Graham McDonald Harris (born 29 August 1937) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n politician. He was a

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

from 1980 to 1983, representing the electorate of Chisholm. Harris was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and studied law at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, before practising as a barrister from 1961 until his election to parliament. He was a member of the

Royal Australian Naval Reserve The Royal Australian Naval Reserve (RANR) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Australian Navy in Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Austra ...

from 1965 and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1974. Harris was an active member of the Liberal Party for many years, serving on its state council from 1970 to 1981 and as chairman of his state and federal electorate committees. In 1980, he was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1980 election upon the retirement of Tony Staley. He held the seat until his defeat in 1983 by

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

's Helen Mayer. Harris opposed the controversial

Franklin Dam The Gordon-below-Franklin Dam (or simply Franklin Dam) project was a proposed dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, that was never constructed. The movement that eventually led to the project's cancellation became one of the most sign ...

in Tasmania, which was highly unpopular in his electorate, and attributed anti-dam campaigning targeting the government by The Wilderness Society as a factor in his defeat. Harris recontested the seat against Mayer at the 1984 election, losing by only 200 votes in a closely-fought race in which Harris campaigned on opposition to the Hawke government's assets test for taxation. Harris returned to legal practice after his defeat in 1983 and remained a practising barrister until 1994, after which he engaged in other business interests. He was awarded the Reserve Force Decoration in 1985, was promoted by the Navy Reserve to the rank of Commander in 1985 and served as Director Naval Intelligence (Reserves) in the RANR from 1989 to 1993. He was later state president (1992-1994) and national president (1994-2017) of the Navy League. Harris was a Director of Kilmour Investments Pty Ltd from 1973 to 2022 (Chairman 1979 to 2017) Harris has been a Director of Associated Kiln Driers Pty Ltd (AKD) since 1991 and Chairman since 2015. Harris retired as Chairman in June 2023. He remains a Director. AKD is Australia's largest timber miller.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Graham 1937 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Chisholm Politicians from Melbourne Melbourne Law School alumni Australian MPs 1980–1983