Bob Collins (politician)
| Bob Collins | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Senator for the Northern Territory | |
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In office 11 July 1987 – 30 March 1998 |
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| Preceded by | Ted Robertson |
| Succeeded by | Trish Crossin |
| Leader of the Opposition of the Northern Territory | |
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In office 2 November 1981 – 19 August 1986 |
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| Preceded by | Jon Isaacs |
| Succeeded by | Terry Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Robert Lindsay Collins 8 February 1946 Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 21 September 2007 (aged 61) Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse(s) | Rosemary |
Robert Lindsay "Bob" Collins AO (8 February 1946 – 21 September 2007) was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate from July 1987 to March 1998, representing the Northern Territory. Prior to entering the Senate, Collins was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1977 to 1987, and Leader of the Territory Opposition from 1981 to 1986. He was the first Northern Territorian to become a federal minister. He committed suicide after being charged with child sex offences.
Born into a working-class family in Newcastle in 1946, Collins left school at the age of 15 and worked briefly on a cotton farm. In 1967, he moved to the Northern Territory, where he found work at the Department of Agriculture in the town of Katherine. By 1974, he was working for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and St. John Ambulance when Cyclone Tracy struck the city of Darwin.
Collins first became politically active in the late 1970s, while employed as a market gardener and wildlife officer in the indigenous community of Maningrida in Arnhem Land. In 1977, he was asked to run for the Australian Labor Party in the seat of Arnhem, which he did, successfully gaining a seat in the second parliament of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. He was Leader of the Opposition from 1981 to 1986 while the Country Liberal Party held power, switching to the newly created seat of Arafura in December 1983. At the territorial election of 1983, his party was defeated; and incumbent Chief Minister Paul Everingham was the victor. He was leader of the opposition in the NT for four years, championing the then unpopular cause of overturning the verdict against Lindy Chamberlain over the disappearance of her daughter Azaria at Uluru, and backing the handing back of Uluru to its traditional owners.
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