Robert Leslie Chynoweth (born 7 June 1941) is an Australian politician. He was an

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 ...

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 1983 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 1996.

Early life

Chynoweth was born in Richmond, an inner suburb of

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 ...

to a family of Cornish descent.

Politics

Chynoweth first entered federal parliament at the federal election of March 1983, as part of a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

Labor win under the leadership of Bob Hawke. He was the

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 ...

candidate for the seat of Flinders, based on the outer south eastern fringe of Melbourne. He defeated incumbent Liberal member Peter Reith. Only months earlier Labor had failed to win Flinders, with a different candidate, Rogan Ward, at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

held in December 1982. Ward did not become the candidate again due to dissatisfaction with his candidacy at the by-election. Following a redistribution of electoral boundaries in 1984, Chynoweth opted to contest the seat of Dunkley. He was defeated for Labor

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

by Albert Knowles of the left faction, but the preselection result was overturned by the National Executive's decision to mandate the endorsement of all sitting MPs. Dunkley was one of a number of new seats created as a consequence of the enlargement of parliament. The seat took in much of the urban area previously covered by Flinders, and was considered a safer bet for a Labor candidate than the redistributed Flinders. (Dunkley was created with a notional two-party margin of Labor 53.2% to Liberal 46.8%. Flinders had a notional post-redistribution two-party margin of Labor 50.7% to Liberal 49.3%.) Chynoweth won the seat of Dunkley at the 1984 federal election and was re-elected in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. Chynoweth was defeated at the 1990 federal election as one of a number of Labor losses in Victoria at that election. However, he was to make a comeback to politics by winning back the seat of Dunkley at the 1993 federal election. He defeated Liberal MP Frank Ford, who had defeated him three years earlier. A redistribution that took place ahead of the 1996 federal election transformed Dunkley from a marginal Labor seat into a seat with a notional Liberal majority.Psephos: 1996 Federal election, Victoria
/ref> Chynoweth re-contested the redistributed Dunkley but lost to Liberal candidate Bruce Billson.

References

External links

Biography for CHYNOWETH, Robert (Bob) Leslie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chynoweth, Bob Living people 1941 births Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian people of Cornish descent Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Flinders Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Dunkley Members of the Australian House of Representatives People from Richmond, Victoria Australian MPs 1983–1984 Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1993–1996