Glen Sheil | |
---|---|
Senator for Queensland | |
In office 18 May 1974 – 6 February 1981 |
|
Succeeded by | Florence Bjelke-Petersen |
In office 1 December 1984 – 30 June 1990 |
|
Personal details | |
Born |
Sydney, New South Wales |
21 October 1929
Died | 29 September 2008 Brisbane, Queensland |
(aged 78)
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | National Party of Australia |
Occupation | Medical practitioner |
Tennis career |
|
Country (sports) | Australia |
Singles | |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (1949, 1950, 1952, 1956) |
Doubles | |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 2R (1949) |
Glenister Fermoy (Glen) Sheil (21 October 1929 – 29 September 2008) was an Australian politician, representing the National Party in the Senate for the state of Queensland from 1974 to 1981, and again from 1984 to 1990. He was also an amateur tennis player who competed at the Australian Championships in the 1940s and 1950s.
Glen Sheil was born in Sydney and moved to Queensland at a young age. He attended The Southport School on the Gold Coast and studied medicine at the University of Queensland, after which he was a medical practitioner. He also owned the Dungarvan Private Hospital in Brisbane.
He was elected to the Senate at the 1974 election, taking his seat immediately on 18 May because the election followed a double dissolution. In an early parliamentary speech, he read the Lord's Prayer in nine South African languages. He was re-elected in 1975.
After the 1977 election, Malcolm Fraser announced the make-up of the new ministry that he would be recommending to the Governor-General. Sheil was to be Minister for Veterans' Affairs. This announcement was made at 5 p.m. on 19 December 1977. On 20 December he was sworn as a member of the Federal Executive Council, a constitutional pre-requisite for appointment as a minister. That same day, in an interview on ABC Radio, he professed his support for the South African apartheid system, which was very much at odds with the Fraser government’s position. Fraser decided not to proceed with Sheil's appointment to the ministry. In a very rare move, he advised the Governor-General, Sir Zelman Cowen, to terminate Sheil's appointment as an Executive Councillor (such appointments are normally for life). Cowen was required by convention to act on the Prime Minister's advice, and the termination occurred at midday on 21 December.