Bob Collins (Australian Politician)
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Robert Lindsay Collins AO (8 February 194621 September 2007) was a Labor Party member of the
Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...
from July 1987 to March 1998, representing the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
. Prior to entering the Senate, Collins was a member of the
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory (also known as the Parliament of the Northern Territory) is the unicameral legislature of Australia’s Northern Territory. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member ...
from 1977 to 1987, and Leader of the Territory Opposition from 1981 to 1986. He was the first Northern Territorian to become a federal minister. He killed himself after being charged with child sex offences.


Early life

Born into a working-class family in
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
in 1946, Collins left school at the age of 15 and worked briefly on a
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
. In 1967, he moved to the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
, where he found work at the Department of Agriculture in the town of
Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...
. By 1974, he was working for the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
(CSIRO) and
St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is an affiliated movement of charitable organisations in mostly Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries which provide first aid education and consumables and emergency medical services. St John organisations are primari ...
when
Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...
struck the city of Darwin.


Territory politics

Collins first became politically active in the late 1970s while employed as a market gardener and wildlife officer in the
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
community of
Maningrida Maningrida ( Ndjébanna: ''Manayingkarírra'', Kuninjku: ''Manawukan'') is an Aboriginal community in the heart of the Arnhem Land region of Australia's Northern Territory. Maningrida is east of Darwin, and north east of Jabiru. It is on ...
in
Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territorial capital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...
. In 1977, he was asked to run for the Labor Party in the seat of
Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...
, which he did, successfully gaining a seat in the second parliament of the
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory (also known as the Parliament of the Northern Territory) is the unicameral legislature of Australia’s Northern Territory. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member ...
. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1981 to 1986 while the
Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP), commonly known as the Country Liberals, is a centre-right and conservative political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In territory politics, it operates in a two-party system wi ...
held power, switching to the newly created seat of Arafura in December 1983. At the territorial election of 1983, his party was defeated; and incumbent Chief Minister Paul Everingham was the victor. Collins was Leader of the Opposition in the Northern Territory for four years, championing the then unpopular causes of overturning the verdict against Lindy Chamberlain over the disappearance of her daughter Azaria at
Uluru Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...
; and backing the return of Uluru to its
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
.


Federal politics and the Senate

At the 1987 federal election, Collins was elected to the
Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...
representing the Northern Territory. He served as a senator for almost eleven years. The
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...
chose Collins as Minister for
Shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...
on 4 April 1990, and a month later Aviation Support was added to his portfolio. He also served as Minister assisting the Prime Minister for Northern Australia. In May 1992, Prime Minister
Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...
elevated Collins to the
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
as Minister for Transport and Communications. In December 1993, he was made Minister for Primary Industries and Energy. After 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 ...
led by
John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...
won the 1996 election, Collins continued to serve in the Senate until he resigned on 30 March 1998.
Trish Crossin Patricia Margaret Crossin (born 21 March 1956) is a former Australian politician, who served as a Senator for the Northern Territory from June 1998 to September 2013, representing the Australian Labor Party. Crossin was born in Melbourne and ...
was appointed to fill his previous Senate seat.


Co-ordinator of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands

After he left federal politics in 1998, Collins took on various projects on boosting Aboriginal education, tackling petrol sniffing and landscape conservation. In March 2004, the
Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...
,
Mike Rann Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...
, appointed Collins as the service delivery co-ordinator of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands in South Australia's north. He was tasked with rectifying some of the vast social problems in the region. Collins resigned from the position in August 2004.


Honours

In the
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...
Honours of 2004, Collins was appointed an
Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(AO) for services to the Northern Territory and indigenous rights.


