Andrew Ian McNamara (born 19 August 1959) was an Australian politician. He was a

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 ...

member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

from 2001 to 2009, representing the district of

Hervey Bay Hervey Bay () is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to ...

. He served as Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation from 2007 to 2009, under the premiership of

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Queensland Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party. ...

. Currently, Mr McNamara was the CEO of the Chiropractors' Association of Australia.

Peak oil

In February 2005, McNamara came to national prominence as the first mainstream Australian politician to speak out on the issue of

Peak Oil Peak oil is the point when global oil production reaches its maximum rate, after which it will begin to decline irreversibly. The main concern is that global transportation relies heavily on gasoline and diesel. Adoption of electric vehicles ...

. McNamara was the Chair of the Queensland Government's Oil Vulnerability Taskforce. The Taskforce report, "Queensland's Vulnerability to Rising Oil Prices," also known as the McNamara Report was commissioned in 2005 and is the first of its kind to be commissioned by any government in the world. McNamara is also the Foundation Patron of the Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO).

Climate change

Andrew McNamara was a member of Australia's delegation to the Bali Climate Change Conference in December 2007. McNamara has also established a Climate Change Council with a number of prominent environmentalists and business leaders including

Tim Flannery Timothy Fridtjof Flannery (born 28 January 1956) is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist, conservationist, explorer, author, science communicator Science communication encompasses a wide range of activities tha ...

and Ian Lowe.

Anti-whaling

Andrew McNamara has been a strong opponent of

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

, particularly Japanese whaling in Australian waters.

Hervey Bay

Andrew McNamara represented the seat of

is one of the fastest-growing areas in

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 ...

. The area's principal industry is tourism, in particular whale watching. Seeking a fourth term, McNamara was defeated in the 2009 election by former Hervey Bay Mayor

Ted Sorensen Theodore Chaikin Sorensen (May 8, 1928 – October 31, 2010) was an American lawyer, writer, and presidential adviser. He was a speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy, as well as one of his closest advisers. President Kennedy once called hi ...

Significant speeches

First Speech in the Queensland Parliament, 3 April 2001

Speech in Queensland Parliament on Peak Oil, 22 February 2005

Speech in Queensland Parliament against Whaling, 6 February 2007

Speech in Queensland Parliament against Whaling, 22 May 2007

Speech in Queensland Parliament on Clean Coal Technology, 7 June 2007

References

External links

Andrew McNamara interviews and speeches on Global Public Media

Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil

Andrew McNamara personal home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Andrew Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1959 births Living people People associated with energy Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians