Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
What position did Peter Coleman take between Jan 1973 and Feb 1977?
Peter Coleman William Peter Coleman ( 15 December 1928 – 31 March 2019 ) was an Australian writer and politician . A widely published journalist for over 60 years , he was editor of The Bulletin ( 1964–1967 ) and of Quadrant for 20 years , and published 16 books on political , biographical and cultural subjects . While still working as an editor and journalist he had a short but distinguished political career as a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1968–1978 for the Liberal Party , serving both as a Minister in the State Cabinet and in the final year as Leader of the New South Wales Opposition . From 1981–1987 he was the member for Wentworth in the Australian House of Representatives . Early life . Coleman was born in Melbourne , the son of Stanley Charles Coleman , an advertising agent , and Norma Victoria Tiernan . Moving to Sydney , he was educated at North Sydney Boys High School and at the University of Sydney under philosophers John Anderson and John Passmore . Fellow students included the philosophers David Armstrong and David Stove . Coleman then travelled to the United Kingdom to study political philosophy at the London School of Economics under Michael Oakeshott , completing a thesis on the French philosopher Georges Sorel . He graduated as Master of Science ( Economics ) in 1952 . On 5 April 1952 he married the writer and librarian , Verna Scott . Together they had two daughters , Tanya , who became a lawyer and later wife of Deputy Liberal Leader Peter Costello , Ursula , a childrens writer , and a son William , who is an economist . After teaching English for a year in the Sudan , Coleman returned to Australia to undertake a career as a journalist . In 1958 he became associate editor of The Observer , a fortnightly magazine founded in 1958 and published by Australian Consolidated Press . Other staff members included the editor Donald Horne and financial editor Michael Baume . In 1961 it was absorbed by the legendary but ailing political and literary magazine The Bulletin and Coleman subsequently became editor of The Bulletin between 1964 and 1967 . In these years he published his first books Australian Civilization , a symposium which brought together writers and critics ranging from Manning Clark and Max Harris to James McAuley and Vincent Buckley ; Obscenity Blasphemy Sedition , a study of the first 100 years of censorship in Australia ; the anthology The Bulletin Book ; and Cartoons of Australian History , with cartoonist Les Tanner . When Coleman resigned from The Bulletin in 1967 he became editor of Quadrant magazine , a position he held for twenty years . Political life . In 1968 Coleman was elected the Liberal member for Fuller , a marginal seat taking in North Ryde , Gladesville and Hunters Hill , in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly , defeating the Labor Member Frank Downing . Originally serving on the backbench , Coleman gained experience through his appointment as a member of the Australian Council for the Arts from 1968 to 1973 , a councillor of the National Institute of Dramatic Art from 1970 to 1985 , and as Chairman of the Interim Council of the National Film and Television School from 1971 to 1973 . In 1974 , Coleman became the Chairman of the Select Committee into Appointment of Judges to the High Court , which examined different judicial appointment methods prior to the 1977 Federal Referendum . Coleman was then further promoted in June 1975 as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier Tom Lewis , in which capacity he served only five months until his promotion to Cabinet . He was made a Minister of the Crown in October 1975 as the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Revenue . When Sir Eric Willis became Premier , Coleman was appointed to the revived office of Chief Secretary from January 1976 . He served in Cabinet until the defeat of the Willis government in the May 1976 election , at which he retained his seat on a slightly increased margin of 52% . In opposition under Eric Willis , Coleman served as the Shadow Minister for Justice and Services . On 15 December 1977 four party MPs declared that they would oppose Willis in a leadership ballot the next day . On 16 December 1977 , Willis resigned and Coleman was elected as the leader by the party . At the 1978 election , Coleman and the Coalition campaigned on a platform based around the spectre of Whitlamism and attempted to undermine the strong central leadership of Wran . This failed to resonate with voters , and the election , which was later termed the Wranslide , saw a massive defeat for the Opposition Coalition . Coleman himself lost his seat of Fuller to Hunters Hill Municipal Council Alderman , Rodney Cavalier , a result that had been anticipated by some . In September 1979 , Coleman was appointed as Administrator of Norfolk Island . Following the resignation of Robert Ellicott , he gained Liberal Party pre-selection for the federal seat of Wentworth and was elected in a by-election in April 1981 . He retired from parliament before the 1987 election and resumed his literary career . Post-politics . On leaving politics , Coleman resumed his career as a full-time writer , publishing