Child sex allegations

In June 2004, Collins was involved in a serious single-car accident when his car rolled over near the town of
Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has also been reported in Mississippi, Oklahoma ...
. He was taken to
Royal Darwin Hospital The Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) is a 360-bed Australian teaching hospital located in Tiwi, Northern Territory, Tiwi, a northern suburb of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory. It is part of the Top End Health Service, which co ...
, then flown to
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
on 22 June for specialised surgery. As Collins recovered in hospital, officers of the
Northern Territory Police The Northern Territory Police Force is the police body that has legal jurisdiction over the Northern Territory of Australia. This police service has 1,607 police members (2021-22 financial year) made up of 83 senior sergeants, 228 sergeants, 912 ...
flew to his hospital bedside to inform him his home had been raided and he was charged with child-sex offences. His home computer had been seized, and prosecutors said this computer contained 54 child pornography images. Additionally, four men had made allegations that Collins had sexually assaulted them as children, more than 30 years previously. One of the alleged victims was
Tom E. Lewis Tom E. Lewis (25 August 1958 – 10 May 2018), also known by his traditional name Balang Lewis, and sometimes credited as Tommy Lewis was an Aboriginal Australian actor, musician, and artistic director. His first major role was the title role in ...
, a young actor who had played the title role in the 1978 Australian film ''
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'' is a 1972 Booker Prize-nominated Australian novel by Thomas Keneally, and a 1978 Australian film of the same name directed by Fred Schepisi. The novel is based on the life of bushranger Jimmy Governor, the ...
''. The Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions supported a move by Collins's defence lawyers to suppress all details of the court case, including media reporting of the case. Another allegation was made in 2006 of the sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
in September 1989. Collins was charged with two counts of committing an act of indecency and one count of sexual intercourse with a child. Collins's continuing medical problems, including surgery for
bowel cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...
and injuries from his car accident, meant he was unfit to attend the ACT Magistrates' Court for four scheduled hearings of the case in September and December 2006 and March and May 2007. An additional charge of possession of child pornography was set down against Collins in the Darwin Magistrates' Court in November 2006. Collins faced 21 child sex charges in the Northern Territory which were due for a committal hearing in April 2007. The child pornography charge was due for a hearing in the same court on 1 May. Collins died by suicide before facing court. Five of Collins' alleged victims were paid compensation under the Victims of Crime (Assistance) Act, after claims for compensation were accepted by the Northern Territory government.


Death

Collins died in Darwin on 21 September 2007, three days before he was scheduled to face court. Given the circumstances of unexplained death, a detailed coronial investigation was carried out into the death, reporting in February 2009. The Northern Territory Coroner stated: "The cause of death was intentional overdose of prescription drugs with alcohol following upon a background of three years of significant medical difficulties and in the face of upcoming court cases. I find that the deceased took the drugs with the purpose of ending his life." The Coroner stated that, although it was not his usual practice to release findings relating to intentional self-harm:
I have decided to release the following information from the coronial findings into the death of Robert Lindsay Collins, because of the intense public and media speculation. I have discussed this with Mr Collins' family who, whilst saddened that this release is necessary, understand that there is a need to clarify the circumstances of his death.
The family held a private funeral.


Posthumous controversy

A portrait of Bob Collins is hung in the Parliament House of the Northern Territory along with all former Leaders of the Opposition. Country Liberal MLA
John Elferink Johan Wessel Elferink (born 24 September 1965) is an Australian politician. He is a former member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for the Country Liberal Party. Early life Elferink was born in the Netherlands and moved to Aust ...
drew attention to this in June 2009, as he felt the portrait's presence was inappropriate due to the child abuse allegations against Bob Collins. In response to the request Speaker
Jane Aagaard Jane Lesley Aagaard (born 1956) is an Australian former politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the Darwin-based electorate of Nightcliff. She was the Speaker o ...
announced in October 2009 that after review the House Committee had decided the portrait was a historical record and would remain.


References

  {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Bob 1946 births 2007 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Australian politicians who died by suicide Members of the Australian Senate for the Northern Territory Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Officers of the Order of Australia People from Darwin, Northern Territory Politicians from Newcastle, New South Wales Suicides in the Northern Territory Leaders of the opposition in the Northern Territory Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians 2007 suicides Drug-related suicides in Australia Alcohol-related deaths in Australia Northern Territory politicians