Peter Debnam

Infobox Politician

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name = Peter Debnam
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caption = As NSW Leader of the Opposition, at the ANZAC dawn service, Sydney 26/04/2006
small_| office = Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales
term_start = 1 September 2005
term_end = 2 April 2007
predecessor = John Brogden
successor = Barry O'Farrell
constituency = Vaucluse
majority =
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birth_date = Birth date and age|1954|4|21|df=y
birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales flagicon|New South Wales
death_date =
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party = Liberal Party
relations =
spouse = Deborah Debnam
civil partner =
children = Ben and Angela {Step-Children}
residence =
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website = http://www.peterdebnam.com.au
footnotes =

Peter John Debnam (born 21 April 1954), is an Australian politician and member for the New South Wales seat of Vaucluse. He is a former Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Western Sydney, Redfern/Waterloo and Citizenship. He also held the shadow portfolios of Infrastructure and Energy, but is currently a backbencher.

Biography

Debnam was educated at the Royal Australian Naval College, where he graduated in 1974. He served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1972 to 1980. During his Naval career, Debnam served on many ships including the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, destroyer escort HMAS Torrens, destroyers HMAS Vampire and HMAS Anzac and patrol boats HMAS Attack and HMAS Barricade. After leaving the Navy, Debnam studied at the Macquarie University Graduate School of Management, where he gained an MBA. He held positions at Dalgety Farmers Limited, Hawker de Havilland and Australian Aircraft Consortium before entering politics. [cite web
title =Peter Debnam, Opposition Leader
publisher =Liberal Party of Australia
url =http://www.peterdebnam.com.au/main_content/main_content/peter_debnam_mp_-_nsw_liberal_leader.html
accessdate = 2007-02-27 ]

In 1994 Debnam was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as Liberal member for Vaucluse. The following year the Liberal government was defeated by Labor under Bob Carr. Between 1997 and 2005 Debnam was successively Shadow Minister for Housing and for Planning and Urban Affairs, Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Transport, Shadow Minister for Police and Shadow Minister for Transport Services. [cite web
title =Mr Peter John Debnam, MBA MP
work =Members of Parliament
publisher =Parliament of New South Wales
url =http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/Parlment/Members.nsf/d890a06557517cedca256e700008765e/f5d110ab77befa634a25674500016563!OpenDocument
accessdate = 2007-02-27 ]

Following Brogden's sudden resignation as Liberal Leader, Barry O'Farrell, as Deputy Leader, was initially the favourite to become leader, but Debnam steadily gained ground as he lobbied Liberal MPs, and on 31 August O'Farrell withdrew from the contest.

He led the Liberal/National coalition to defeat in the 2007 state election. The Coalition gained a total of four seats from Labor and independents -- too few to significantly reduce Labor's majority. Following the election, Deputy Liberal Leader and member for Ku-ring-gai, Barry O'Farrell challenged Debnam for the Liberal leadership, and on 2 April 2007 Debnam withdrew from the contest. On 11 April 2007 O'Farrell appointed Debnam as opposition infrastructure and energy spokesman. [cite news | first= | last= | coauthors= | title=Debnam lands role in O'Farrell cabinet | date=11 April 2007| publisher= | url =http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/debnam-lands-role-in-ofarrell-cabinet/2007/04/11/1175971154094.html | work =The Sydney Morning Herald | pages = | accessdate = 2007-04-11 | language = ] He resigned in May 2008 because of his party's decision to support the Labor Government's plan to privatise the electricity system. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/12/2241801.htm?section=australia Debnam's backbench retreat over power plan - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) ] ]

Allegations against Attorney General

On 16 November 2006, Debnam suggested under Parliamentary Privilege that NSW Attorney General Bob Debus was under investigation by the Police Integrity Commission. In response the Government released a Police report stating that a minister had been the subject of complaints (not an investigation) which were dismissed in 2003 as spurious and groundless. The report did not name the minister concerned as it was deemed to be 'not in the public interest'. [cite news
url = http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20773189-1702,00.html
title = Allegations against Debus 'spurious'
date = 2006-11-17
accessdate = 2006-11-17
publisher = The Australian] When Mr Debnam declined to provide evidence to support his claims, he was censured by Parliament for misleading the House. [cite news
url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200611/s1790547.htm
title = Parliament censures Debnam over Debus claims
date = 2006-11-16
accessdate = 2007-02-22
publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation]

It was subsequently reported that Mr Debnam's source for the accusation was a convicted child sex offender and bank robber with a history of making unsubstantiated allegations. [cite news
url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/rotten-debnam-refuses-to-apologise/2006/11/21/1163871391544.html?from=rss
title = "Rotten" Debnam refuses to apologise
date = 2006-11-21
accessdate = 2007-02-22
publisher = The Sydney Morning Herald] Opinion poll support for the Opposition leader declined markedly in the wake of the allegations, [cite news
url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/election-becomes-race-for-the-biggest-loser/2006/11/20/1163871338930.html?page=1
title = Election becomes race for the biggest loser
date = 2006-11-21
accessdate = 2007-02-22
publisher = The Sydney Morning Herald] which also distracted attention from a campaign against the Government over the sacking of Ministers Milton Orkopoulos and Carl Scully.

Family

Peter is married to wife Deborah and has two stepchildren, Ben and Angela, and a grandson, Bill.

Notes

References

*cite news|first=David|last=Marr|title=Interview with Peter Debnam|date=September 2, 2006 page 25|publisher="Debnam's not drowning, he's waving", The Sydney Morning Herald|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/debnams-not-drowning-hes-waving/2006/09/01/1156817102739.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2|accessdate=2006-09-02

External links

* [http://www.nsw.liberal.org.au/ Liberal Party of Australia (NSW Division)]
* [http://www.liberal.org.au/ Liberal Party of Australia]
* [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3HHBSpeaker?open&vwCat=Debnam,%20Mr%20Peter Speeches in Parliament by Peter Debnam]
* [http://www.peterdebnam.com.au Peter Debnam's Web Page]