Peter Anthony Richardson (born 23 January 1939) is an Australian doctor and former 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 1975 to 1977, representing the

Division of Tangney The Division of Tangney is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. The Division was named after Dorothy Tangney, Dame Doroth ...

. He was elected as a member of 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 ...

, but shortly before the 1977 federal election defected to the libertarian Progress Party and was an unsuccessful candidate for 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 ...

Early life

Richardson was born in

Perth, Western Australia 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 graduated from 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 ...

in 1963. He trained at

King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women (KEMH) is a hospital located in Subiaco, Western Australia. It is Western Australia's largest maternity hospital and only referral centre for complex pregnancies. It provides pregnancy and neonatal care ...

Fremantle Hospital Fremantle Hospital is an Australian public hospital situated on South Terrace in central Fremantle, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. It was formerly the major hospital in its region; however, with the opening of Fiona Stanley Hospital in ...

, and the

Royal Hospital for Women The Royal Hospital for Women (RHW) is a specialist hospital for women and babies located in the suburb of Randwick in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Royal Hospital for Women shares the Randwick Hospitals' Campus site with the Prince of ...

, qualifying as a member of the

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) is a professional association based in London, United Kingdom. Its members, including people with and without medical degrees, work in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology, that is ...

. From 1968 to 1970 he worked in England as a

senior registrar :''This article primarily explains the Senior Registrar doctor grade within the United Kingdom until 1996'' A Senior Registrar was a grade of doctor in the United Kingdom or Ireland before being superseded during reforms in the 1990s. The senior ...

at St Luke's Hospital, Guildford, and as a consultant to the Welsh Hospital Board. He also undertook further training in

laparoscopy Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medli ...

and

ultrasound Ultrasound is sound with frequency, frequencies greater than 20 Hertz, kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible hearing range, limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply ...

, under

Patrick Steptoe Patrick Christopher Steptoe CBE FRS (9 June 1913 – 21 March 1988) was an English obstetrician and gynaecologist and a pioneer of fertility treatment. Steptoe was responsible with biologist and physiologist Robert Edwards and the nurse and ...

and Ian Donald respectively. Richardson worked in New York from 1970 to 1972 before returning to Perth in 1973.

Politics

Richardson was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1975 federal election, standing for the Liberal Party in the

. He won the seat from

John Dawkins John Sydney "Joe" Dawkins (born 2 March 1947) is an Australian former politician who was Treasurer in the Keating Labor government from December 1991 to December 1993. He is notable for his reforms of tertiary education as Minister for Empl ...

of the Labor Party. He came into conflict with the

Waterside Workers' Federation Waterside may refer to: Places Canada *RBC Waterside Centre, a commercial development in Halifax, Nova Scotia *Waterside, New Brunswick Nigeria *Aba River (Nigeria), also known as Waterside United Kingdom *Waterside, East Ayrshire *Waterside, ...

in January 1977, when he criticised workers for delaying the departure of the Antarctic supply ship MV ''Nella Dan'' by refusing to work in hot weather. In September 1977, Richardson announced that he would quit politics after a single term, citing the government's failure to keep its election promises and its decision to close the

Rhodesia Information Centre The Rhodesia Information Centre (RIC), also known as the Rhodesian Information Centre, the Rhodesia Information Service, the Flame Lily Centre and the Zimbabwe Information Centre, represented the Rhodesian government in Australia from 1966 to 1 ...

in Sydney. However, on 13 October he instead announced that he had defected to the Progress Party, a small

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

party, and would be its lead Senate candidate in Western Australia at the 1977 federal election. He stated that he would stand for a "limited government platform, decentralisation and devolution of power from Canberra, and a true private-enterprise economy". His campaign for the Senate was unsuccessful, as the party polled just over 10,000 votes or 1.7 percent of the state total.

Later career

Richardson returned to medicine after leaving politics, specialising in high-risk obstetrics and gynaecology and later in

assisted reproductive technology Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), and cryopreservation of ga ...

. He held consultant and teaching appointments at

from 1986 to 1991. He later served as chairman of the National Association of Specialist Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (1991–1995) and national president of the Australian Association of Ambulatory Vaginal and Incontinence Surgeons (1995–2000). In 2010, Richardson joined

Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (branded as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman ...

as an adjunct professor in the School of Medical and Applied Sciences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Peter Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Tangney Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1939 births Living people Alumni of the University of London Progress Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian gynaecologists University of Western Australia alumni Fellows of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Academic staff of Central Queensland University Australian MPs 1975–1977