Reginald John Birney (26 September 1927 – 1 January 1995) was an Australian barrister and politician. He was a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

and served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1975 to 1983, representing the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

seat of Phillip.

Early life

Birney was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 26 September 1927. Birney was a barrister prior to entering politics. In 1963 he represented Geoffrey Chandler at the inquest into the

Bogle–Chandler case The Bogle–Chandler case refers to the mysterious deaths of Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Margaret Chandler on the banks of the Lane Cove River in Sydney, Australia on 1 January 1963. The case became famous because of the circumstances in which the bo ...

, which involved the mysterious death of Chandler's wife. Later that year he represented accused serial killer William MacDonald, mounting an unsuccessful insanity defence.

Politics

In 1962, Birney was a vice-president of the United Australia Movement, which campaigned for the

Territory of Papua and New Guinea The Territory of Papua and New Guinea , officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New ...

to be granted representation in federal parliament and for Australian annexation of

Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea (, ) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1949 to 1962. It contained ...

. He visited

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

where he spoke on "the immediacy of the Indonesian threat to East New Guinea", and with solicitor Bruce Miles was subsequently involved with the New Guinea Party which stood candidates at the 1963 federal election. Birney was elected to the New South Wales state council of the Liberal Party in 1974. He was elected to the

at the 1975 federal election, winning the seat of Phillip from the incumbent

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP) MP

Joe Riordan Joseph Martin Riordan AO (27 February 193019 November 2012) was an Australian politician and briefly government minister. Early years Riordan was born in Sydney, raised as a Catholic, and educated at Patrician Brothers School and Marist Brothe ...

. Birney was reportedly an "enthusiastic backbencher" with "a talent for getting his name in print, usually as a champion of the bizarre or the sanctimonious". He was one of the few Liberal MPs to oppose the construction of the

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. He suffered a heart attack while visiting the protest site in 1983. Birney was re-elected at the

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

and 1980 elections, but lost his seat to the ALP candidate Jeanette McHugh as the

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

was defeated at the 1983 election. He was later an unsuccessful preselection candidate for the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

prior to the

1984 New South Wales state election Elections were held in the state of New South Wales, Australia, on Saturday 24 March 1984. The Labor government led by Neville Wran won a fourth term in office, though with a reduced (if still sizeable) majority and a 7% swing against it. As t ...

Later life

Birney returned to his legal practice following the end of his parliamentary career. In 1984 he represented Lebanese organised crime figure Frank Hakim at a special commission inquiry into alleged bribery of the state prisons minister

Rex Jackson Rex Frederick Jackson (7 October 192831 December 2011) was an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and subsequently imprisoned for conspiracy. Early life Jackson was born in Wagga Wagga, New So ...

, which ultimately led to Jackson's imprisonment.

Personal life

Birney's first marriage was to Betty Ann Parnell. He later married Shirley Kirk and Toni McRae. He had a total of six children across his marriages, including

Matt Birney Matthew John Birney (born 10 June 1969) is an Australian former politician. He was a Liberal member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, serving as Leader of the Opposition from 2005 to 2006. Birney was born in ...

who briefly served as leader of the Liberal Party in Western Australia. Birney died in his sleep on 1 January 1995, aged 66, while on holiday at

Coolah, New South Wales Coolah is a town in the central western part of New South Wales, Australia in Warrumbungle Shire. At the 2016 census, Coolah had a population of 1,290. Material was copied from this source, which is available under Creative Commons Attribution ...

References

Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Phillip Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1928 births 1995 deaths Australian MPs 1975–1977 Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983 Australian barristers {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub