Robert Ian Viner (born 21 January 1933) is an Australian barrister and 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 1972 to 1983, representing 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 ...

, and held senior ministerial office in the

Fraser government The Fraser government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. It was made up of members of a Liberal–Country party coalition in the Australian Parliament from November 1975 to March 1983. Init ...

. Viner was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and raised in

Bunbury, Western Australia Bunbury () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's third most populous city after Perth and Mandurah, with a population of approximately 75,000. Loca ...

. He studied law at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

and subsequently worked as a barrister in Perth. He was first elected to parliament at the 1972 federal election, winning the seat of

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

for the Liberal Party. An ally of Prime Minister

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

, Viner served as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (1975–1978), Employment and Youth Affairs (1978–1982),

Industrial Relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...

(1981–1982), and Defence Support (1982–1983). He was also Leader of the House from 1979 to 1980. He lost his seat in the government's defeat at the 1983 election.

Early life

Viner was born on 21 January 1933 in

Claremont, Western Australia Claremont is a Western suburbs (Perth), western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, on the north bank of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River. History Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of wat ...

. He was raised in Bunbury, attending Bunbury Primary School and Bunbury High School.Robert Ian Viner: Curriculum Vitae
at Western Australian

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

Viner left school at the age of 15 and began working for the

Union Bank of Australia The Union Bank of Australia was a bank that operated in Australia and New Zealand from 1837 to 1951. The Union Bank was established in London in October 1837 with a subscribed capital of £500,000. The foundation of the bank followed a visit t ...

, at its Bunbury and

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. He also completed

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

training with the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF). He enrolled in the

in 1954 and graduated

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

( Hons.) in 1958. Prior to his election to parliament, Viner worked as a barrister in

. He regularly represented trade union clients in industrial cases.

Politics

Viner was elected to the

at the 1972 federal election, winning the seat of

from the incumbent

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 ...

(ALP) MP Harry Webb. He was narrowly re-elected at the 1974 election, initially losing by a margin of two votes but eventually being declared elected with a twelve-vote margin after a recount. He was subsequently part of a group of MPs who supported

in the lead-up to the 1975 leadership spill which ousted Billy Snedden from the Liberal leadership. Following 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 ...

's victory at the 1975 federal election, Viner was appointed Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the

on 22 December 1975. He was reportedly a "surprise inclusion" in the ministry, having not been a part of Fraser's shadow cabinet and having previously had limited involve in Aboriginal affairs. He was responsible for the introduction of the ''

Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 The ''Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' (ALRA) is Australian federal government legislation that provides the basis upon which Aboriginal Australian people in the Northern Territory can claim rights to land based on tradi ...

'', the first federal native title legislation, and the ''Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976'', which allowed for the establishment of Aboriginal corporations under federal law. He promoted "self-management and self-sufficiency" for Indigenous Australians, called for greater teaching of Aboriginal language and culture in Australian schools, and established the Council for Aboriginal Development as an advisory body. Viner was elevated to cabinet after the 1977 federal election and additionally appointed Minister Assisting the Prime Minister. He was instead appointed Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs in a ministerial reshuffle in 1978. He was Leader of the House from 1979 to 1980 and was additionally appointed Minister for Industrial Relations in 1981. Viner was an unsuccessful candidate for the deputy leadership of the Liberal Party in April 1982, following

Phillip Lynch Sir Phillip Reginald Lynch Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (27 July 1933 – 19 June 1984) was an Australian politician who served in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1966 to 1982. He was deputy lea ...

's resignation. He polled only five votes out of 81 and was eliminated on the first round, sparking speculation about his future as a minister. In a ministerial reshuffle the following month, Viner was removed from cabinet and instead appointed Minister for Defence Support. He retained that position until his defeat by Labor candidate Ron Edwards at the 1983 election.

Later activities

Viner was elected state president of the Liberal Party in Western Australia in 1991. He was defeated for re-election by Bill Hassell the following year. He was associated with a group opposing powerbroker Noel Crichton-Browne, and was allegedly involved in the leaking of domestic violence allegations against Crichton-Browne which contributed to the end of his parliamentary career. Crichtown-Browne's supporters then unsuccessfully attempted to have Viner expelled from the party. In 1995, Viner was appointed by the

Keating government The Keating government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Paul Keating of the Australian Labor Party from 1991 to 1996. The government followed on from the Hawke government after Paul Keating replaced Bob ...

as deputy chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. He was appointed to the

National Native Title Tribunal The National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) is an independent body established under the ''Native Title Act 1993'' in Australia as a special measure for the advancement and protection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Indigenous Aus ...

in the same year.

Personal life

Viner had seven children with his wife Ngaire. They lived in

Swanbourne Swanbourne is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Winslow and three miles (4.8 km) west of Stewkley. History The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin and may mean "swan stream". It was recorded ...

until 1977, when they relocated to Waterman in order to live in his electorate boundaries. Viner played

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

throughout his political career and later captained Australia at a masters level. Viner 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 ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 1999.VINER, Robert Ian
Award entry, "It's an Honour" at Australian Government

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viner, Ian Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Stirling Members of the Australian House of Representatives Leaders of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia 1933 births Living people Australian MPs 1972–1974 Australian MPs 1974–1975 Australian MPs 1975–1977 Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983