Jack Evans (Australian politician)
Jack Evans | |
|---|---|
| SenatorforWestern Australia | |
| In office 5 March 1983 – 30 June 1985 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 November 1928 Southern Cross, Western Australia |
| Died | 2 October 2009(aged 80) Wanneroo, Western Australia |
| Political party | Australian Democrats(after 1977) |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal Movement(1975–1976) New Liberal Movement(1976–1977) |
| Spouse | Margaret Michel |
| Occupation | Management consultant |
John Gordon "Jack" Evans(28 November 1928 – 2 October 2009[1]) was an Australian businessman and politician who served as anAustralian Democratssenator forWestern Australiafrom 1983 to June 1985.
Early life
[edit]Evans was born in theWheatbelttown ofSouthern CrossHe was the eldest of three sons born to Bill Evans, a locomotive fireman, and his wife Rita.[2]He was educated at NorthCottesloePrimary School,NorthamHigh School and Midland Technical School. A fellow student at Northam was the talented athleteShirley Stricklandwith whom he was to maintain a lifelong friendship.
He obtained a position managing sporting and other recreational activities at the Railway Institute in Perth and, in 1953, married Margaret Michel. They had two children, a daughter and a son. He became an electrical goods retailer inPerthand later the UK[2]before returning to practise in Perth until the early 1980s as amanagement consultantspecialising in corporatemergers and acquisitions.
Political career
[edit]Evans unsuccessfully contested the1975 Senate electionas aLiberal Movementcandidate. In 1977, as an organiser for theNew Liberal Movement,he was closely associated withJohn Siddons,Robin Millhouseand others in formation of theCentre-Line Partywhich was later renamed the Australian Democrats. He has been credited with recruitingDon Chippas leader of the new party[2][3]for which he unsuccessfully contested the1977and the1980Senate elections as the leadWA Democrat candidate.In 1980, he polled above 12% before losing the final seat to LiberalNoel Crichton-Brownein a tight preference count.
He eventually gained election at theMarch 1983double dissolutionelection on his third attempt as an Australian Democrats candidate.[4]He was defeated at theDecember 1984election,[5]his seat being won byJo Vallentineof theNuclear Disarmament Party.(Though he sat for only 28 months, his term was officially deemed to have begun on 1 July 1982 and ended on 30 June 1985.)[6]
At the1986 Western Australian state election,he contested an Upper-House seat in circumstances which led to allegations that he had unethically negotiated Labor Party funding assistance in return for crucialelection preferences.[7] For thefollowing Senate election in 1987,the party's membership selected him as the No. 2 Senate candidate, precipitating a bitter dispute and a second preselection ballot from which the first ballot winner, Richard Jeffreys, was excluded. Evans was again placed in the second position, deemed unwinnable, this time behindJean Jenkins,who was successful at the election. In 1988, he survived an expulsion motion from the party's WA branch[8]and for several years withdrew from constructive participation while conducting disputes with the party's WA administration and its national ombudsman. During that time, he mounted an unsuccessful Supreme Court action to prevent circulation of a national ombudsman's report, and acted as campaign manager to former party memberShirley de la Huntywho contested the1989 Western Australian state electionas an independent candidate. In 1993, following the collapse of his Australian Business College, he returned to serving the party in senior administrative positions, both state and federal, and successfully supported and mentored the Senate candidature ofAndrew Murray.
Australian Business College
[edit]In the 1980s Evans and family members founded the Australian Business College, Perth, which collapsed in January 1993[9]after controversial dealings with overseas students. An inquiry by the Senate Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training[10]found that 350 overseas students in Australia and approximately 100 offshore had lost approximately $2.2 million in advance fees paid to the college.[11]Other issues were publicised by theMurdoch University Student Guild,including alleged misleading advertising and intimidation of overseas students by the college.[12]In May, 1988, a group of more than 30 overseas students held a demonstration outside the college, calling for increased regulation of its practices.[13]In subsequent court proceedings, Evans was convicted and fined $4,000.[2]In 1998, ProfessorAllan Fels,then chairman of theAustralian Competition & Consumer Commission(ACCC), told an international conference on higher education that the ACCC's action against the Australian Business College "highlights the need for Australian educational institutions seeking to enrol foreign students to ensure that what is represented to the students is true".[14]
Death
[edit]Evans died ofcancerat his home in thePerthsuburb ofWanneroo,aged 80, on 2 October 2009.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ab"Democrats pioneer Evans dies".ABC News.2 October 2009.Retrieved2 October2009.
- ^abcdMendez T.Democrats founder recruited Don ChippObituary inThe West Australian,p. 69, 7 October 2009
- ^However, in his bookThe Third Man(Rigby, Adelaide, 1978) at page 185ff, Chipp made it clear that (though strongly influenced by Evans) he was finally recruited at a Melbourne Town Hall meeting chaired byMark Oliphantand attended byCharles BirchandJohn Gorton.
- ^Carr, Adam."Senate tally 1983, Western Australia".Psephos Election Archive.Retrieved19 November2008.
- ^Carr, Adam."Senate tally 1984, Western Australia".Psephos Election Archive.Retrieved19 November2008.
- ^Australian Parliamentary Handbook 23rd edn, 1986, p.94
- ^Kennedy P "Labor accused of election deal",The West Australian6 October 1987
- ^News item "Evans survives expulsion bid"The West Australian,16 May 1988
- ^Foreign students hit by Perth private college collapseNew Straits Times,Malaysia,4 February 1993
- ^The efficacy of the Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration of Providers and Financial Regulation) Act 1991 in the light of the collapse of the Australian Business College in Perth in January 1993.Canberra: August 1993. (Parliamentary paper 156/1993) 27p. appendices. Chair: T. G. Aulich.ISBN0-642-19616-8ISSN0727-4181
- ^ Australian Parliamentary Library's Research Digest on Education Services for Overseas Students (Registration of Providers and Financial Regulation) Amendment Bill 1993,p. 2. Accessed 29 January 2016
- ^Students uncover untrue advertisingCiting a 1988 edition ofMurdoch Meteor.Accessed 29 January 2016
- ^Thornton M "Foreign students protest at college"The West Australian12 May 1988 p. 4
- ^Fels AThe impact of competition policy and law on higher education in AustraliaPage 15 of paper at 1998 International Conference of the Australasian Association for Institutional Research, 24 November 1998. Accessed 29 January 2016
Sources
[edit]- Phillips, Harry."EVANS, John Gordon (1928–2009)".The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate.Retrieved28 March2020.
- Evans J. G.First Senate speech,4 May 1983, Senate Hansard page 196
- 1928 births
- 2009 deaths
- Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of Australia
- Deaths from cancer in Western Australia
- Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia
- People from Southern Cross, Western Australia
- Liberal Movement (Australia) politicians
- Members of the Australian Senate
- 20th-century Australian politicians