Russell Neville Joseph Gorman (20 July 1926 – 3 January 2017) was an Australian politician. He was an

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

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. ...

from 1983 to 1996, representing the electorate of Chifley. Gorman was the last veteran of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to serve in 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 ...

. Gorman was born in

Kandos, New South Wales Kandos is a small town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, within the Mid-Western Regional Council. The area is the traditional home of the Dabee tribe of the Wiradjuri people. The town sits beneath Cumber Melon Mountain (fr ...

. He enlisted in the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

in 1944, reaching the rank of leading aircraftman, and was stationed at

Ultimo, New South Wales Ultimo is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is adjacent to the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Sydney west of the Darling Harbour area, and ...

Benalla, Victoria Benalla is a small city in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

, Oakey, Queensland and

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

before his discharge in 1947. He worked as an overseer and personnel officer after the war, and was working for

Blacktown City Council Blacktown City Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Esta ...

at the time of his election to parliament. Gorman was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1983 federal election. During his first year, he faced criminal charges for domestic violence against his wife, being convicted in August but then having his conviction quashed in December. He denied the allegations, which re-emerged when Liberal Senator Noel Crichton-Browne was embroiled in a domestic violence controversy in 1995. In 1984, he transferred to the new seat of Greenway. Gorman rarely spoke in parliament, stating on his retirement that he had only ever made "two major speeches", but he was known to speak his mind and for his colourful language elsewhere. He proposed lowering the pension age to 60 for all people, making mortgage payments tax-deductible for first home buyers, and requiring advertisers to contribute to the cost of cleaning up rubbish. In 1987, he reportedly told

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

during a debate about privatisation "if you blokes would stop stroking your stalks and get out there in the electorate, you'll find out what people really think of you". In 1994, opposing preferential treatment for women in Labor preselection, he publicly lashed Labor minister Bob McMullan as a 'dickhead' and opposed Carmen Lawrence for

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

because she had failed to help former

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Brian Burke, who had been jailed for corruption. He retired at the 1996 election.

References

1926 births 2017 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Chifley Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Greenway Members of the Australian House of Representatives Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II Australian MPs 1983–1984 Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1990–1993 Australian MPs 1993–1996 {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub