David John Hamer (5 September 1923 – 14 January 2002) was an Australian politician and

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

officer.

Early life and naval career

Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, he was educated at

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ...

and then the

Royal Australian Naval College The Royal Australian Naval College (RANC), commonly known as HMAS Creswell, is the naval academy of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It consists of the RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range an ...

. He served in the

from 1940 to 1968. He was a lieutenant aboard during the battles of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

in October 1944 and Lingayen Gulf in January 1945. During this time he served as the ''Australias Air Defence Officer. In the rank of acting captain, he was an honorary aide-de-camp to the governor-general, and director of naval intelligence 1961 from 1963, and after confirmation in the rank of captain, he served as captain of and captain of the Australian Destroyer Squadron 1963–65. Then after serving as director of project coordination in Navy Office, he resigned from the RAN in 1968.

Political career

In 1969, David was elected to the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member for Isaacs. Narrowly defeated 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 la ...

candidate Gareth Clayton in 1974, he became a political columnist for ''The Age'' newspaper and undertook a Master of Arts at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

in Constitutional Law, studying the historical role of the Australian Senate. He was re-elected to Isaacs in 1975 but contested the Senate in 1977. He was successful, and remained a Liberal senator for Victoria until his retirement in 1990. A strong supporter of improving the function of the Senate as a house of review, he was Chairman of Committees as well as Deputy President of the Senate from 1983–1990. Hamer was also interested in promoting the arts in Australia, helping establish the Arts Council of Victoria, and serving as President of the Arts Council of Australia and of the Australian Film Institute. He was a keen supporter of the establishment of the National Film and Sound Archive as a way to collect and make accessible Australia's rich audiovisual history.

Later life, family and legacy

Hamer died of leukaemia in 2002 (aged 78). His publications include: * ''The Australian Senate 1901–1918, An Appraisal (1976)'';
''Can Responsible Government Survive In Australia?''
(1994); and * ''Bombers Versus Battleships – The Struggle Between Ships and Aircraft for Control of the Surface of the Sea'' (1998) Hamer's brother was Sir Rupert Hamer (Dick Hamer), the

Premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government in the Australian state of Victoria. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Victorian Legislative Assemb ...

1972–81. His brother Alan had been a Rhodes Scholar, chemist and businessman. His sister Alison Patrick was an historian at

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...

. In 2004 the Hamer Family Fund was set up in honour of all four siblings and its aims include projects that advance the arts, the environment and good government in Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamer, David Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Isaacs Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Order of Australia Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College 1923 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at Geelong Grammar School Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Royal Australian Navy officers Politicians from Melbourne Military personnel from Melbourne