Commodore William Leonard Taylor, (born 14 September 1938) is a former Australian naval officer and politician. He was a senior officer in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

, resigning to run for federal parliament. He represented 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 ...

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 1988 to 1998, holding the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

seat of

Groom A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man and Groomsman, ...

. He later served as administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories from 1999 to 2003.

Early life

Taylor was born on 14 September 1938 in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

. He attended Toowoomba Grammar School. He holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts from the Campaspe College of Adult Education and Master of Literature from the University of New England.

Military career

Taylor joined the

in 1957. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1971,

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

in 1974,

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1981 and commodore in 1986.

Politics

Taylor joined the Liberal Party in 1972. He was elected to parliament at the

1988 Groom by-election A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Groom on 9 April 1988. It was triggered by the resignation of National Party MP Tom McVeigh. The by-election was won by Liberal Party candidate Bill Taylor. A month ...

, which followed the retirement of Nationals MP Tom McVeigh. He recorded a primary-vote swing of nearly 20 points for the Liberals. His campaign was helped by the endorsement of former state Nationals leader Joh Bjelke-Petersen. In parliament, Taylor served on the Joint Statutory Committees on Public Works and Public Accounts and chaired the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties from 1996 to 1998. He was re-elected at the

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and 1996 federal elections. At the leadership election which followed the Coalition's loss at the 1990 election, he was a candidate for the Liberal Party's deputy leadership. In 1994, Taylor emerged as a prominent opponent of John Hewson's leadership of the Liberal Party. He was described by the '' Canberra Times'' as a "long-time supporter of leadership aspirant Bronwyn Bishop". He appeared on '' Four Corners'' in February stating that the opposition would not win the next election under Hewson's leadership, and in May publicly stated that Hewson should "move on". Taylor retired from politics at the 1998 election, endorsing Ian Macfarlane as his successor. In 2015, following Macfarlane's attempted defection to the Nationals, he published an opinion piece in '' The Toowoomba Chronicle'', stating he had "regretted my endorsement ever since".

Later activities

From 1999 to 2003 Taylor served as administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories, based on

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...

. His tenure was relatively eventful, including the ''Tampa'' affair of 2001, a possible typhoid outbreak, and the creation of the Christmas Island Detention Centre.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Bill 1938 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 Groom People from Toowoomba Christmas Island administrators Royal Australian Navy officers Members of the Order of Australia People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1990–1993 Australian MPs 1993–1996 Australian MPs 1996–1998 Cocos (Keeling) Islands administrators