Bruce George Baird, AM (born 28 February 1942), is an Australian former politician whose career included a stint as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in New South Wales.
Bruce Baird | |
|---|---|
 Baird in 2017 | |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Cook | |
| In office 3 October 1998 – 17 October 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Stephen Mutch |
| Succeeded by | Scott Morrison |
| Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Northcott | |
| In office 24 March 1984 – 3 May 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Cameron |
| Succeeded by | Barry O'Farrell |
| Minister Assisting the Premier and Assisting the Treasurer | |
| In office 24 July 1990 – 6 June 1991 | |
| Minister for Environment | |
| In office 24 June 1992 – 3 July 1992 | |
| Minister for Tourism | |
| In office 3 July 1992 – 26 May 1993 | |
| Minister for Roads | |
| In office 26 May 1993 – 4 April 1995 | |
| Minister for Transport | |
| In office 25 March 1988 – 4 April 1995 | |
| Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party (New South Wales branch) | |
| In office 1992–1994 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bruce George Baird 28 February 1942 Sydney |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Children | Julia Baird Mike Baird Steve Baird |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | Politician, trade commissioner |
Early life
editBaird grew up in Cronulla, where his father owned the local shoe store.[1] He was educated at Winston College, Cronulla Public School and Sutherland Intermediate High School, before studying for a Bachelor of Arts at University of Sydney.[1][2] He later studied at University of Melbourne, holding a master's degree in business administration from the latter. He was Assistant Trade Commissioner at the Australian Embassy in Bonn, Germany, from 1972–1976, then Trade Commissioner at the Australian Consulate-General in New York, 1977–1980.[3] He was Government Affairs Manager for Esso Australia 1980–1984.[4]
Political career
editBaird was a member for the electorate of Northcott in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1984–1995. He was Minister for Transport 1988–1995, Minister for Sydney's Olympic Bid 1990–1993 and Minister for Tourism and Roads 1993–1995. He was also deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1992 to 1994.[4]
Baird was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to November 2007, representing the electorate of Cook, New South Wales. He also held the positions of chairman of the National Rail Corporation, and was a board member of ABN Amro Hoare Govett, Tourism Training Australia and Tourism Education Services.[5] Baird along with fellow Liberal MPs Petro Georgiou, Russell Broadbent and Judi Moylan opposed mandatory detention of asylum seekers.[6]
In April 2007, he announced that he would retire at the next election.[7] A fierce battle over his successor ensued; Michael Towke was initially preselected as the Liberal candidate 86 votes to 8 but was the target of several negative news reports, before being replaced with Scott Morrison, who went on to win the seat.[8]
Despite being a former deputy leader of the NSW Liberal Party, Baird never served as a minister during his time in Federal Parliament.[2] Baird had been overlooked for ministerial preferment by Prime Minister John Howard because he was a supporter of deputy Liberal leader and Howard's heir apparent Peter Costello.[7]
Another factor that precluded Baird's promotion by Howard was that Baird's preselection for Cook prior to the 1998 election came against Howard's wishes as Howard had supported the previous Liberal member and preselected candidate for Cook, Stephen Mutch.[9]
Sensing that he would not be promoted by Howard, Baird in 2004 sought to become Speaker but was unsuccessful with David Hawker chosen as the Government's candidate for Speaker instead.[10]
After politics
editBaird was appointed Chairman of the Tourism and Transport Forum, a peak industry lobby group, in 2008. In the same year, he was also appointed as chair of the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council, which advises the Australian government on resettling refugees in Australia.[11] In 2010 on Australia Day, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the Parliament of Australia, and to the community of New South Wales through a range of business, tourism and welfare organisations.[12] In August 2017, Business Events Sydney announced the appointment of Baird as their new Chairman, commencing from 1 September 2017.[13]
Private life
editBruce and Judy Baird's children are Steve Baird, Chief Executive Officer[14] International Justice Mission Australia; Julia Baird, columnist with the Sydney Morning Herald and host of the ABC News program The Drum; and Mike Baird, now Chief Executive Officer of HammondCare, and previously the Premier of New South Wales from 2014 to 2017.[15] (Baird himself made an attempt to become Premier when he was a candidate to succeed Nick Greiner in 1992, but lost out to John Fahey.)[16]
Following the financial collapse of a number of private providers of education to international students, in 2009 Baird agreed to head up a review into international education in Australia.[17] Baird delivered the report in a joint press conference in March 2010. Included in his recommendations were tighter regulation including stronger entry requirements, improved risk assessment, and where breaches occur, tougher penalties.[18]
He is a patron of the Asylum Seekers Centre, a not-for-profit that provides personal and practical support to people seeking asylum in Australia.[19]
Notes
edit- ^ a b Musick, Pat (23 February 2013). "New book recalls Cronulla's past". St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ a b "Hon Bruce Baird MP, AM". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- ^ Halcrow, Jeremy (4 November 2007). "Bruce Baird's sweetest victory". Sydney Anglicans. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ a b "Mr Bruce George Baird (1942– )". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
- ^ "Biography for BAIRD, the Hon. Bruce George". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
- ^ "Rebel MPs, Howard fail to agree on detention". The Age. Melbourne. 13 June 2005.
- ^ a b Coorey, Phillip (16 April 2007). "Baird bows out as challenge looms in seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
- ^ Sheehan, Paul (25 October 2009). "Nasty saga you nearly missed". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
- ^ "Subscribe to the Australian | Newspaper home delivery, website, iPad, iPhone & Android apps".
- ^ "David Hawker named as Speaker". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 November 2004.
- ^ "The Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council". Archived from the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ "Baird, Bruce George". It's an Honour. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
- ^ "New governance for Business Events Sydney". Business Events Sydney. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
- ^ "MEDIA RELEASE: IJM Australia appoints Steve Baird as new CEO". 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- ^ "Baird replaces O'Farrell as NSW premier". Herald Sun. News Corp. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "After promising start, Baird has it all to do". The Age. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- ^ "Bruce Baird to head up international students review". Media release. Minister for Education. Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. 8 August 2009. Archived from the original on 11 April 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ^ "Transcript of joint press conference interview" (Transcript). Baird Review into International Education. Commonwealth of Australia. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
- ^ "Our patrons". asylumseekerscentre.org.au. Asylum Seekers Centre. Retrieved 13 December 2020.