Timothy Andrew Fischer
, AC, FTSE (born 3 May 1946), is a former Australian politician. He served as Deputy Prime Minister in the Howard Government from 1996 before retiring from Cabinet in 1999. He retired from Parliament in 2001, and is currently the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See.
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TIM FISCHER TICKETS
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Early history
Fischer was born in
Lockhart, in the
Riverina district of
New South Wales, son of a farmer of German descent. He was educated at
Xavier College, Melbourne. In 1966 he was
conscripted into the
Australian Army, and served in the
Vietnam War - an experience which left him with a lifelong identification with the Australian armed forces, as well as an affinity with Asia.
On his return from Vietnam, Fischer took up farming at
Boree Creek in the Riverina, and became active in the
Country Party, as the party was then called. He represented
Sturt in the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1971 to 1980 and
Murray from 1980 to 1984.
[1] For most of that time he was a fairly unremarkable country member (although he served on the opposition
frontbench from 1978 to 1984), which makes his rapid success in federal politics all the more surprising.
Federal political career
In 1984 Fischer won the federal seat of
Farrer for the
National Party of Australia (NPA), as the Country Party had been renamed. Within a year he was on the opposition frontbench, and soon became a popular figure in both the NPA and the Parliament: his sometimes rustic manner and bumbling English concealing a shrewd political brain. In 1990, when the attempt by
Charles Blunt to modernise the NPA's image ended with his losing his seat, Fischer was elected NPA leader, defeating the former leader
Ian Sinclair.
Fischer was an enthusiastic supporter of the "Fightback" package of economic and tax reforms proposed by the
Liberal leader
Dr John Hewson in 1991. But he was unsuccessful in persuading the majority of rural voters, particularly in
Queensland, that the proposed changes, particularly the
goods and services tax (GST) was in their interests, and
Labor under
Paul Keating won the 1993 election.
The Liberals finally regained office under
John Howard in 1996. Fischer became Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Trade, although the NPA was in a much weaker position in terms of seats than it had been in previous coalition governments under
Robert Menzies and
Malcolm Fraser. Fischer supported the government introducing tough
gun control measures following the
Port Arthur massacre in April 1996, measures which were opposed by many rural people.
Fischer also had difficulty with the determination of many Liberals, including the Treasurer,
Peter Costello, to carry out sweeping free-market reforms, including abolishing tariff protection for rural industries, deregulating petrol prices and other measures seen as harmful by farmers' organisations. The issue of
native title for
indigenous Australians following the
Mabo and
Wik decisions also caused much political difficulty for Fischer.
Further trouble for Fischer and the NPA came with the rise of
One Nation, a right-wing populist party led by
Pauline Hanson, a disendorsed Liberal candidate who was nonetheless elected member for the
Queensland seat Oxley at the 1996 federal election. One Nation had its greatest appeal in country areas of New South Wales and Queensland, and during 1997 and 1998 it looked as though One Nation might sweep the NPA out of existence. In the 1998 election campaign, however, Fischer strongly counter-attacked One Nation, mainly on the grounds of their "flat tax" economic policies, and succeeded in holding the NPA's losses to one
Senate seat in Queensland.
Post-political career
In 1999 Fischer surprised his colleagues by resigning as party leader and as a minister, and by announcing that he would retire at the election due in 2001. His decision to quit politics was motivated partly by the demands of his family. In 1992 he married Judy Brewer, and they had two sons. Since his retirement he has returned to farming at Boree Creek, and is involved in charity work, assisting organisations such as the
St Vincent de Paul Society, The
Fred Hollows Foundation and Autism New South Wales.
In 2004, Fisher was appointed chairman of
Tourism Australia. His term as chairman ended on June 30, 2007.
In 2005 Fischer received Australia's highest civilian honour, when he was made a Companion of the
Order of Australia (AC).
Fischer is noted as a tireless advocate for
rail transport and is probably Australia's best known
railfan.
[2] He had a childhood hobby of studying rail gauges of the world. Since retiring from politics he has continued his association with rail as Special Envoy to the
Adelaide to
Darwin railway line and travelled on the first freight train and first
Ghan
passenger train to Darwin in 2004.
Fischer was made a Fellow of the
Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) in 2001. He served as Chairman of the ATSE Crawford Fund supporting international agricultural research from 2001 to 2006.
In 2007 he lead the Rail Freight Network Review into
rail freight in Victoria, as commissioned by the
Victorian Government.
[3]
On July 21 2008 Tim Fischer was nominated by Prime Minister
Kevin Rudd as the first resident Australian
Ambassador to the
Holy See since 1973, when diplomatic relations with the Vatican and Australia was first established.
[4]
Publications
- Seven days in East Timor: ballot and bullets
by Tim Fischer, Allen & Unwin, 2000. ISBN 9781865082776.
- Tim Fischer's Outback Heroes: and communities that count
by Peter Rees and Tim Fischer, Allen & Unwin, 2003. ISBN 9781865088310.
- Transcontinental Train Odyssey: the Ghan, the Khyber, the Globe
by Tim Fischer, Allen & Unwin, 2004. ISBN 9781741144505. A personal guide to the great transcontinental railways of the world.
- Asia & Australia: tango in trade, tourism and transport
by Tim Fischer, University of New England Press, 2005. ISBN 9781863899222.
Notes
- Mr (Tim) Timothy Andrew Fischer (1946 - )
- Transcontinental Train Odyssey
- RAIL FREIGHT NETWORK REVIEW RELEASED
- Tim Fischer announced ambassador to the Holy See
References
- Mr (Tim) Timothy Andrew Fischer (1946 - )
- Transcontinental Train Odyssey
- RAIL FREIGHT NETWORK REVIEW RELEASED
- Tim Fischer announced ambassador to the Holy See