Peter Robert Cleeland (31 May 193816 September 2007), Australian politician, was a

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 ...

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. ...

, representing the electorate of

McEwen MacEwen, MacEwan, McEwen, or McEwan may refer to: People * MacEwen (surname) Places *Castle MacEwen, Argyll, Scotland *MacEwan, Edmonton, a neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada *MacEwan Glen, a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada * ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

between 1984 and 1990, and subsequently between 1993 and 1996. Cleeland was raised in the

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 ...

suburb of Preston, earning a trade as a

fitter and turner A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechani ...

before joining the

Victorian Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victor ...

Force from 1961 to 1969. While a police officer, he studied and graduated in law at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

. He worked as a solicitor for a number of years, eventually establishing his own practice. He was elected as a local councillor for the Central Ward in the

Shire of Diamond Valley The Shire of Diamond Valley was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1964 until 1994. History The name relates to the lowlands to the ...

from 1978 to 1985 and was Shire President from 1982 to 1983. In 1982 Cleeland unsuccessfully stood for election in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

seat of

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

. He achieved Labor Party preselection for the newly formed federal House of Representatives seat of

, which he won in

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 ...

. Cleeland won the subsequent election in

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 ...

, before losing the seat to

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 ...

candidate

Fran Bailey Frances Esther Bailey (born 21 May 1946) is a former Australian politician. She is a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993 and 1996 to 2010, representing the Division of McEwen in Victoria. Sh ...

in the 1990 general election. He stood once again in

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 ...

and won the seat back, serving for a further 3 years before once again losing the seat to Bailey in the 1996 election, when the Keating Labor government was swept from power by

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

. Cleeland served as Chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the

National Crime Authority The National Crime Authority (NCA) was an Australian law enforcement agency established in 1984 and wound up on 31 December 2002. History The NCA was set up in 1984 in the wake of the Costigan Commission, which investigated tax evasion and or ...

between 1987 and 1990, producing during that time the much cited report "Drugs, Crime and Society". The report recommended harm minimisation rather than criminalisation as a technique for managing illicit drug use. Cleeland died on 16 September 2007 from

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleeland, Peter 1938 births 2007 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for McEwen Police officers from Melbourne Deaths from motor neuron disease in Australia People from Preston, Victoria Politicians from Melbourne Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1993–1996