Robert Fitzgerald "Robin" Cooper (25 April 1936 – 23 November 2021) was an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n politician. Born 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 ...

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 ...

, he attended

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The ...

and later the

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

before embarking on a career in sales and marketing in the building supplies industry. In 1972 he was elected to

Mornington Shire Council The Shire of Mornington is a local government area in northwestern Queensland, Australia. The shire covers the Wellesley Islands, which includes Mornington Island; the South Wellesley Islands; Bountiful Islands; and West Wellesley / Forsyth ...

, and became president of the council 1979–80. In 1985 he was elected to 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 ...

as the

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 ...

member for Mornington and was immediately elevated to the front bench, serving as Shadow Minister for Local Government and Public Works. In 1987 he was given the portfolios of Arts and Police and Emergency Services, exchanging Arts for Corrections in 1988. In 1989 he moved to Local Government and Tourism, and in 1990 to Public Transport. In 1991, however, he left the front bench. He was appointed a parliamentary secretary in 1996 in the Kennett Government before being promoted to the Ministry of Transport in 1997. He left the front bench again on the Coalition's defeat in 1999. He spent a period as Manager of Opposition Business in the Assembly in 2006 before retiring at that year's state election. Cooper died on 23 November 2021, at the age of 85.

References

1936 births Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians People educated at Xavier College Ministers for transport infrastructure (Victoria) {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub 2021 deaths