Robert Tickner

The Honourable
Robert Tickner
AO
Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs
In office
4 April 1990 – 11 March 1996
Prime MinisterBob Hawke
Paul Keating
Preceded byGerry Hand
Succeeded byJohn Herron
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Hughes
In office
18 February 1984 – 29 January 1996
Preceded byLes Johnson
Succeeded byDanna Vale
Personal details
Born (1951-12-24) 24 December 1951 (age 72)
Sydney, New South Wales
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
OccupationLecturer, solicitor

Robert Edward Tickner AO is a former Australian Labor Party cabinet minister. He was CEO of the Australian Red Cross from 2005 to 2015.

Early life and education

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Born in Sydney on (1951-12-24) 24 December 1951 (age 72), Robert Edward Tickner[1] was adopted. He later searched for his birth mother after the birth of his own son.[2]

After attending secondary school in Forster and Taree on the North Coast of New South Wales, he studied at the University of Sydney, graduating in law and economics.[3]

Early career

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Prior to entering parliament, Tickner worked as a university lecturer at the NSW Institute of Technology from 1974 to 1979, then as principal solicitor for the NSW Aboriginal Legal Service from 1979 to 1984.[3]

Tickner was one of the early and influential members of Friends of the Earth Australia in Sydney in 1975, being the lease owner of a three-storey terrace on Crown St, Surry Hills, which became the FoE Sydney bookshop and office. He was convenor of the FoE urban campaign which opposed the Sydney City Council's inappropriate high rise development.[4]

Political career

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From 1977 to 1984 he was elected as a Labor councillor on the Sydney City Council,[1][3]

He also served a brief time as acting lord mayor of Sydney in August to September 1983, in the absence of Lord Mayor Doug Sutherland and Deputy Lord Mayor Tony Bradford.[5][6][7]

After failing to gain victory as ALP candidate for the 1981 Wentworth by-election (which was won by the Liberals' candidate Peter Coleman, former Leader of the NSW Opposition), Tickner was successful in entering the federal parliament at the 1984 Hughes by-election. Bob Hawke appointed Tickner, in 1990, the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs; and he retained this post throughout Paul Keating's government.[2]

Tickner's tenure in office was marred by the Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy. Partly due to this affair, and partly due to the increasing unpopularity of the Keating government as a whole, Tickner was resoundingly defeated in the 1996 election by Liberal challenger Danna Vale, suffering an 11-point swing against him. He was one of eight ministers in the Keating government to lose their seats.[citation needed]

Other activities

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Tickner served as chief executive of the Australian Red Cross from February 2005 to July 2015.[8][9][10][3]

As of 2024 Tickner is co-chair of the EveryAGE Counts Steering Committee, and ambassador for International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Australia.[3][11]

Justice Reform Initiative

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Tickner is the founding chair of the Justice Reform Initiative,[12] which campaigns against what it sees as the over-use of prisons in Australia. It is supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation and has cross-party support,[13] as well as many experienced and distinguished patrons. Its Co-Patrons in Chief are former governor generals of Australia Sir William Deane and Dame Quentin Bryce, and patrons include former High Court justice Virginia Bell; former NSW senator Peter Baume; Tim Costello; Olympian and Australian of the Year Robert de Castella; former Liberal MP and ultra-marathon athlete Pat Farmer; author Kate Grenville ; Jackie Huggins; former High Court justice Michael Kirby; playwright Suzie Miller; artist Ben Quilty; Aboriginal elder and activist Pat Turner; former Liberal Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt; and many others.[14]

Selected publications

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  • Tickner, Robert E. Taking a stand : land rights to reconciliation (2001) Allen & Unwin, N.S.W. ISBN 1865080519 [15]
  • Tickner, Robert. Ten Doors Down: The Story of an Extraordinary Adoption Reunion (2020) Scribe Publications, ISBN 9781925849455

References

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  1. ^ a b "Biography for Tickner, the Hon. Robert Edward". ParlInfo Web. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 15 September 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
  2. ^ a b Tickner, R. E. (Robert E.) (2020), Ten doors down : the story of an extraordinary adoption reunion, Scribe Publications, ISBN 978-1-925849-45-5
  3. ^ a b c d e "About Robert". Robert Tickner. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  4. ^ Cam Walker (ed) 2004, pp 17 Thirty Years of Creative Resistance. Retrieved 6 April 2015
  5. ^ Coultan, Mark (29 August 1983). "Alderman makes it to the top at last - but only for 10 days". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 2.
  6. ^ Cam Walker (ed) 2004, pp 20 Thirty Years of Creative Resistance. Retrieved 6 April 2015
  7. ^ City of Sydney, Robert Tickner, Sydney Aldermen website, Retrieved 6 April 2015
  8. ^ Red Cross. Retrieved 9 September 2016
  9. ^ Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Sean (20 February 2009). "Red Cross abandons annual appeal". ABC Online. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
  10. ^ Oppenheimer, Melanie (2014), The power of humanity: 100 years of Australian Red Cross 1914-2014, HarperCollins Australia, ISBN 978-0-7322-9485-4
  11. ^ "Campaigns". Robert Tickner. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Robert Tickner". Robert Tickner. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  13. ^ "About". Justice Reform Initiative. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Our Patrons". Justice Reform Initiative. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  15. ^ Taking a stand : land rights to reconciliation / Robert Tickner. National Library of Australia. ISBN 9781865080512. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Hughes
1984 –1996 		Succeeded by
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