognised that Doyle's leadership was unlikely to attract sufficient electoral support. It was also reported that Doyle's personal approval rating had dropped to 15 per cent. On 4 May 2006, Doyle announced his resignation as Opposition Leader, stating that "I have given my best—it was not enough" and that the move would give the party the "best chance of electoral success".
Ted Baillieu
succeeded Doyle in the post.
He officially ended his term as a Member of Parliament for the District of Malvern on 25 November 2006. On that day, the Liberals under Baillieu were again severely defeated; and as a result, Doyle publicly criticised several prominent party figures.
On 21 June 2007 the state government announced that it would appoint Doyle as the new chairman of Melbourne Health, the group that operates the Royal Melbourne Hospital
.
Lord Mayor John So
announced his decision not to contest for a third consecutive term in early October 2008, Doyle emerged as a contender for the Lord Mayor Election in November 2008. Doyle told the media that he "was a better than 50-50 chance of running". On 27 October Doyle announced his candidacy, saying he could leave partisan politics aside to work with the State Government if he became Lord Mayor. Doyle selected John So's deputy between 2001 and 2004, Susan Riley, as his running mate.
On 30 November 2008, Doyle was elected Lord Mayor of Melbourne defeating then-Councillor Catherine Ng in a tightly contested election. Doyle also defeated former Melbourne Deputy Lord Mayor and Spotless
heir-apparent, Peter McMullin
and So's deputy between 2004 and 2008, Gary Singer
. Doyle's great-great-grandfather, Robert Bennett
, previously served as Lord Mayor of Melbourne (then known as simply Mayor) from 1861 to 1862.
, which had for several decades been open to limited but mostly pedestrian traffic. The move attracted opposition from the Public Transport Users Association
, Australian Greens
and Bicycle Victoria
. He also raised the idea of a theme park to attract children to the CBD. Doyle was also quick to vow to rid the Melbourne city centre
of "bogan
s" and "untalented" buskers. Doyle has also openly criticized the state government's handling of Melbourne Docklands
, claiming that it lacks 'social glue' and character and wanting more control over the precinct's planning expressing the desire to see more open space in the form of a large park and also Venice style canals.
In September 2010, when asked on radio about a move by suburban councils to ban smoking in some outdoor areas due to the risks of passive smoking, he said "I don't know of a case of cancer that has been caused by passive smoking."
to intervene and stop the screening of The 10 Conditions of Love at the Melbourne International Film Festival
. This Australian-made film is about a prominent Uighur
woman Rebiya Kadeer
, who China labels a 'terrorist' and claims that she was the orchestrator of the July 2009 Ürümqi riots. Kadeer did attend the screening at the Melbourne Town Hall
.
The Chinese Consul-General in Melbourne requested a meeting with the Lord Mayor to discuss the matter. Despite the protests from the Chinese Government
, Doyle refused to intervene to stop the screening. Subsequently, reports emerged that China
would consider terminating the sister-city relationship between Melbourne and Tianjin
, one of China's four municipal-level cities and the fifth most populous city in China.
Defying the Chinese Government's threat, Doyle lodged a complaint to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, prompting the Department to warn the Chinese Embassy to conduct themselves appropriately.
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 politician and the 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, elected on 30 November 2008. He was previously Member for Malvern
Electoral district of Malvern
-External links:*...
in the Legislative Assembly of Victoria from 1992 to 2006 and Leader of the Victorian Opposition from 2002 to 2006, representing the 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...
.
Background
Born in MelbourneMelbourne
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...
, Doyle attended secondary school in Geelong. He graduated from Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
in 1977, and the following year began work as a teacher at Geelong College, his alma mater. In 1982, he moved back to Melbourne, working as a departmental head at Lauriston Girls' School. After three years, he again changed schools, becoming a senior administrator and English teacher at Scotch College
Scotch College, Melbourne
Scotch College, Melbourne is an independent, Presbyterian, day and boarding school for boys, located in Hawthorn, an inner-eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....
.
State politics
At the 1992 state election, Doyle succeeded in winning Liberal preselection for the electorate of Malvern by defeating Geoff Leigh. The Liberal Party, under Jeff KennettJeff 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...
, won government, defeating Joan Kirner
Joan Kirner
Joan Elizabeth Kirner AM , Australian politician, was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, the first woman to hold the position, which she held for two years prior to a landslide election defeat.-Biography:...
