Andrew Bartlett
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Andrew John Julian Bartlett (born 4 August 1964) is an Australian politician, having served as a senator for Queensland since 1997, and is currently Deputy Leader and Party Whip of the Australian Democrats. Bartlett is known for his extensive focus on human rights and social justice issues, animal rights, and the environment. He was born in Brisbane, Queensland's state capital city, where he has lived all his life. He is married with one daughter.
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Early career
Prior to his involvement in politics, Andrew served as a social worker with the Department of Social Security, and spent many years working with community radio station 4ZZZFM in roles including announcer and finance coordinator. He also played in a number of local bands, as a drummer. He achieved his tertiary qualifications in social work at the University of Queensland, where he also completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English and Sociology.
In 1990, Andrew joined the staff of then Party Leader Cheryl Kernot following her election to the Senate in July that year. Three years later he joined the staff of Democrats' Senator John Woodley as an adviser and researcher after Senator Woodley's election in 1993. He was the Democrats' Queensland Campaign Director for the 1993 and 1996 elections and Federal Campaign Director in 1998 – all succesfull campaigns for the Party.
Bartlett was appointed to the Senate in 1997 to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of then Leader Cheryl Kernot, but went on to win the seat in his own right at the 2001 Federal election.
Service in the Australian Senate
A consistent and vocal campaigner for refugees and asylum seekers, he is the only Australian parliamentarian to have visited every refugee detention centre in Australia, as well as those on Christmas Island and Nauru (detention centres off the Australian mainland, see Australia's Pacific Solution) where he went twice to meet with detainees.
Bartlett initiated the Senate Inquiry into Australia's refugee determination system which produced the "Sanctuary Under Review" report in 2000, and has participated in numerous other Committee Inquiries against law changes which would reduce the rights of refugees and migrants. His ongoing leadership role in this area was recognised in 2004 with an award from one of Australia's peak Human Rights organisations, 'A Just Australia'.
An advocate for the poor and economically disadvantaged, Senator Bartlett has spoken many times on behalf of those living in poverty, as well as the physically and mentally disabled. He has helped ensure the success of amendments which protected the entitlements of sole parents, and dramatically reduced the numbers of unemployed people having their payments suspended for failing activity tests. He has also given attention to housing and living standards, serving on the Tenants Union of Queensland Executive for ten years.
Senator Bartlett was instrumental in enabling legislation establishing the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, to pass the Australian Parliament ensuring historic sites, including Cockatoo Island, remain protected and accessible to the people in the future. He has been a strong voice for the protection of the fragile Daintree Rainforests and in 2003 highlighted the risks to the Great Barrier Reef by producing evidence and documents which pointed to the oil industry and Geosciences Australia (GA) engaging in systematic deception of the Australian people while they moved inexorably towards an offshore oil industry that would directly threaten the GBRMP.
A former State President (Queensland) of Animal Liberation, Senator Bartlett has a long standing commitment to Animal Welfare issues and continues to actively work in this area both within the parliament and out in the broader community. In 2003 Senator Bartlett introduced a private members bill to overhaul the animal welfare system in Australia. His petition to end the live export trade has received well over 100,000 signatures.
In 2003 together with his senate colleague, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, Andrew introduced the Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval for Australian Involvement in Overseas Conflict) Bill (2003) to the senate, legislation designed to ensure no Prime Minister of Australia can ever again send the country to war without the consent of both houses of parliament.
Leader of the Australian Democrats, and the Ferris incident
After the resignation of then Party Leader Senator Natasha Stott Despoja in 2002, Bartlett was elected to the Democrats Party Leadership in October that year.
In December 2003, Bartlett stepped down as leader after an incident involving Liberal Senator Jeannie Ferris in the Senate chamber. Ferris said that Bartlett had stolen five bottles of wine from a Liberal Party function in Parliament House. When Ferris confronted Bartlett, she said, he grabbed her arm and called her a "fucking bitch", then followed her out of the chamber while verbally abusing her. Parliamentary video of part of the incident appeared to show that Bartlett was drunk in the chamber.
The next morning, Bartlett did not deny any of Ferris's allegations. He said that his behaviour had been "totally unacceptable", and that he had apologised in writing to Senator Ferris, to the Senate, and to his party. The media frenzy following this was particularly vicious, with many pundits voicing opinions on this incident and on the man – some more far fetched than others. Bartlett's former employer, John Woodley, stated in an interview that Bartlett had had a drinking problem for some time, something Bartlett himself appeared to confirm at a press conference.
Bartlett largely abstained from comment on the various allegations surrounding the incident or any of the other stories which circulated in the press and behind the scenes. He repeated his original apology for causing offence, and stating he would demonstrate his commitment to staying focused on the important issues that affect the community by making a public commitment to abstain from consuming alcohol whilst he remained in the Parliament.
The Democrats issued a statement stating that Deputy Leader Senator Lyn Allison would serve as the Acting Leader of the party. In the week following the incident, senior Democrats (including Stott Despoja) said that they thought Bartlett should formally resign as Leader. Others said that he should be given an opportunity to deal with his problems. On 12 December Bartlett announced that he would not resign. He gave his party an assurance that he would totally abstain from drinking, which he repeated upon his resumption of the leadership in January 2004. Bartlett then resumed the Leadership after receiving strong support form the Party membership as well as the majority of the Democrat Senators.
Although Bartlett kept his pledge to give up drinking, political commentators expressed doubts that his standing would recover from the December 2003 incident. He kept a low profile until the campaign for the 2004 election began in August. The Democrats were defending three Senate seats, and all three were lost, with one going to the Australian Greens and two to the Liberal Party. The Democrats polled their lowest vote since the party's creation in 1977.
2004 Federal election to present
At the November 2004 election there was a swing to conservative parties and a substantial drop in the Democrat vote. Three sitting Democrat senators - John Cherry, Aden Ridgeway and Brian Greig were not returned, leaving four Democrat senators in the Parliament from July 2005.
After the election Bartlett did not comment on questions about whether or not he would resign, stating that the party's membership would decide the leadership, which is the party's standard practice. He subsequently decided not to nominate for the leadership, allowing Senator Lyn Allison to be elected unopposed. Senator Bartlett was elected Deputy Leader unopposed.
External links
- Senator Andrew Bartlett (http://www.andrewbartlett.com/)
- Senator Andrew Bartlett - personal weblog (http://andrewbartlettonline.blogspot.com/)
| Preceded by: Brian Greig | Leader of the Australian Democrats 2002-2004 | Succeeded by: Lyn Allison |