Raymond John Groom (born 3 September 1944) is an Australian lawyer and former sportsman and politician, 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 ...

in the Federal Parliament 1975–84 and the Tasmanian Parliament 1986–2001. He was a Federal and state minister for a total of 13 years. He was

Premier of Tasmania The premier of Tasmania is the head of the Government of Tasmania, executive government in the Australian state of Tasmania. By convention, the leader of the party or political grouping which has majority support in the Tasmanian House of Assem ...

from 1992 to 1996 and also served as Deputy Premier and Attorney-General.

Early life

Ray Groom was born in

Elsternwick Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government areas of Victoria ...

, a suburb of

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 ...

. His family moved to

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

when he was a young child. He attended schools in both Victoria and Tasmania.

Australian rules football career

Groom initially played senior

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

in Tasmania with the Cooee Football Club commencing at 16 years of age. He represented the North Western Football Union and

before joining the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL) club

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

. He played 96 senior games with Melbourne at centre half forward, as a ruck rover and at centre half back. On Ron Barassi's retirement, Groom was invited by Melbourne coach Norm Smith to wear the club's prized Number 31 guernsey. He represented Victoria and won the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal as Melbourne's Best and Fairest player in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. Groom later represented Tasmania at the 1969 National Carnival in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Playing statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 15 , , 19 , , 17 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0.9 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, , 15 , , 12 , , 9 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 0.8 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

, , 31 , , 8 , , 2 , , 5 , , 52 , , 20 , , 72 , , 18 , , , , , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 6.5 , , 2.5 , , 9.0 , , 2.3 , , , , , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, , 31 , , 16 , , 7 , , 9 , , 181 , , 47 , , 228 , , 50 , , , , 80 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 11.3 , , 2.9 , , 14.3 , , 3.1 , , , , 5.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, , 31 , , 18 , , 1 , , 2 , , 212 , , 42 , , 254 , , 71 , , , , 136 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 11.8 , , 2.3 , , 14.1 , , 3.9 , , , , 7.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 31 , , 19 , , 0 , , 0 , , 246 , , 28 , , 274 , , 76 , , , , 34 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 12.9 , , 1.5 , , 14.4 , , 4.0 , , , , 1.9 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 92 ! 36 ! 16 ! 691 ! 137 ! 828 ! 215 ! ! 250 ! 0.4 ! 0.3 ! 11.3 ! 2.2 ! 13.6 ! 3.5 ! ! 4.9

Athletics

Groom won state titles in both Tasmania and Victoria as a sprinter and long jumper. In 1962, at 18 years of age, he represented Tasmania at the National Athletics Championships in Sydney, was a nationally ranked athlete and was chosen as a member of the Australian

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

selection squad.

Early legal career

After obtaining a

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 ...

from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1967 Groom practised as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and later in

. He was a partner in the Tasmanian firm of Crisp, Hudson & Mann and appeared regularly in the

Supreme Court of Tasmania The Supreme Court of Tasmania is the highest State court in the Australian State of Tasmania. Together with the Magistrates Court, it forms the judiciary in Tasmania. In the Australian court hierarchy, the Supreme Court of Tasmania is in the mid ...

on trial and appeal matters and the Magistrates Courts.

Political career

Federal politics

Groom first stood for 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 ...

seat of Braddon in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

at the age of 30 but was unsuccessful. In

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

he ran for Braddon again and won, and held it until 1984. His 1975 election result was significant in that as a Liberal candidate he outpolled 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 ...

opponent on the West Coast of Tasmania, the first time this had ever occurred. In the 1974 and 1983 Australian federal elections, he achieved the largest swing of any Liberal candidate in the nation. Between the election of 1974 and his last election in 1983, the Liberal two-party vote in Braddon increased from 38% to 63%. He served in the second Fraser Ministry as Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development from December 1977 to December 1978 and then Minister for Housing and Construction until November 1980. He retired from the Australian Parliament immediately prior to the 1984 election.

State politics

Groom and his family moved from

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

at the end of 1984 and he was then appointed senior advisor to the Tasmanian Premier Robin Gray. In 1986 he re-entered politics as a member for Denison in the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

, topping the poll in that electorate. He immediately became the Minister for Forests, Mines and Sea Fisheries. In November 1988, he became deputy leader of the state Liberal Party and hence

Deputy Premier of Tasmania The deputy premier of Tasmania is a role in the Government of Tasmania assigned to a Individual ministerial responsibility, responsible Minister in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Tasmania. It has second ranking behi ...

. He became deputy opposition leader after the Liberals' defeat in 1989. In 1991, he successfully challenged Gray's leadership and became Tasmanian state leader of the Liberal Party.

Premier of Tasmania

Groom became

after leading the Liberals to victory in the 1992 state election with a majority of 19 seats on a swing of over seven percent. After the 1996 election, the Liberals suffered a three-seat swing, losing their majority. The balance of power rested with the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

, but the Labor Party refused to enter into any agreement with them. This left a Liberal minority government supported by the Greens as the only realistic option. However, Groom had promised before the election that he would only govern in majority and resigned. He was replaced by Tony Rundle, who quickly reached an agreement with the Greens. He remained in Parliament until 2001, serving as Attorney-General, Minister for Tourism and Minister for Workplace Standards until the 1998 election, when the Rundle Government was defeated.

Life after politics

Groom is actively involved in community affairs and has been a chairman/director of several community organisations since retiring from politics. He is a former chairman of Southern Cross Care Tasmania and Southern Cross Care Australia. Since retiring from parliament, he has practised as a

and

and as an arbitrator and mediator. He was appointed a Deputy President of the Australian

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was an Australian tribunal that conducted independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT reviewed decisions made by Australian G ...

in 2004 and continues in that position. He is currently a member of the Tribunal's Executive Deputy Presidents Committee and the Practice and Procedure Committee.

Honours

In the 2010 Australia Day Honours, Groom was appointed an Officer (AO) 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 ...

"For service to the Parliament of Tasmania as Premier and through a range of portfolio responsibilities, and to the community through leadership roles within organisations supporting Indigenous, aged and welfare groups".It's an Honour
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Personal life

Groom is married to Gillian Crisp and they have four sons and two daughters. One of his sons, Matthew Groom, also served as a member of the Tasmanian parliament until 2018

References

External links

Demonwiki profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Groom, Ray 1944 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Deputy premiers of Tasmania Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Melbourne Football Club players Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Braddon Premiers of Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Melbourne Law School alumni Australian sportsperson-politicians Officers of the Order of Australia Australian rules footballers from Tasmania Cooee Football Club players Leaders of the opposition in Tasmania Treasurers of Tasmania Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century Australian politicians People from Elsternwick, Victoria Australian MPs 1975–1977 Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983 Australian MPs 1983–1984 20th-century Australian sportsmen