. After the election, Doyle was immediately placed on the Crime Prevention Committee, and several other taskforces, particularly in the area of health. In April 1996, Doyle was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Human Services.
The Kennett government suffered an unexpected defeat at the 1999 election, and Kennett himself resigned soon afterwards. Kennett's deputy and Health Minister, Denis Napthine
Denis Napthine
Denis Vincent Napthine is an Australian politician for the Liberal Party in the state of Victoria. He is a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the electoral district of South-West Coast.- Early life :...
, became leader, and Doyle took Napthine's place, becoming the opposition's health spokesman.
Leader of the Victorian Opposition
By 2002, the Liberal Party, which had been almost unbeatable under Kennett, was flagging in the polls, and was expected to lose the election due later that year. Doyle successfully challenged Napthine for the leadership of the state Liberal Party, claiming that the party was "facing political oblivion" if it stayed under Napthine’s leadership.He lost the 2002 election by a large margin; the result was in fact the Liberal Party's worst-ever Victorian defeat. The party lost control of the 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...
for only the second time in Victorian parliamentary history, and retained only 17 of the 88 lower house seats. Also, the campaign suffered a large blow when the party's Treasurer, Robert Dean, was deemed ineligible to stand because he was not on the electoral roll.
For some time after the 2002 defeat, Doyle remained Opposition Leader, partly through the sheer shortage of potential alternative candidates for the job. However, following the decisions of Shadow Minister Victor Perton
Victor Perton
Victor Perton is a former Australian parliamentarian. He is the Commissioner to the Americas based in San Francisco representing the Australian State of Victoria....
and Deputy Leader Phil Honeywood to resign, and the further resignation of Doyle's Chief of Staff Ron Wilson and his Director of Communications Rob Clancy, debate as to Doyle's future was re-ignited. Even many of Doyle's key supporters—including Upper House MPs Andrea Coote
Andrea Coote
Andrea Coote is an Australian politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council since September 1999, representing Monash Province until the 2006 election and the Southern Metropolitan Region since....
and Philip Davis, and Michael Kroger
Michael Kroger
Michael Norman Kroger is a businessman and a powerbroker within the Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia. He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne.-Early Life :...
and Helen Kroger
Helen Kroger
Helen Kroger is an Australian politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Australian Senate since July 2008, representing the state of Victoria...
—eventually recognised that Doyle's leadership was unlikely to attract sufficient electoral support. It was also reported that Doyle's personal approval rating had dropped to 15 per cent. On 4 May 2006, Doyle announced his resignation as Opposition Leader, stating that "I have given my best—it was not enough" and that the move would give the party the "best chance of electoral success".
Ted Baillieu
Ted Baillieu
Edward Norman "Ted" Baillieu MLA is an Australian politician. He is currently the Premier of Victoria and the member for the Legislative Assembly seat of Hawthorn...
succeeded Doyle in the post.
He officially ended his term as a Member of Parliament for the District of Malvern on 25 November 2006. On that day, the Liberals under Baillieu were again severely defeated; and as a result, Doyle publicly criticised several prominent party figures.
On 21 June 2007 the state government announced that it would appoint Doyle as the new chairman of Melbourne Health, the group that operates the Royal Melbourne Hospital
Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...
.
Lord Mayor of Melbourne
When former MelbourneMelbourne
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...
Lord Mayor John So
John So
John Chun Sai So JP is a Chinese-Australian businessman who served as the 102nd Lord Mayor of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Australia. He was the first Lord Mayor in the city's history to be directly elected by the people; previously, Lord Mayors were elected by the Councillors.First elected...
announced his decision not to contest for a third consecutive term in early October 2008, Doyle emerged as a contender for the Lord Mayor Election in November 2008. Doyle told the media that he "was a better than 50-50 chance of running". On 27 October Doyle announced his candidacy, saying he could leave partisan politics aside to work with the State Government if he became Lord Mayor. Doyle selected John So's deputy between 2001 and 2004, Susan Riley, as his running mate.
