Michael Moore (Australian politician)

Michael Moore
Minister of Health and Community Care
In office 1998–2001
Preceded by	Kate Carnell
Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly
In office 4 March 1989 – 18 February 1995
Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly
In office 18 February 1995 – 20 October 2001
Succeeded by	Katy Gallagher
Constituency	Molonglo
Personal details
Born	Michael John Moore 2 April 1950 (1950-04-02) (age 61)
Nationality	Australia
Political party	Independent
Other political affiliations	Residents Rally Moore Independents
Residence	Canberra, ACT, Australia
Alma mater	Flinders University Adelaide University Australian National University
Profession	Teacher

Michael John Moore (born 2 April 1950), former Australian politician and socially progressive health academic, was the first independent Member of any Australian Parliament to be appointed as a Minister to a Government Executive; serving as Minister of Health and Community Care from 1998 to 2001 in the Liberal minority government led by Chief Minister, Kate Carnell and later, Gary Humphries. Moore served four terms in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, from 1989 to 2001.^[1]

Since 2008, Moore has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Health Association of Australia.^[2]

Politics

In 1989 Moore was elected to the first mutlti-member single-constituency unicameral ACT Legislative Assembly on the Residents Rally party ticket, led by Bernard Collaery. Residents Rally secured four seats in the first Assembly, including Collaery, Moore, Norm Jensen, and Hector Kinloch. No party had won a majority, and Rosemary Follett's Labor Party formed a minority government. Moore resigned from Residents Rally on 24 October 1989 and sat in the Assembly as an independent.^[1] He was re-elected at the single-consistuency 1992 general election, and at the 1995 and 1998 general elections, representing the electorate of Molonglo on a ticket called Moore Independents.

Moore was a social progressive who was responsible for the legalisation of prostitution,^[3] the decriminalisation of cannabis^[4] and who was a strong advocate for trialling the provision of heroin to dependent users.^[5] He was a joint founder of the Australian Parliamentary Group on Drug Law Reform,^[6] the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and sponsored the early meetings of the group Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform.^[7] Despite, his socially progressive stance, he was criticised for accepting the role as Health Minister in the Liberal Government.^[4][8]

Other positions

Prior to politics Moore was a high school teacher and faculty head. He holds a post-graduate diploma in education, a master’s degree in population health and is an adjunct professor with the University of Canberra.^[9] He was awarded a Master's Degree in Population Health at the Australian National University in December 1997. From November 2007 he has been a political and social columnist with the Canberra City News.^[10] In January 2008, Moore was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Public Health Association of Australia^[2] and has advocated, on behalf of its members, for retention of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre.^[11][12]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Members of the ACT Legislative Assembly". ACT Legislative Assembly. 2008. http://www.legassembly.act.gov.au/education/memlist/memlist.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Mark, David (2008-02-29). "Academics angry over Govt blocked medical reports". PM (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2176903.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
3. ^ "Prostitution (Consequential Amendments) Bill 1992". ACT Legislative Assembly. 1992-12-01. http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/b/db_16196/default.asp. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Armitage, Liz (2001-07-05). "Moore calls it quits". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/moore-calls-it-quits/343915.aspx?storypage=0. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
5. ^ "Supporters of a heroin trial in Australia". Supporters. Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform. 1992-12-01. http://www.ffdlr.org.au/factfile/docs/WhoSupports.htm#_Toc531892180. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
6. ^ "Australian Parliamentary Group for Drug Law Reform". E-Newsletter. Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation. 2008-05. http://adlrf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/MAY-2008.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
7. ^ "Heroin in Australia, Part Two: A Conversation with Michael Moore, ACT Health Minister". The Drug Reform Coordination Network. 1999-04-30. http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/089/michaelmoore.shtml. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
8. ^ Armitage, Liz (2001-07-07). "Crocodile tears as Moore bows out". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/columns/crocodile-tears-as-moore-bows-out/666148.aspx?storypage=0. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
9. ^ Hyland, Kathleen (2003-07-04). "Michael Moore". Stateline (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/act/content/2003/s896344.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
10. ^ Moore, Michael (2009-07-23). "From pickle to political profit". Canberra City News. http://www.bushheritage.org.au/downloads/media/090727_Canberra_City_News.pdf. Retrieved 2010-01-03. 
11. ^ "Drug experts support injecting centre". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). 2010-10-15. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/drug-experts-support-injecting-centre-20100915-15b4b.html. Retrieved 2010-10-21. 
12. ^ "Injecting centre here to stay: PHAA welcomes decision". Public Health Association of Australia. 2010-10-15. http://www.phaa.net.au/documents/SABranch/InjectingCentre.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-21. 

Persondata
Name	Moore, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1950-04-02
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death