Ron Boswell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader of theNational Party in theSenate | |
| In office 10 April 1990 – 3 December 2007 | |
| Leader | Tim Fischer Mark Vaile |
| Preceded by | John Stone |
| Succeeded by | Nigel Scullion |
| Senator forQueensland | |
| In office 5 March 1983 – 30 June 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1940-12-09)9 December 1940 (age 84) Perth,Western Australia |
| Political party | National |
| Spouse | |
| Education | St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace |
| Occupation | Salesman |
Ronald Leslie Doyle BoswellAO (born 9 December 1940) is a former Australian politician. He was aSenator forQueensland from 1983 to 2014, representing theNational Party. He was the party's Senate leader from 1990 to 2007, a record term. He was also aparliamentary secretary in theHoward government from 1999 to 2003. He wasFather of the Senate from 2008 until his retirement in 2014.
Boswell was born inPerth on 9 December 1940.[1] In his memoirs he recalled a tumultuous childhood including "two parental separations, frequent changes of school, and an abduction (by his mother, accompanied by her lover) to Melbourne".[2]
Boswell spent his early years in Perth, attending five schools in six years. He moved to Brisbane after his father was transferred for work reasons,[2] where he attendedSt Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace.[3]
Boswell left school at the age of 14 and began working as an office boy at an insurance firm.[2] He later worked as an insurance agent and travelling salesman, including selling paintbrushes.[4] He first came into contact with Queensland premierJoh Bjelke-Petersen in his role as a manufacturers' agent, lobbying against the deregulation of weekend trading hours.[2]
Boswell was convinced to join the National Party by his wife, a long-time member.[2] He was elected chairman of the party'sWynnum branch in 1974 and to the party's central council in 1976, serving on its management committee and as a metropolitan vice-president.[1] He was also chairman of the party's fishing industry committee.[5]
In 1982, Boswell wonpreselection for the third position on the National Party'sSenate ticket in Queensland, behind incumbent senatorsFlorence Bjelke-Petersen andStan Collard.[6] He was elected to a three-year Senate term at the1983 federal election, which followed adouble dissolution.[1] In the lead-up to the election he hired a publicity officer "to get his name known in provincial Queensland".[7] He would be re-elected to the Senate on a further six occasions, in1984,1987,1990,1996,2001 and2007.[1]
Prior to the 1984 election, Boswell controversially announced that he would denysupply to theHawke government if it were re-elected, leading to a public rebuke from National Party leaderIan Sinclair.[8]
In 1988, Boswell was added toJohn Howard'sshadow ministry, holding the regional development and external territories portfolio under Howard and his successorAndrew Peacock until 1990. He returned to the shadow cabinet in 1993 underJohn Hewson, holding the portfolios of Northern Australia and external territories. He was moved to the consumer affairs portfolio in May 1994 afterAlexander Downer became opposition leader.[1] In December 1994 he and five other conservative senatorscrossed the floor to vote against theHuman Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994, which guaranteed sexual privacy. Downer supported the legislation and Boswell consequently resigned from the shadow cabinet.[9]
Following a National Partyleadership spill after the 1990 election, Boswell was elected as the party's Senate leader, defeatingDavid Brownhill.[10] He would retain the position for a record 17 years, until stepping down after the 2007 election.[1]
Boswell was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services in July 1999 but left the position in October 2003.[11] After he was succeeded as leader of the Nationals in the Senate byNigel Scullion following the 2007 election, Boswell became Scullion's deputy. He was succeeded in that position byFiona Nash in 2008.[1]
Boswell's bid for re-election at the 2001 election was framed as a head-to-head contest between him andOne Nation leaderPauline Hanson for Queensland's sixth Senate seat.[12] In his valedictory speech to the Senate in 2014, he stated that he "risked everything to stand up against her aggressive, narrow view of Australia [...] defeating Pauline Hanson and One Nation in 2001 has been my greatest political achievement".[13] He was an outspoken opponent of other far-right groups such as theLeague of Rights and theCitizens Electoral Council,[2] in 1988 denouncing the League of Rights as "racist, anti-semitic and neo-Nazi".[14]
Boswell reluctantly announced his support for the merger of the Nationals and Liberals in 2008, seeing the creation of theLiberal National Party of Queensland as "the lesser of two evils" following suggestions that a new standalone conservative party should be created.[15]
In 2011, Boswell was a critic of the then Australian Government'scarbon emissions trading scheme. He called for the scheme to be abandoned.[16] On 17 September 2012, during a Senate debate on a proposed marriage inequality bill, Boswell spoke out againstsame sex marriage in Australia stating: "Two mothers or two fathers can’t raise a child properly. Who takes the boy to football? Who tells him what's right from wrong? What does he do? Go along with mum, or two mums? How does he go camping or fishing? It won’t work, it’s defying nature!"[17]
Boswell announced on 21 September 2012 that he did not intend to seek re-election in 2013 and would retire when his Senate term expired in 2014.[18]
In 1966, Boswell married Leita Beattie, who worked as a schoolteacher atMoreton Bay College for over 40 years. He was widowed in 2021.[19]
Boswell published his memoirs,Ron Boswell: Not Pretty, But Pretty Effective, in December 2023.[20]
| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Father of the Australian Senate 2008–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of the Nationals in the Senate 1990–2007 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Deputy Leader of theNational Party of Australia in the Senate 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
