David William Simmons, OAM (born 7 November 1947), an Australian former politician, was a 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 1996, representing the seat of Calare for the

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 ...

. Simmons held several junior Ministerial positions in the Hawke and Keating Governments.

Early career

Simmons was born in

Broken Hill, New South Wales Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

and arrived in

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Region, Bathurst Regional Council. Founded in 1815, Bathurst is ...

in 1965 and commenced study for teacher training at Bathurst Teacher's College. After graduation, Simmons taught at Tullibigeal Central, Bletchington and Broken Hill North before changing to secondary teaching and transferring to Bathurst High School where he became Head Teacher of Social Science. He had also completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Education with honours from the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students See also * New England Coll ...

. Simmons was an elected

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

on Bathurst City Council from 1978 to 1983.

Federal political career

Simmons was elected to the

seat of Calare at the 1983 federal election, after two unsuccessful attempts, representing the

. Simmons was re-elected as Member for Calare at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

Australian federal elections. He was appointed Minister for Defence Science and Personnel in April 1989 in the

third Hawke ministry The third Hawke ministry (Australian Labor Party, Labor) was the 56th List of Australian ministries, ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 23rd Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. The third Ha ...

. In April 1990, in the

fourth Hawke ministry The fourth Hawke ministry (Labor) was the 57th ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 23rd Prime Minister, Bob Hawke. The fourth Hawke ministry succeeded the third Hawke ministry, which dissolved on 4 April 1990 ...

, Simmons became Minister for the Arts, Tourism and

Territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

. In December 1991, Simmons became Minister for Family Support from and Minister for Local Government in the

first Keating ministry The first Keating ministry (Labor) was the 58th ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 24th Prime Minister, Paul Keating. The first Keating ministry succeeded the fourth Hawke ministry, which dissolved on 20 Dece ...

. Following the March 1993 Australian federal election, Simmons was not re-appointed to the

second Keating ministry The second Keating ministry (Labor) was the 59th ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 24th Prime Minister, Paul Keating. The second Keating ministry succeeded the first Keating ministry, which dissolved on 24 ...

. During the National Tax Summit in 1985, Simmons initially raised the concept of a national identity card, later entitled as the

Australia Card The Australia Card was a proposal for a national identification card for Australian citizens and resident foreigners. The proposal was made in 1985, and abandoned in 1987. History The idea for the card was raised at the national Tax Summit in 1 ...

, as a measure to address community and government concern about tax evasion and tax avoidance; concerns over the extent of welfare fraud; fears over the extent of illegal immigration. Additionally, there was a belief expressed in some quarters that an identity card or national registration procedure might assist the government's administration processes. Legislation was introduced into Parliament and finally rejected by 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 ...

in 1987 after significant community concerns, including privacy. Following his retirement from Parliament, Simmons conceded that he didn't think the concept would ever be accepted by the public. During his Parliamentary career, Simmons was the Australian representative at the UN in New York for three months and delivered an address on the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

policy in South Africa. Simmons retired from Parliament ahead of the 1996 federal election and moved to

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 ...

Post political career

Since his retirement from politics, Simmons has served on a number of government and non-profit Boards, including: :*Chief executive Officer of Newcastle and Hunter Business Chamber (1997–2001) :*General manager of Newcastle Regional Chamber of Commerce (1997 -1998?) :*Director of Tourism NSW (1997–2003) :*Chairman of the Hunter Medical Research Institute Foundation (2002–2003) :*Director of the Regional Land Management Corporation (a subsidiary of the Hunter Water Corporation) (2003–2005) :*President of the New South Wales division of the

National Heart Foundation of Australia The National Heart Foundation of Australia (known as the Heart Foundation) is a charity established in 1959. Its activities have been funding cardiovascular research, supporting health professionals in their practice, developing health promotion ...

(2006–2009). He served as the independent chair, Western NSW Medicare Local, 2012–15 and served as a director of Western Health Alliance t/a Western NSW PHN from 2015 to 2019. In October 2017 he was appointed as the independent chair, Asthma Australia Ltd. During 2006, Simmons was appointed by the NSW Minister for Local Government to undertake a formal public inquiry into Broken Hill City Council. Simmons' wife, Kaye, has also held positions in the New South Wales division of the Labor Party. In 2006, it was reported that she was on the ALP administrative committee and served as campaign manager for

Jodi McKay Jodi Leyanne McKay (born 16 August 1969) is an Australian former politician who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of New South Wales from June 2019 until May 2021. She previously served as a member of the New South Wales Legisla ...

, Labor candidate and subsequent Member for

Honours

In 2001, Simmons was awarded the Medal 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 ...

(OAM) for services to the Australian Parliament and the community of the Hunter Region.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, David Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Calare Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1947 births Living people University of South Australia alumni Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Charles Sturt University alumni Government ministers of Australia Australian MPs 1983–1984 Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1990–1993 Australian MPs 1993–1996