Peter Cook (Australian politician)
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- This article is about the Australian politician Peter Cook. For other people called Peter Cook, see Peter Cook (disambiguation).
Peter Francis Salmon Cook (8 November 1943 - 3 December 2005), Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Senate from 1983 to 2005, representing the state of Western Australia. Cook was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and was an active trade unionist before entering politics. He was Secretary of the Western Australian Trades and Labour Council 1975-83 and Vice-President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions 1981-83. He was also a member of the Labor Party's National Executive.
In the Hawke and Keating Labor government he was Minister for Resources 1988-90, Minister for Industrial Relations 1990-93, Minister for Shipping and Aviation Support 1992-93, Minister for Trade 1993-94 and Minister for Industry, Science and Technology 1994-96.
After the defeat of the Keating government in 1996, Cook was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1996-2001 and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. In 1999-2000, he chaired a Senate Committee inquiry into the proposed Goods and Services Tax.
He was defeated by union organiser Glenn Sterle in an ALP preselection ballot before the 2004 election, and subsequently did not contest the election. His term expired on 30 June 2005.
Cook died on 3 December 2005 after being diagnosed with melanoma cancer in July 2004. The last Senate report that he contributed to was The cancer journey: Informing choice,[1] handed down on 23 June 2005.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Obituary in The Australian by Harriett Swift Broken link
- Obituary in The Australian by Andrew Leigh
- Obituary in The Age by Phillip Hudson
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Morris |
Minister for Resources 1988 – 1990 |
Succeeded by Alan Griffiths |
| Minister for Industrial Relations 1990 – 1993 |
Succeeded by Laurie Brereton |
|
| Preceded by Lionel Bowen |
Minister for Trade 1993 – 1994 |
Succeeded by Bob McMullan |
| Preceded by Alan Griffiths |
Minister for Industry, Technology/ and Regional Development Minister for Industry, Science and Technology 1994 – 1996 |
Succeeded by John Moore |
