Robert Hill (Australian politician)

Robert Murray Hill AC (born 25 September 1946) is a retired Australian politician. He is an Adjunct Professor in Sustainability and Co-Director of the Alliance 21 project at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a Commissioner of the Global Ocean Commission.

Early life and family

Born in Adelaide, Hill studied at the University of Adelaide where he took degrees in Arts and Law, and later the London School of Economics, where he gained a master's degree in law. Robert Hill was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics. He was Vice-President of the Liberal Party in South Australia 1977–79 and President 1985–87. Like many South Australian Liberals, Hill belonged to the liberal or moderate wing of the Liberal Party. He was also a member of the Liberal Party's Federal Executive 1985–87 and 1990–93. Hill came from political family and his father, Murray Hill, was a prominent Liberal member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1965 to 1988. His daughter, Victoria, is an Australian actress.

Career

Political career

Robert Hill was elected as a Senator for the State of South Australia, representing the Liberal Party, at the 1980 Federal election. He took his seat in the Senate on 1 July 1981, and served until 15 March 2006.

After the Liberals' defeat (their fourth consecutive loss) at the 1990 federal election, Hill became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (1990–96), and held appointments during these years as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence, Public Administration and Education, Science and Training. In 1994 he was Chairman of the Senate's Policy Review Committee. In 1994 he was unsuccessful in seeking Liberal preselection for the House of Representatives seat of Boothby for the 1996 election. The preselected candidate was instead Andrew Southcott who went on to win the seat at the 1996 election and Hill remained in the Senate until his retirement in 2006.

Following the landslide election victory of the Liberals under John Howard in 1996, Hill became Leader of the Government in the Senate (1996–2006) and Minister for the Environment (1996–98). He was subsequently appointed Minister for the Environment and Heritage (1998–2001) and Minister for Defence (2001–06). On 1 January 2001, Hill was awarded the Centenary Medal for "service as Minister for Defence". In July 2005 the Coalition parties took control of the Senate and Hill became the first Government Leader in the Senate since 1981 to command a majority in the chamber and therefore making him Senate Majority Leader.

In January 2006, Hill announced his resignation from the Ministry and as Leader of the Government in the Senate. Hill did not specify any reason for his resignation, but said it was his decision to retire and he had not been pushed into it by the Prime Minister. However, one of The Age's senior journalists, Michelle Grattan, said on 31 March 2008 "Hill had not really wanted to leave Parliament, but John Howard was anxious to get him out."

On 15 March 2006, Hill resigned from the Senate and, two days later, was appointed Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Australia, replacing Caroline Millar. He served in that position until May 2009.

The diplomatic appointment made upon his retirement from Parliament was arranged by Foreign Minister and former Liberal leader Alexander Downer. Hill and Downer were factional rivals in their home state of South Australia and Downer was keen to see Hill out of Parliament as part of Downer's long-term plan to return to the Liberal Party leadership which never eventuated.

Hill's diplomatic appointment had been criticized by then Shadow Foreign Minister and future Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who had doubts about Hill's diplomatic skills and said that the Howard Government had used the diplomatic service as "a Liberal Party employment agency" and this had left diplomats without the capacity to realise their ambitions.

Prior to Robert Hill's retirement in 2006 he voted for legalizing the abortion drug RU486 which had been banned in Australia up until that point.[1]

As Liberal Government Senate leader Hill had expressed the importance of the transition of the Prime Ministership from Howard to his Liberal deputy and heir apparent Peter Costello be smooth. It was a transition that never eventuated when Howard lost government at the 2007 election and Costello refused to succeed Howard as Liberal leader.

Later career

Following his return to Australia in 2009, Hill accepted an appointment as Adjunct Professor in Sustainability at the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney where he was involved in the development of the $2 million Dow Sustainability Program, funded by the US-based Dow Chemical Company Foundation, to bring together academic and policy experts from Australia and the US to develop action-oriented solutions to a range of sustainability challenges concerning energy, water, food and biodiversity that are technologically innovative, commercially scalable and politically viable. In July 2009, Hill was appointed by the Australian Government to head the Australian Carbon Trust.

The University of Adelaide announced on 9 April 2010 that Hill had been appointed Chancellor of the University. He completed the second of two two-year terms on 25 July 2014.

On 11 June 2012, Hill was named an Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for "eminent service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly through the development of policy reform in the portfolios of the environment and defence, and to Australia's international relations through senior diplomatic representation to the United Nations."

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Sir Condor Laucke	Senator for South Australia 1986 – 2006	Succeeded by Cory Bernardi
Party political offices
Preceded by Fred Chaney	Leader of the Liberal Party in the Senate 1990 – 2006	Succeeded by Nick Minchin
Political offices
Preceded by John Faulkner as Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories	Minister for the Environment 1996 – 1998	Succeeded by Himself
Preceded by Himself as Minister for the Environment	Minister for the Environment and Heritage 1998 – 2001	Succeeded by David Kemp
Preceded by Richard Alston as Minister for the Arts
Preceded by Peter Reith	Minister for Defence 2001 – 2006	Succeeded by Brendan Nelson
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Caroline Millar (acting)	Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations 2006 – 2009	Succeeded by Gary Quinlan
Academic offices
Preceded by John von Doussa	Chancellor of the University of Adelaide 2010 – 2014	Succeeded by Kevin Scarce