On 30 November 2008, Doyle was elected Lord Mayor of Melbourne defeating then-Councillor Catherine Ng in a tightly contested election. Doyle also defeated former Melbourne Deputy Lord Mayor and Spotless
Spotless
Spotless is an Australian company which provides services such as cleaning, catering, facilities management and non-core business support to outsourcing markets in Australia, New Zealand and the USA, as well as manufacturing garment hanger systems, labels and packaging for garment manufacturing...
heir-apparent, Peter McMullin
Peter McMullin
Peter McMullin was the Mayor of Geelong in 2006 and Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne between 1996 and 1999. McMullin served as a Councillor of the City of Geelong since 2004 and served as a Councillor of the City of Melbourne from 1996 to 1999...
and So's deputy between 2004 and 2008, Gary Singer
Gary Singer
Gary Singer is an Australian politician. He was the Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne from 2004 to 2008, serving under John So. He ran to succeed So as Lord Mayor upon his retirement in 2008, but was defeated by former state Liberal Party leader Robert Doyle.Singer has a background as a...
. Doyle's great-great-grandfather, Robert Bennett
Robert Bennett (Melbourne mayor)
Robert Bennett was Mayor of Melbourne, Australia between 1861 and 1862. Bennett was born in Ireland and died in Melbourne in 1891....
, previously served as Lord Mayor of Melbourne (then known as simply Mayor) from 1861 to 1862.
Policies
Some of Doyle's policies as Lord Mayor to make the CBD safer and more family friendly have caused mild controversy. Doyle made an election promise to return private vehicle traffic to Swanston Street, MelbourneSwanston Street, Melbourne
Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Australia. It is historically one of the main streets of central Melbourne, laid out in 1837 as part of the Hoddle Grid, the layout of major streets that makes up the central business district...
, which had for several decades been open to limited but mostly pedestrian traffic. The move attracted opposition from the Public Transport Users Association
Public Transport Users Association
The Public Transport Users Association is a community-based public transport lobby group in Victoria, Australia, based in Melbourne.- History and Aims :...
, Australian Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
and Bicycle Victoria
Bicycle Victoria
Bicycle Network Victoria is a community-based not-for-profit organisation, one of the largest cycling membership organisations in the world , whose mission is to get More People Cycling More Often. The name was changed from Bicycle Victoria to Bicycle Network Victoria in July 2011...
. He also raised the idea of a theme park to attract children to the CBD. Doyle was also quick to vow to rid the Melbourne city centre
Melbourne city centre
Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...
of "bogan
Bogan
The term bogan is Australian slang, usually pejorative or self-deprecating, for an individual who is recognised to be from a lower class background or someone whose limited education, speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour exemplifies such a background....
s" and "untalented" buskers. Doyle has also openly criticized the state government's handling of Melbourne Docklands
Melbourne Docklands
Docklands is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia occupying an area extending up to 2 km west of and adjacent to Melbourne's Central Business District . Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
, claiming that it lacks 'social glue' and character and wanting more control over the precinct's planning expressing the desire to see more open space in the form of a large park and also Venice style canals.
In September 2010, when asked on radio about a move by suburban councils to ban smoking in some outdoor areas due to the risks of passive smoking, he said "I don't know of a case of cancer that has been caused by passive smoking."
Tensions with China over Uighur film
In August 2009, Doyle came under pressure from the Chinese GovernmentGovernment of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
to intervene and stop the screening of The 10 Conditions of Love at the Melbourne International Film Festival
Melbourne International Film Festival
The Melbourne International Film Festival is an acclaimed annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1951, making it one of the oldest in the World....
. This Australian-made film is about a prominent Uighur
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
woman Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer is a prominent Uyghur businesswoman and political activist from the northwest region of Xinjiang Autonomus Region of the People's Republic of China...
, who China labels a 'terrorist' and claims that she was the orchestrator of the July 2009 Ürümqi riots. Kadeer did attend the screening at the Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall
Melbourne Town Hall is the central municipal building of the City of Melbourne, Australia, in the State of Victoria. It is located on the northeast corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, in the central business district. It is the seat of the Local Government Area of the City of Melbourne...
.
The Chinese Consul-General in Melbourne requested a meeting with the Lord Mayor to discuss the matter. Despite the protests from the Chinese Government
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
, Doyle refused to intervene to stop the screening. Subsequently, reports emerged that China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
would consider terminating the sister-city relationship between Melbourne and Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
, one of China's four municipal-level cities and the fifth most populous city in China.
Defying the Chinese Government's threat, Doyle lodged a complaint to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, prompting the Department to warn the Chinese Embassy to conduct themselves appropriately.