widely both journalism and books , including a major history of the intellectuals and the Cold War , The Liberal Conspiracy . The Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Struggle for the Mind of Postwar Europe and biographical works on the Australian poet James McAuley , comic artist Barry Humphries , film director Bruce Beresford and economist Heinz Arndt . He also published a selection of poetry , a cookbook and a collection of his Quadrant essays , The Last Intellectuals . In 2008 Coleman assisted his son-in-law , Peter Costello , in writing and editing his account of his career : The Costello Memoirs : The Age of Prosperity . During this period he also recorded interviews , held by the National Library of Australia as part of the oral history project , with leading Australian figures in journalism , arts , law , economics , philosophy and politics , including Hugh Atkinson , Garfield Barwick , Bruce Beresford , Jim Carlton , Madge Eddy , Charles Higham , Kenneth Jacobs , Eugene Kamenka , Michael Kirby , Kenneth Minogue , Barry Oakley , Desmond OGrady , Clyde Packer , John Passmore , Peter Porter , Adrian Rawlins and Amy Witting . He was a regular contributor to the Australian edition of The Spectator with a weekly column entitled Australian Notes and also contributed to The Australian and ABC programs . Coleman died on 31 March 2019 . Honours . In 2001 Coleman was awarded the Centenary Medal . In 2008 he was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Letters ( honoris causa ) at the University of Sydney for services to Australian intellectual life . On 8 June 2015 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia ( AO ) for distinguished service to the print media industry as a noted editor , journalist , biographer and author , to the Parliaments of Australia and New South Wales , and to the community . Bibliography . Books . - Republished ( 2015 ) Connor Court Publishing Ballarat - Republished ( 2000 ) by Duffy & Snellgrove , Sydney - Republished ( 1973 ) Republished ( 1978 ) enlarged edition - Republished ( 2006 ) Connor Court Publishing - Preface - Chapter One A bit of Stick - Books edited - Introduction Essays , interviews , chapters , lectures . - An Interview with Peter Coleman Frank Devine , Quadrant May 2006 - ‘A Political Formation or No Roads to Damascus ( Cheshire 1963 ) in Australian Politics . A Third Reader edited by Henry Mayer and Helen Nelson . - Ballade of Lost Phrases : James McAuley from The Last Intellectuals : Essays on Writers and Politics , Quadrant Books , 2010 . - Conservative without a Cause ? Andrew Norton Talks with Peter Coleman . Policy Autumn 1995 . - ‘From Fellow Travelling to Political Correctness Political Correctness in South Africa edited by Rainer Erkens and John Kane-Berman . South African Institute of Race Relations , 2000 . - How I wrote The Liberal Conspiracy from The Last Intellectuals : Essays on Writers and Politics , Quadrant Books , 2010 . - I Thought of Archimedes from The Last Intellectuals : Essays on Writers and Politics , Quadrant Books , 2010 . - ‘Leaves from the Diary of a Madman in Confessions and Memoirs edited by Michael Wilding and David Myers . Central Queensland University Press , 2006 . - ‘Political Cartoonists , Political Correctness , Political Journalists - The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics edited by Brian Galligan and Winsome Roberts , Oxford University Press , 2007 . - Preface to Cricket versus Republicanism and other Essays ( 1995 ) Quakers Hill Press , 1995 . - Preface and The Santamaria Story The Bulletin Book . A Selection from the 1960s Angus and Robertson , 1963 . - The Patron State Bert Kelly Lecture , 1995 . - The Phoney Debate from Australia and the Monarchy : A Symposium , edited by Geoffrey Dutton , Sun Books , Melbourne , 1966 . - The Sad and Noble Music of Michael Oakeshott from The Last Intellectuals : Essays on Writers and Politics , Quadrant Books , 2010 . - The Usual Suspects . Quadrant at 50 Martin Krygier . The Monthly December 2006 . Critical studies and reviews of Colemans work . - Review of Double take . External links . - Peter Coleman on Radical Students . The Old Left at Sydney University Alan Barcan . Melbourne University Press - What is Political Correctness Peter Coleman - The Devil and James McAuley review by Peter Coleman , Weekend Australian 17 July 1999 - James McCauleys 20 Quadrants paper by Peter Coleman , Sydney University 2002 . - James McCauley : A Poet in Politics Peter Coleman 1992 . - Ballade of Lost Phrases : James McAuley from The Last Intellectuals : Essays on Writers and Politics , Quadrant Books , 2010 . - I Thought of Archimedes from The Last Intellectuals : Essays on Writers and Politics , Quadrant Books , 2010 . - How I wrote The Liberal Conspiracy from The Last Intellectuals : Essays on Writers and Politics , Quadrant Books , 2010 . - The Sad and Noble Music of Michael Oakeshott from The Last Intellectuals : Essays on Writers and Politics , Quadrant Books , 2010 . - All That Swagger – Robert Mannes Virtuous Trajectory Peter Coleman , Quadrant 2005 . - Leaves from the Diary of a Madman Peter Coleman 2006 . - The Bulletin , the Editor and The Cherry Orchard , Peter Coleman . Voices , Quarterly Journal of the National Library of Australia , Volume V11 , Number 1 , Autumn 1997 , Pages 88–95 .