Stephen Parry (Australian politician)

Stephen Shane Parry (born 31 October 1960) is an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party senator for Tasmania from 2005 to 2017. He was elected President of the Senate in 2014.[1] On 31 October 2017, Parry informed the government that he may be a British citizen, and issued his intention to resign from his position if dual nationality was confirmed.[2] The next day he reported that he had received confirmation of his dual citizenship and, on 2 November, he resigned as president and from the Senate.[3] He was replaced in the Senate by next Liberal Party Tasmanian Senate candidate and former senator Richard Colbeck after a recount.[4][5]

The Honourable Stephen Parry
President of the Senate
In office 7 July 2014 – 2 November 2017
Deputy	Gavin Marshall Sue Lines
Preceded by	John Hogg
Succeeded by	Scott Ryan
Deputy President of the Senate
In office 4 July 2011 – 6 July 2014
Preceded by	Alan Ferguson
Succeeded by	Gavin Marshall
Senator for Tasmania
In office 1 July 2005 – 2 November 2017
Preceded by	Shayne Murphy
Succeeded by	Richard Colbeck
Personal details
Born	Stephen Shane Parry 31 October 1960 Burnie, Tasmania, Australia
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Allison Vincent
Children	2
Occupation	Police officer Funeral director

Early life

Parry was born on 31 October 1960 in Burnie, Tasmania, to William Stephen ("Bill") Parry (1940–2015)[6] and Patricia Dawn Evans; his father had been born in Liverpool, UK and had emigrated to Australia in the 1950s.[2] He was educated at Burnie's Marist Regional College, after which he enrolled at the Tasmania Police Academy in Hobart.[7]

Career

Parry was employed as an officer with the Tasmanian Police from 1977 to 1986, and was promoted to detective in 1983. After leaving the police force, he completed a certificate in Mortuary Science at the Australian College of Funeral Service, and was a funeral director from 1986 to 2004, becoming president of the Australian Funeral Directors Association.

Parry performed a significant role in the wake of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, acting as the Team Leader of the Embalming Team.[8] Parry was also president of the Burnie Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2000 to 2004, and a director of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 2000 to 2005.[7]

Politics

In 2004, Parry was elected to the Australian Senate for the state of Tasmania as a member of the Liberal Party of Australia. He was elected government deputy whip in the Senate in November 2006 and government whip in April 2007[7] in succession to the late Senator Jeannie Ferris.

Senator Parry was elected opposition whip after the 2007 federal election, and on 16 February 2009, in addition to his role as whip, he was appointed manager of opposition business in the Senate.

On 4 July 2011, Parry was elected by the Senate as the deputy president and chairman of committees, replacing Alan Ferguson. On 7 July 2014 the Senate elected him as its president.[1]

On 31 October 2017 Parry informed the government he believed he may be a British citizen through descent, which would disqualify him from sitting in Parliament under Section 44 of the Constitution.[2] The next day he confirmed he did indeed hold dual British-Australian citizenship and announced he would be resigning as senate president and Senator for Tasmania on 2 November 2017.[4]

Upon the election of his successor, there was all-party praise for Parry's performance as President.[9]

Parry's senate position was filled by Richard Colbeck who was sworn in on 12 February 2018.[5]

Post-politics

In 2019, Parry was appointed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal as a part-time member with an initial term of seven years.[10]

References

1. "Liberals' Parry elected Senate president". The Australian. AAP. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
2. "Citizenship saga may not be over, Liberal senator Stephen Parry says father may be British". ABC News (Australia). 31 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
3. "Former Presidents". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
4. Doran, Matthew (1 November 2017). "Stephen Parry: Senate President to resign from Parliament after UK citizenship confirmed". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 1 November 2017.
5. Belot, Henry (12 February 2018). "Two Tasmanian senators sworn into Parliament after citizenship shake-up". ABC News. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
6. "Mr William Stephen Parry". geni.com.
7. Suzannah Pearce, ed. (17 November 2006). "PARRY Stephen Shane". Who's Who in Business Live!. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd.
8. Parry, Stephen (1996). "Port Arthur Massacre 1996 – AFDA National Embalming Team – Detailed Report". Port Arthur Papers. Archived from the original on 11 April 2018.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) ISBN 0-642-27136-4
9. "Senate Hansard". Parliament of Australia. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
10. Maloney, Matt (21 February 2019). "Former Senate President Stephen Parry appointed to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal". The Advocate. Retrieved 29 December 2019.

External links

• Stephen Parry, Senate Biography
• Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Stephen Parry on TheyVoteForYou.org.au