Shayne Michael Murphy (born 8 January 1952), Australian politician, was a member of the Australian Senate, representing

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, from 1993 to 2005. He represented the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms ...

from his election until 2001, when he left the party and became an independent. Murphy was born in

Queenstown, Tasmania Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania, Australia. It is in a valley on the western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range. At the , Queenstown had a population of 1,808 people. History Queenstown's ...

, and became a shearer. He became involved with the union movement, rising to become State Secretary of the Tasmanian branch of the

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU, though most commonly still referred to as CFMEU) is Australia's main trade union in construction, forestry, maritime, mining, energy, textile, clothing and footwear produ ...

. He was also the secretary of the ALP's Industry Policy Committee in Tasmania. He attributed his October 2001 resignation from the ALP to their policies on logging. In the 2001–04 Parliament, Murphy shared the balance of power with Senators Len Harris,

Brian Harradine Richard William Brian Harradine (9 January 1935 – 14 April 2014) was an Australian politician who served as an independent member of the Australian Senate, from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving inde ...

and

Meg Lees Meg Heather Lees (née Francis, born 19 October 1948) is a former member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 2005, representing the state of South Australia. She represented the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 2002, and was her party's l ...

, who left the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australi ...

in 2002. This meant that the government could pass legislation through the Senate only by winning the support of these Senators. Murphy often voted with the government to pass key pieces of legislation. An example of this was Education Minister

Brendan Nelson Brendan John Nelson (born 19 August 1958) is a business leader and former Australian politician. He served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008, going on to serve as Australia's senior diplomat to the European Union and NA ...

's higher education reforms, which allowed universities to increase fees. Murphy did, however, vote down several pieces of government legislation; most notably when, in March 2004, Murphy joined with Harradine to block the full privatisation of two-thirds state-owned telecommunications company

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets voice, mobile, internet access, pay television and other products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX ...

. Murphy was defeated at the 2004 election. His term expired on 30 June 2005.

References

External links

*http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/tas/content/2003/s964616.htm * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Shayne 1952 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians