Charles Blunt | |
|---|---|
| Leader of the National Party | |
| In office 9 May 1989 – 6 April 1990 | |
| Deputy | Bruce Lloyd |
| Preceded by | Ian Sinclair |
| Succeeded by | Tim Fischer |
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forRichmond | |
| In office 18 February 1984 – 24 March 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Doug Anthony |
| Succeeded by | Neville Newell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1951-01-19)19 January 1951 (age 75) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Party | National Party of Australia |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney |
| Occupation | Economist |
Charles William Blunt (born 19 January 1951) is a former Australian politician who served as leader of theNational Party of Australia from 1989 to 1990.
Blunt was born inSydney and graduated from theUniversity of Sydney with a degree in economics. After working in various positions he was hired asNew South Wales State Director of the National Party.
At aby-election on 18 February 1984, Blunt was elected to theHouse of Representatives for theDivision of Richmond in northern New South Wales, despite having had no previous connections with the area. He succeeded the formerDeputy Prime Minister and leader of the NPA,Doug Anthony, who had resigned his seat.
Blunt was immediately promoted to the opposition front bench, serving as shadow Minister for Social Services. He was returned to parliament at the1984 and1987 general elections.
In 1989 Blunt organised a leadership coup against the veteran leader of the NPA,Ian Sinclair. He aimed to modernise the NPA and bring it into closer alignment with theLiberal Party, particularly on issues of economic deregulation. He was also more socially liberal than most NPA members.
Unfortunately for Blunt, neither of these things was popular with rank and file NPA members, and he found his leadership under increasing attack from traditionalists. At the same time the seat of Richmond, which had been held by the NPA and its predecessor the Country Party since 1922, was becoming more urbanised. Some argue that the growing unpopularity of the National Party state government inQueensland influenced federal voting intentions. Richmond sits across theTweed River from theGold Coast, and the two areas share a television market. However, the seat had actually become more marginal in the latter part of Doug Anthony's tenure. The anti-war campaignerHelen Caldicott announced that she would oppose Blunt in his electorate at the next election.
The culmination of these trends was a swing against the NPA at the1990 election, at which theHawkeLabor government was re-elected. Blunt was defeated in his own seat of Richmond. He went into the election holding Richmond with a majority of six percent, just barely outside the range of being safe. However, he had no local connections, which worked against him in a country seat. Labor challengerNeville Newell won the seat on the seventh count after Caldicott'spreferences flowed overwhelmingly to him, allowing him to take the seat on a swing of seven percent. It was only the second time that the leader of a major Australian party had lost his own seat in an election; the first wasStanley Bruce, the thenPrime Minister, who not only led his party to defeat in1929 election but also lost his own seat ofFlinders. The NPA also lost the adjoining seat ofPage, both campaigns being heavily influenced by Queensland media.
After the election, Blunt was again the focus of political controversy when he was accused of inappropriately using publicly funded mailouts of election-related material:
Yesterday I was asked bythe honourable member for Wannon a series of questions relating to postal allowances. I can confirm thatDr Hewson, as Opposition leader, spent $3,000 on postage.Mr Peacock spent $5,100. The former Democrats leader, MrsJanine Haines, spent $5,500. I spent $10,255. And Mr Charles Blunt, the former National Party leader, spent $278,922."
— Bob Hawke, November 1990,[1]
After an investigation Blunt was found not to have breached any rules, and the matter was dropped.[citation needed]
After leaving politics Blunt went into business. He led a number of trade and investment missions to the United States and was a regular speaker at international trade and investment outlook conferences. In 1992 he became National Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia, resigning in 2013. He is also currently chair of a number of publicly listed companies, including Capital Trade and Policy and Palamedia.
In 2014, Blunt appeared in a documentary about the Nationals, "A Country Road: The Nationals" in which he talked about his time as Nationals leader. On the same programme,John Sharp, a Nationals MP at the time of Blunt's leadership, said that in hindsight it was a mistake for Sinclair to be replaced as leader by Blunt.[2]
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| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forRichmond 1984–1990 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of theNational Party of Australia 1989–1990 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| People | |
