Harry Vernon Quick (28 June 1941 – 19 October 2024) was an Australian politician. He was a member of 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 1993 until 2007, representing the electorate of

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. He sat as a member of the Labor Party from 1993 to 2007, when he was expelled from the party for failing to pay his membership dues. An outspoken maverick MP, he did not contest the 2007 federal election.

Early life

He was a teacher, education officer and electorate officer before entering politics. He worked for Senator

Michael Tate Michael Carter Tate AO (born 6 July 1945) is a legal academic and former Australian Labor Party politician who later became an ambassador and then a Catholic priest. Early life and education Michael Carter Tate was born in Sydney on 6 July 19 ...

prior to being elected to the House.

Politics

He first entered politics in 1993 after winning the southern

n seat of

in the

. On the night of the 1993 federal election, Quick was the first member to become elected (mainly due to the

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time, daylight time (Daylight saving time in the United States, United States and Daylight saving time in Canada, Canada), or summer time (British Summer Time, United Kingdom, ...

difference), reclaiming Franklin for

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 ...

, for the first time in 17 years. During the time he was member for Franklin the one-time

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

stronghold became a reasonably safe Labor seat. Even in the 2004 federal election where all Tasmanian Labor members lost support, Quick's decline was the smallest. He also protested against the 2003 Iraq war in which Australian troops took part. He once took some Tasmanian apples into the

Federal parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch of Australia (represented by the governor ...

in protest against legalising the import of New Zealand apples which have been banned in Australia for 80 years because of bio-security risk reasons, notably the

Fireblight Fire blight, also written fireblight, is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. It is a serious concern to apple and pear producers. Under optimal conditions, it can destroy an entire orchard ...

disease. The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament was present on an official visit, and Speaker

Neil Andrew John Neil Andrew (born 7 June 1944) is a former Australian politician. He served in the House of Representatives for over 20 years from 1983 to 2004 representing the Division of Wakefield in South Australia for the Liberal Party. He became th ...

named Quick for refusing to discard the apples as requested. He opposed the 2005

Walker Corporation Walker Corporation is an Australian privately-owned property development company. Most notably, Walker Corporation is responsible for the development and restoration of several significant Australian sites, including King Street Wharf, Finger ...

planned development at Ralphs Bay, Lauderdale near Hobart that the

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Labor

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

had hoped for. He has always believed that politicians should take a "hands on" role in the community. Quick was an Opposition Whip 2001–04. On 12 August 2005, Quick announced that he would not contest his seat at the next federal election, blaming what he called the party's left-right factional disputes and lack of a strong leader as the reasons for his retirement. Quick caused controversy during the 2006 state election by endorsing not only fellow Labor candidates in the state equivalent of his seat, but also a

Tasmanian Greens The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign. They form a part of the Australian Greens. Followi ...

member,

Nick McKim Nicholas James McKim (born 11 June 1965) is an Australian politician, currently serving as a Senator for Tasmania in the federal parliament. He was previously a Tasmanian Greens member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly elected at the 2002 ele ...

. Quick was expelled from the ALP on 20 August 2007 for failing to pay his membership fees, and appearing with Liberal party representatives

Vanessa Goodwin Vanessa Goodwin (22 April 1969 – 3 March 2018) was an Australian politician. She was the Liberal Party member for the seat of Pembroke in the Tasmanian Legislative Council from the Pembroke by-election on 1 August 2009 until her resignation ...

the candidate for Franklin and minister

Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for Division of North Sydney, North Sydney from 1996 Australian federal election, 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer ...

when the preselected ALP candidate for Franklin was Tasmanian union official Kevin Harkins who Quick opposed. Harkins subsequently resigned as candidate after more controversy and

Julie Collins Julie Maree Collins (born 3 July 1971) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represented the Tasmanian seat of Franklin since the 2007 federal election. She held ministerial positions in the G ...

was preselected as the candidate instead. He sat as an Independent member until his retirement. In February 2009, Quick was reported to be seeking preselection for the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two Chambers of parliament, chambers of the Parliament, the other being the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly. Both ho ...

division of Derwent as a representative of the Tasmanian Greens. He had joined the Greens in July 2008. Five days after announcing his intention to contest the seat held by Treasurer Michael Aird, Quick abruptly changed his mind, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Quick was elected in the 2014 general Tasmanian council elections to

Glenorchy City Council Glenorchy City Council (or City of Glenorchy) is a local government body in Tasmania, and one of the five municipalities that constitutes the Greater Hobart Area. The Glenorchy local government area has a population of 50,411, covering the sub ...

as alderman and was elected deputy mayor of Glenorchy, but defeated for both positions in 2018. Quick was elected in the 2022 general Tasmanian council elections to Glenorchy City Council as alderman.

Death

Quick died in

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 ...

from cancer on 19 October 2024, at the age of 83.

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quick, Harry 1941 births 2024 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Franklin Members of the Australian House of Representatives Tasmanian local councillors Australian MPs 1993–1996 Australian MPs 1996–1998 Australian MPs 1998–2001 Australian MPs 2001–2004 Australian MPs 2004–2007