Allan Andrews (Australian politician)

Allan Andrews (born 15 September 1940) is a former Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, he represented the electoral district of Heathcote in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for a single term, from 1988 to 1991.

Andrews was born in Bargo, where his father worked. The family moved to Heathcote, in Sydney, in 1943. Andrews attended public school in Heathcote, and went on to further education at St George Technical College. After completing his education, Andrews worked as a self-employed electrical contractor.

Andrews was elected to the Sutherland Shire Council as an Independent candidate in 1974, and served there for the next thirteen years, including a two-year stint as Council President. He joined the Liberal Party in 1986, and was soon chosen to contest the seat of Heathcote, which was up for by-election following the August 1986 resignation of disgraced former ALP Minister Rex Jackson. The Labor government delayed the by-election as long as possible, arguing that it was not possible to hold an election during Jackson's trial or while Parliament was sitting. The Leader of the Opposition, Nick Greiner, rejected this argument, declaring that the election was only delayed in an attempt to allow any bad press from the corruption trial to die down. The election finally came on 31 January 1987, and was rarely short of drama: Jackson, with criminal charges hanging over his head, entered as a spoiler candidate; the Liberals found themselves in hot water over an illegally large billboard prominently placed on the electorate's border over the Princes Highway; and the ALP were accused of sabotage after vandals cut loose from its moorings a Liberal advertising blimp. In the election itself, Andrews garnered more than 8,000 of the approximately 28,000 votes cast and narrowly missed out to Labor candidate Ian McManus.

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