Peter Erne Baume, AC (born 30 January 1935) is a retired Australian doctor and politician. He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

from 1974 to 1991, 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 ...

. He served as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (1980–1982) and Minister for Education (1982–1983) 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 ...

Early life

Baume was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 30 January 1935. He was the son of Jean (née Brodziak) and Sidney Erne Baume. His paternal grandfather Frederick Baume was a member of parliament in New Zealand, while his grandmother Rosetta Baume was one of the first women to stand for parliament in New Zealand. Baume spent his early childhood in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, where his father was manager of radio station 3UZ. He attended Ormond State School and Grimwade House,

Melbourne Grammar School Melbourne Grammar School is an Australian private school, private Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Day school, day and boarding school. It comprises a co-educational preparatory school from Prep to Year 6 and a middle school and senior s ...

's preparatory school. The family later returned to Sydney where they settled in the suburb of Collaroy. Baume completed his education at Narrabeen Public School,

North Sydney Boys High School North Sydney Boys High School (abbreviated as NSBHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded, Single-sex school, single-sex, Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective secondary day school for boys, loc ...

, and

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

. After leaving school he completed his

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 ...

as a medical orderly at

RAAF Base Richmond RAAF Base Richmond is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located within the City of Hawkesbury, approximately North-West of the Sydney Central Business District in New South Wales, Australia. Situated between the towns of ...

. Baume went on to study medicine at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, graduating

MBBS A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

in 1959. He completed his medical residency at the Royal North Shore Hospital and was admitted to the

Royal Australasian College of Physicians The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training and educating physicians and paediatricians across Australia and New Zealand. The RACP is responsible for training both ...

in 1962. He subsequently studied

gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- "belly", -énteron "intestine", and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract, sometime ...

in the United Kingdom and the United States. He received the further degree of

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

from the University of Sydney in 1969. Baume worked in private practice as a gastroenterologist and physician at Royal North Shore Hospital before entering parliament. He was also a clinical lecturer at the

Political career

Baume was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for New South Wales, representing the

at the 1974 election. As a backbencher he chaired the Senate Standing Committee on Social Welfare, which produced two reports: "Drug problems in Australia—an intoxicated society?" (1977) and "Through a glass darkly: evaluation in Australian health and welfare services" (1979). He was the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs from November 1980 to May 1982 and

Minister for Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...

from 20 April 1982 to 7 May 1982 following Michael MacKellar's resignation as minister. He was then Minister for Education until the

Fraser Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal ...

government's defeat in the March 1983 election. He was the parliamentary representative on the Council of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

from February 1986 until his resignation from parliament. In 1987 when Baume was Shadow Minister for the Status of Women he contravened Liberal Party policy by voting for a bill giving equal employment opportunity in some government-owned bodies. He considered he was "... finished in the Liberal Party. It is true that one is allowed to cross the floor in the Liberal Party of Australia, but my philosophical liberal principles sat poorly with the increasingly dominant radical conservatism of others. It was time again for a change of career." He resigned from parliament in January 1991. Baume is a cousin of former Liberal Senator Michael Baume.

After politics

Baume was Professor of Community Medicine at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

(UNSW) from 1991 to 2000 and studied

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

, drug policy and evaluation. Since 2000, he has been an honorary research associate with the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW. He works as a facilitator of bi-weekly scenario groups for the first and second year of the university's medical program. He was

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

from 1994 to 2006. He has also been Commissioner of the

Australian Law Reform Commission The Australian Law Reform Commission (often abbreviated to ALRC) is an Australian independent statutory body established to conduct reviews into the law of Australia. The reviews, also called inquiries or references, are referred to the ALRC by ...

, Deputy Chair of the Australian National Council on AIDS and Foundation Chair of the

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) was a Australian Government, government statutory authority tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping in sport, doping. The authority was part of the D ...

from 1991 to 1998. He was appointed a director of

Sydney Water Sydney Water, formally, Sydney Water Corporation, is a Government of New South WalesState-owned corporation, owned statutory authority, statutory corporation that provides potable drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Sydney ...

in 1998 following the discovery of

cryptosporidium ''Cryptosporidium'', sometimes called crypto, is an apicomplexan genus of alveolates which are parasitism, parasites that can cause a respiratory and gastrointestinal illness (cryptosporidiosis) that primarily involves watery diarrhea (inte ...

in Sydney's water supply.

Awards

Baume 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 January 1992 in recognition of service to the Australian Parliament. In June 2008 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia. He received an honorary doctorate from the Australian National University in December 2004. in August 2016 Baume was recognised in the Disability Employment Australia Hall of Fame for "his role in the 1994 Review of the Commonwealth Disability Services Program" (later dubbed the Baume Review). The ANU 'Peter Baume Award', recognises "eminent achievement and merit of the highest order". It was first conferred in 2004. Baume is a Distinguished Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales.

Personal life

Baume married Jennifer Tuson in 1958 and they have one son and one daughter, the latter of whom has three children.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baume, Peter Erne Members of the Cabinet of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Members of the Australian Senate People educated at Sydney Grammar School 1935 births Living people Companions of the Order of Australia People educated at North Sydney Boys High School Chancellors of the Australian National University 20th-century Australian politicians Academic staff of the University of New South Wales Ministers for health of Australia Australian people of New Zealand descent University of Sydney alumni Ministers for education of Australia Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians