Daryl Melham
Encyclopedia
Daryl Melham Australia
n politician, has been an Australian Labor Party
member of the Australian House of Representatives
since March 1990, representing the Division of Banks
, New South Wales
. He was born in Sydney
, New South Wales
, to a family of Lebanese descent and studied Law
and Economics
at Sydney University. He was a barrister and solicitor and a public defender before entering politics. He has been Vice-President of the New South Wales Labor Party since 1999.
Melham worked as a solicitor with the Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales, specialising in criminal law from 1979 to 1987. He was subsequently admitted to the bar as a barrister, and was a public defender until his entry into federal politics in 1990. He is also a foundation member of the NSW Society of Labor Lawyers.
Melham entered the Opposition Shadow Ministry following Labor's electoral defeat in 1996. He served as Shadow Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs but resigned in 1998 after a policy disagreement with the then Labor leader Kim Beazley
. He returned to the Opposition Shadow Ministry in 2001 and he was Shadow Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Local Government from December 2003, resigning from the front bench soon after the Labor Party's election defeat in October 2004.
Daryl Melham is a Life Member and President of the Revesby Workers' Club. In 2004 on ABC
program The Chaser Decides
he quipped that Alan Jones
was a "closet socialist
".
Melham and colleague Lindsay Tanner
were the only Labor MPs to openly speak out against the Howard government's proposed anti-terrorism legislation which provides for harsher punishments for sedition
and grants police new shoot-to-kill
powers.
Melham also spoke out against the Howard
government's changes to the rules concerning political donations
, which allowed donations of up to $10,000 to be given to political parties without public disclosure.
Said Melham in May 2006:
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician, has been an Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member of the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
since March 1990, representing the Division of Banks
Division of Banks
The Division of Banks is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Sir Joseph Banks, the British scientist who accompanied James Cook on his voyage to Australia in 1770. It has always been based in the south-western suburbs of Sydney,...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. He was born in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, to a family of Lebanese descent and studied Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
and Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at Sydney University. He was a barrister and solicitor and a public defender before entering politics. He has been Vice-President of the New South Wales Labor Party since 1999.
Melham worked as a solicitor with the Legal Aid Commission of New South Wales, specialising in criminal law from 1979 to 1987. He was subsequently admitted to the bar as a barrister, and was a public defender until his entry into federal politics in 1990. He is also a foundation member of the NSW Society of Labor Lawyers.
Melham entered the Opposition Shadow Ministry following Labor's electoral defeat in 1996. He served as Shadow Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs but resigned in 1998 after a policy disagreement with the then Labor leader Kim Beazley
Kim Beazley
In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
. He returned to the Opposition Shadow Ministry in 2001 and he was Shadow Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Local Government from December 2003, resigning from the front bench soon after the Labor Party's election defeat in October 2004.
Daryl Melham is a Life Member and President of the Revesby Workers' Club. In 2004 on ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
program The Chaser Decides
The Chaser Decides
The Chaser Decides is a Logie Award-winning Australian political satire based comedy program produced by The Chaser. The show provides commentary on Australian federal elections and has been broadcast in 2001, 2004 and 2007 on ABC TV...
he quipped that Alan Jones
Alan Jones (radio broadcaster)
Alan Belford Jones AO is an Australian radio broadcaster, former rugby union and rugby league coach and administrator.Jones hosts Sydney's most popular breakfast radio program, on radio station 2GB...
was a "closet socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
".
Melham and colleague Lindsay Tanner
Lindsay Tanner
Lindsay James Tanner is a former Australian member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Melbourne, Victoria, for the Australian Labor Party, having first won the seat at the 1993 federal election. He was a member of the Australian Government from 3 December 2007, serving as...
were the only Labor MPs to openly speak out against the Howard government's proposed anti-terrorism legislation which provides for harsher punishments for sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
and grants police new shoot-to-kill
Deadly force
Deadly force, as defined by the United States Armed Forces, is the force which a person uses, causing—or that a person knows, or should know, would create a substantial risk of causing—death or serious bodily harm...
powers.
Melham also spoke out against the Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
government's changes to the rules concerning political donations
Political donations in Australia
The term political donations refers to gifts to a politician, a political party, or an election campaign.In Australia, the majority of political donations come in the form of financial gifts from corporations, which go towards the funding of the parties' election advertising campaigns. Donations...
, which allowed donations of up to $10,000 to be given to political parties without public disclosure.
Said Melham in May 2006:
- "We're going to have the best politicians money can buy, but we won't see [how much].""