The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement,both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups,it was Australia's largest minor party from its formation in 1977 through to 2004 and frequently held the balance of power in the Senate during that time.
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977,when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia,about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union of Australia united under the Basis of Union. According to the church,it had 243,000 members in 2018. In the 2016 census,870,183 Australians identified with the church,but that figure fell to 673,260 in the 2021 census. In the 2011 census,that figure was 1,065,796.
Sir Johannes Bjelke-Petersen was a conservative Australian politician. He was the longest-serving and longest-lived premier of Queensland,holding office from 1968 to 1987,during which time the state underwent considerable economic development. He has become one of the most well-known and controversial figures of 20th-century Australian politics because of his uncompromising conservatism,political longevity,and the institutional corruption of his government.
Neville Thomas Bonner AO was an Australian politician,and the first Aboriginal Australian to become a member of the Parliament of Australia. He was appointed by the Queensland Parliament to fill a casual vacancy in the representation of Queensland in the Senate,and later became the first Indigenous Australian to be elected to the parliament by popular vote. Neville Bonner was an elder of the Jagera people. In 2024,the bridge connecting Brisbane’s star casino to Southbank was named after Neville Bonner.
Andrew John Julian Bartlett is an Australian politician,social worker,academic,and social campaigner who served as a Senator for Queensland from 1997 to 2008 and from 2017 to 2018. He represented the Australian Democrats in his first stint in the Senate,including as party leader from 2002 to 2004 and deputy leader from 2004 to 2008. In November 2017,he returned to the Senate as a member of the Australian Greens,replacing Larissa Waters after her disqualification during the parliamentary eligibility crisis. He resigned from the Senate in August 2018 in an unsuccessful attempt to win the House of Representatives seat of Brisbane,allowing Waters to fill his seat in advance of the 2019 election.
The 2004 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 9 October 2004. All 150 seats in the House of Representatives and 40 seats in the 76-member Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Howard and coalition partner the National Party of Australia led by John Anderson defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by Mark Latham.
Aden Derek Ridgeway is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate for New South Wales from 1999 to 2005,representing the Australian Democrats. During his term he was the only Aboriginal member of the Australian Parliament. He is currently a spokesperson for Recognise,the movement to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples in the Australian Constitution.
Cheryl Zena Kernot is an Australian politician,academic,and political activist. She was a member of the Australian Senate representing Queensland for the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 1997,and the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats from 1993 to 1997. In 1997,she resigned from the Australian Democrats,joined the Australian Labor Party,and won the seat of Dickson at the 1998 federal election. She was defeated at the 2001 federal election. Kernot was an unsuccessful independent candidate to represent New South Wales in the Australian Senate in the 2010 federal election.
The Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) was a minor "small-l-liberal" political party in Australia,formed by Meg Lees,an independent senator and former leader of the Australian Democrats,in April 2003. The party ceased to operate and was deregistered in June 2005 following Senator Lees's defeat at the 2004 election and the expiry of her term.
Meg Heather Lees is a former member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 2005,representing the state of South Australia. She represented the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 2002,and was her party's leader from 1997 to 2001. After being deposed by Natasha Stott Despoja,she quit the party to sit as an independent senator in 2002,adopting the party designation Australian Progressive Alliance from 2003 until her electoral defeat in 2005. As party leader,she controversially facilitated passage of the Howard government's Goods and Services Tax (GST).
John Clifford Cherry was an Australian Democrats senator from 2001 to 2005,representing the state of Queensland and the Queensland Democrats. In March 2005 he became CEO of the Queensland Farmers Federation.
Janet Frances Powell was an Australian politician.
John Philip Faulkner is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating,Rudd and Gillard governments.
This is a list of members of the Australian Senate from 1987 to 1990. It consisted of twelve senators for each of the six states of Australia and two senators representing each of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. All members were elected at the 1987 election following a double dissolution of both houses of parliament,rather than the normal case of only half of the state senators facing election.
William George "Bill" O'Chee is an Australian politician. He was a National Party member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 1999,representing the state of Queensland.
John Joseph Herron was an Australian politician,ambassador and surgeon who was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 2002,representing Queensland. From 1996 to 2001 he was the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. From 2002 to 2006 he was the Australian Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See.
Stanley James Collard is a former Australian politician. He was a Senator for Queensland from 1975 to 1987,representing the National Party. He was elected as the party's Senate leader in 1985,but failed to win National Party preselection prior to the 1987 federal election owing to his opposition to the "Joh for Canberra" movement. He was a locomotive engine driver with Queensland Railways and trade unionist before his election to the Senate.
Aerotoxic syndrome relates to ill-health effects associated with breathing contaminated air in an airliner cabin. Researchers have associated aerotoxic syndrome with exposure to substances such as engine oil and hydraulic fluid. Although researchers have identified correlations between the aircraft occupational environment and symptoms of aerotoxic syndrome,this condition is not an established medical diagnosis because the incidence and aetiology of the condition are still under debate.
Rolland Busch,,also known as Rollie Busch,was an Australian theologian and Presbyterian and Uniting Church minister. He was the foundation principal of the Trinity Theological College in Brisbane from when it was formed in 1977 until 1985. He was president of the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia from 1982 to 1985. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1978 Queens Birthday Honours and appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1984.
The Synod of Queensland or Queensland Synod is a state council of the Uniting Church in Australia.
