Marinus Theodoor "Rene" Hidding (born 5 February 1953) is an Australian politician. He was a

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 ...

member for the Division of Lyons 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 ...

from 1996 until his resignation in 2019. From 2002 until 2006, he was also leader of the Liberal Party and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

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 ...

Upbringing and early career

Hidding immigrated to Tasmania from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in his youth. He was educated in Launceston at Riverside High School and Launceston Matriculation College where he gained an Associate Diploma Business (Real Estate). He was a self-employed businessman (his companies included Hidding Trading Pty Ltd, Hiddings Mitre 10, Hiddings Building Services, Span Truss Systems and Hiddings Joinery) before entering politics, when he sold his business to Gunns Limited.

Political career

Hidding was an Alderman on the Launceston City Council from 1985 to 1992. He was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for 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. ...

seat of Franklin in 1993. In 1996, Hidding was elected to the

for the multi-member seat of

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. Between 1996 and 1998 Hidding held junior positions in the government of Tony Rundle, including Secretary to Cabinet, Deputy Chairman of Committees and a member of the Cabinet Budget Committee. After the Liberals lost office, Hidding was elected to the Opposition front bench as Deputy Opposition Leader in 1999, and in August 2002 he was elected Leader of the Opposition. He was also Shadow Minister for Tourism, Parks and Heritage and Shadow Minister for Resources and Energy. At the 18 March 2006 state election, Hidding failed to defeat the incumbent Labor Party government led by Paul Lennon. Despite an increase in the Liberal Party's primary vote, the Opposition failed to make any gains in terms of seats. On election night, Hidding declined to speculate on whether he would continue as opposition leader. Twelve days later, on 30 March, the day that final election results were known, Will Hodgman was unanimously elected by the party as its new leader. On 4 May 2018, following the election of the Liberal Government, Hidding was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to Premier Will Hodgman. Hidding resigned from parliament on 25 February 2019, following allegations of historic sexual abuse against a minor, published in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

''. Hidding denied the allegations and said he would confront them as a private citizen. In September 2019, the police announced that Hidding would not be charged over the allegations, with the Director of Public Prosecutions determining that "given the constraints posed by the passage of time and the resulting impact on the evidence available, there was no reasonable prospect of conviction".

Personal life

Rene Hidding and his wife, Shirley, have four adult children, and several grandchildren.

References

External links

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State Liberals Left Out in the Cold
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hidding, Rene 1953 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Dutch emigrants to Australia Leaders of the opposition in Tasmania 21st-century Australian politicians People from Hengelo