Maurice James Neil (born 29 May 1944) is an Australian politician, soldier and lawyer. Born in Manchester, England, he migrated to Australia at the age of 5. Neil attended the University of Sydney. He served in the military 1966–75, including voluntary time in Vietnam as a platoon commander in the Royal Australian Infantry. Afterwards, he became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, practising at the New South Wales Bar from 1971. Neil became a Queen's Counsel in 1985. He was the head of his previous floor and is currently a member of 11 Garfield Barwick Chambers in Sydney. Maurice also served as a migration officer for New South Wales in London. He was a member of the board of trustees of the

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...

from 31 August 1976 to 30 June 1980 and a member of the council of trustees of the Australian War Memorial from 1 July 1980 to 30 June 1981. He also served on the NSW Council for the Ageing, the

NSW Council for Civil Liberties Founded in 1963, the charter of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties is to protect the rights and liberties of Australian citizens (as long as they do not infringe on the rights and freedoms of others) and to oppose the abusive or excessive exerci ...

and the Australian branch of the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...

Parliamentary career

In 1975, he was pre-selected as Liberal Party candidate for the Labor held federal seat of St. George, in Sydney's Southern suburbs, from a strong field of eleven candidates. In the subsequent federal election, in December 1975, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

, narrowly defeating Labor's Bill Morrison by 56 votes, after distribution of preferences.
In the 1977 federal election, despite an adverse electorate boundary redistribution, he withstood a challenge from the previous member for Grayndler, Tony Whitlam, to retain St. George with an increased majority of 2665 votes, after distribution of preferences.
Neil was defeated by Morrison in the 1980 election.

References

Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for St George Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1944 births Living people 20th-century Australian politicians Australian King's Counsel {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub