Michael Wooldridge

For other people of the same name, see Mike Wooldridge (disambiguation).

The Honourable Dr Michael Wooldridge
Member of the Australian Parliament for Chisholm
In office 11 July 1987 – 3 October 1998
Preceded by	Helen Mayer
Succeeded by	Anna Burke
Member of the Australian Parliament for Casey
In office 3 October 1998 – 8 October 2001
Preceded by	Bob Halverson
Succeeded by	Tony Smith
Personal details
Born	7 November 1956 (1956-11-07) (age 55)
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Relations	Mary Wooldridge (sister)
Alma mater	Monash University
Occupation	Nephrologist

Michael Richard Lewis Wooldridge (born 7 November 1956) is an Australian doctor, company director, and a former politician. He was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Liberal Party representing the Division of Chisholm, Victoria, between 1987 and 1996, and representing the Division of Casey, Victoria, between 1998 and 2001. He was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from March 1993 to May 1994.

Early years

Wooldridge attended Scotch College, Melbourne before attending Monash University's medical school, from where he graduated in 1981. He later qualified as a nephrologist with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Federal political career

During his time in Opposition he was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and therefore the Deputy Leader of the Opposition from March 1993 to May 1994. In May 1994 Liberal Leader John Hewson called a spill for both the leader's and deputy's positions. Hewson lost to Alexander Downer while Wooldridge withdrew at the last minute as it became clear he did not have the numbers to beat Downer's running mate Peter Costello.

Wooldridge's demise as deputy leader came as a result of an opinion poll that showed only 4% of voters prefer him as Liberal leader despite Wooldridge himself stating no desire to become leader. In response to this poll Wooldridge argued on the 7.30 Report that 4% was a good result for a deputy leader as the deputy leader was not meant to be an alternative leader. Ironically the man who would replace Wooldridge as deputy leader, Peter Costello not only did not succeed in his ambitions to become leader but also became the party's longest serving deputy leader.

In 1996 the Liberal and National Parties were elected to Government and Wooldridge served as Minister for Health and Family Services from 1996 to 1998 and Minister for Health and Aged Care from 1998 up to his retirement in 2001. During this time he instituted significant and widespread changes to general practice. By setting up and responding to the report: "General Practice, Responding to the Future With Partnerships",^[1] he commenced a reform process that cemented the divisions of general practice as change agents, took responsibility for training GPs away from the RACGP and into the hands of an independent body (General Practice Education and Training), and instituted the Practice Incentives Program.^{[citation needed]} He was forced to make a public apology to the President of the Australian Medical Association at the time, Kerryn Phelps in 2001^[2] for publicly claiming she had no medical qualifications.^[3] During Woolridge's term as Health Minister, he was criticised for having close links with multinational drug company, Pfizer^[4] that impacted the independence of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. Wooldridge was also criticised for appointing Pat Clear, a former executive of Glaxo-Wellcome Australia who had recently retired as head of the Medicines Australia (then known as the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association) to the committee of the PBAC, prompting the immediate resignation of the Chair of the committee, Don Bikkett, and leading to the refusal of five of the other committee members to be reappointed^[5]

Career after Federal politics

In 2003, Wooldridge's credibility was brought into further doubt when his contract with The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners was prematurely terminated due to allegations from the Australian Medical Association and the Federal Opposition that his involvement in the allocation of the $5,000,000 represented a conflict of interest^[6] In 2006, Wooldrige was appointed 'Lead Independent Director' of the ASX listed Australian Pharmaceuticals Industry Limited.^[7] In September 2009, Wooldrige was invited to join a panel hosted by CSL Limited "a major manufacturer [of flu vaccine] in a US$2 billion influenza industry"^[8] hosted by the company to dispel myths about swine flu vaccination^[9]

Wooldridge has served or is currently serving on the Boards of Resonance Health Ltd, Dia-b Tech Limited (resigned in 2009, company since de-listed) and a Director of CogState Ltd. Dr. Wooldridge is currently Chairman of Neurosciences Australia, Healthsource Australia (Ministerial Advisory Committee on AIDS, Sexual Health and Hepatitis), the CRC for Mental Health and the Oral Health Cooperative Research Centre. He is also Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.^[10]

Wooldridge also serves on the board of the anti-wind energy activism organisation, The Waubra Foundation,^[11] along with other prominent anti-wind energy activists, including Sarah Laurie,^[12][13] Peter Mitchell.^[14] and Kathy Russell.^{[15][16][17][18][19]} The Waubra Foundation promotes the view that wind turbines cause ill health.^[20]

References

1. ^ General Practice, Changing the Future Through Partnerships: Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1998
2. ^ "Wooldridge and Phelps bury the hatchet". ABC Radio PM (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 2 July 2001. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s322232.htm. Retrieved 2 July 2001. 
3. ^ "transript of ABC radio". Australian Broadcasting Commission. 2001. http://www.ama.com.au/node/208. Retrieved 24 May 2001. 
4. ^ "Paying the Price". ABC TV Four Corners (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 2 February 2001. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/s248583.htm. 
5. ^ "Australian government loosens its grip on the pharmaceutical industry". "The Lancet" Elsevier Ltd. 10 February 2001. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1B-4FS0RWC-22&_user=125795&_coverDate=02%2F10%2F2001&_rdoc=33&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%234886%232001%23996420745%23586586%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=4886&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=72&_acct=C000010182&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=125795&md5=eea94a1467daac643b6324b0588800e4. Retrieved 21 March 2005. 
6. ^ "The Age Newspaper". The Age Newspaper. 2003. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/30/1059480406803.html. Retrieved 31 July 2003. 
7. ^ "API Board of Directors". Australian Pharmaceuticals Industry Limited. 2006. http://www.api.net.au/investor_board.asp. Retrieved 1 February 2006. 
8. ^ "CSL Limited". CSL Limited. 2009. http://www.csl.com.au/s1/cs/auhq/1187378853151/content/1187378853005/content.htm. Retrieved 1 October 2009. 
9. ^ "The Australian News". The Australian Newspaper. 2009. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26151372-5006784,00.html. Retrieved 1 October 2009. 
10. ^ "CogState Board of Directors". CogState Ltd. 2009. http://www.cogstate.com/go/corporate-about/directors. Retrieved 27 June 2010. 
11. ^ "The Weekly Times Newspaper". The Weekly Times Newspaper. 2011. http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2011/04/26/322331_national-news.html. Retrieved 12 July 2011. 
12. ^ http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S13806.pdf
13. ^ "Australia". The Spec. 10 October 2011. http://www.spec.com.au/?sp=2&id=11654. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
14. ^ "Parliament of Australia: Senate: Committees: Community Affairs Committee: The Social and Economic Impact of Rural Wind Farms: Submissions Received". Aph.gov.au. http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/impact_rural_wind_farms/submissions.htm. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
15. ^ Kathy Russell. "Quadrant Online – The Great Renewable Energy Rort". Quadrant.org.au. http://www.quadrant.org.au/magazine/issue/2010/7-8/the-great-renewable-energy-rort. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
16. ^ "Claims of wind farm illness – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Australia: ABC. 1 March 2010. http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/02/19/2825235.htm. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
17. ^ "Protecting the spa country – Tuki Retreat/Tuki Trout Farm Proponents". Spacountryguardians.org.au. 24 July 2008. http://www.spacountryguardians.org.au/viewnews.php?id=229. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
18. ^ "Surf Coast Shire – Home". Surfcoast.vic.gov.au. http://www.surfcoast.vic.gov.au/Council/Documents/Agendas/2008/Extra%20Items%20for%2022-July-08%20Agenda/Additional_Submissions.pdf. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
19. ^ "Mt Pollock protesters feel ill wind after tower vandalism – Local News – Geelong, VIC, Australia". Geelongadvertiser.com.au. 15 May 2008. http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/05/15/13967_news.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
20. ^ "Objectives". Waubra Foundation. http://waubrafoundation.com.au/~waubra/Y2NpZD0xJmNhaWQ9MiZhaWQ9JmNyYz0xNDYwNTQ5NDU5. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 

Bibliography

• Parliamentary Handbook
• Transcript of ABC radio interview discussing Dr. Wooldrige's public slur
• Four Corners interview
• Article in the Lancet outlining appointment of Pat Clear, and the resulting resignations of PBAC chair, and members
• The Age Article "Wooldridge gets $382,500 payout from GPs' college"
• API website
• CSL limited, business information
• Dr Wooldrige speaks out about flu vaccine naysayers
• General Practice, Changing the Future Through Partnerships: Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1998

External links

• Department of Health and Aging, Speeches and press releases from January 2001 to November 2001
• CSL Limited
• CogState Limited
• API Limited

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Helen Mayer	Member for Chisholm 1987–1998	Succeeded by Anna Burke
Preceded by Robert Halverson	Member for Casey 1998–2001	Succeeded by Tony Smith
Political offices
Preceded by Carmen Lawrence	Minister for Health and Family Services 1996–1998	Succeeded by Jocelyn Newman
	Minister for Health and Aged Care 1998–2001	Succeeded by Kay Patterson

Persondata
Name	Wooldridge, Michael Richard Lewis
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	7 November 1956
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death