Urquhart Edward "Ted" Innes (12 February 1925 – 28 May 2010) 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 1972 to 1983, representing the seat 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 ...

. Innes was born in

and was a long-serving state secretary of the Electrical Trades Union prior to entering parliament. He was involved in the state Labor Party at a senior level for many years, including treasurer of the state executive (1967–71), state senior vice-chairman (1971–73) and state chairman (1973–75), as well as a member of the party's national executive from 1969 to 1976. He was a co-founder of the Centre Unity faction after the 1970 federal intervention in the Victorian branch, along with Clyde Holding and Bill Landeryou, and was reported to be a close friend of

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

. Innes was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1972 federal election, and served as deputy chairman of committees in the final months of the

Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

government in 1975. He was a member of the shadow ministry from 1976 to 1980, variously holding the portfolios of immigration (1976), ethnic affairs (1976–77), community relations (1977), the ACT (1977–80), post and telecommunications (1977–80) and productivity (1980). Innes took an interest in immigration and ethnic affairs, arguing for extending an amnesty and instituting an appeals process for refugees, opposing political deportations and ministerial control of deportations, protecting ethnic radio stations and protesting moves to apply more restrictive criteria to Lebanese migrants. He also had an interest in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, touring

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1976 and visiting

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 1978, meeting with

George Habash George Habash (1 August 1926 – 26 January 2008) was a Palestinian politician and physician who was the founder and first general-secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) from 1967 to 2000. Habash was born in Ly ...

on the latter trip. He was also a repeated critic of the investigation into and prosecution of suspects in the

Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing occurred on 13 February 1978, when a bomb exploded outside the Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotel in George Street, Sydney, Australia. The hotel was hosting the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional ...

. Innes retained preselection in 1979 despite a rumored heavyweight challenge, but was dropped from shadow cabinet in 1980. He caused controversy shortly after his axing when he joined Liberal Minister for Defence Jim Killen, along with a woman friend, on a private VIP flight, despite the Labor Party's regular criticism of Liberal MPs for such flights. He retired at the 1983 federal election after losing preselection to

Gerry Hand Gerard Leslie Hand (30 June 1942 – 15 November 2023) was an Australian politician, who was a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the seat of Melbourne. He was Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Innes, Ted Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Melbourne Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1925 births 2010 deaths Place of death missing Politicians from Melbourne Australian MPs 1972–1974 Australian MPs 1974–1975 Australian MPs 1975–1977 Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983