Michael Moore (Australian politician)

Australian politician (born 1950)

Michael Moore

Minister of Health and Community Care
In office
1998–2001
Preceded by| Kate Carnell
Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly
In office
4 March 1989 – November 2001
Succeeded by| Katy Gallagher
Constituency| Molonglo
Personal details
Born|

Michael John Moore

(1950-04-02) 2 April 1950 (age 75)
Nationality| Australian
Political party| Independent
Other political
affiliations| Moore Independents
Residence(s)| Canberra, ACT, Australia
Alma mater| Flinders University
University of Adelaide
Australian National University
University of Canberra
Profession| Public Health Professional

Michael John Moore AM (born 2 April 1950) is an Australian public health leader, academic and former politician. He was an independent member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly for four terms, from 1989 to 2001. He served as Australia's first independent minister as Minister for Health and Community Care from 1998 to 2001 in the Liberal minority government led by Chief Minister, Kate Carnell and later, Gary Humphries.[1]

## Early life and education

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Moore holds a post-graduate diploma in education, a master's degree in population health, and a PhD from the University of Canberra. His master's degree in population health is from the Australian National University in 1997. He is a Distinguished Fellow at the George Institute for Global Health, a visiting professor at the University of Technology, Sydney and an adjunct professor with the University of Canberra.[2]

Before politics, Moore was a high school teacher at Dickson College, and an Army reservist.[citation needed]

## Politics

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In 1989, Moore was elected as a Residents Rally member to the first multi-member single-constituency unicameral ACT Legislative Assembly. No party had won a majority, and Rosemary Follett's Labor Party formed a minority government. He was re-elected for a second term at the single-constituency 1992 general election with Helen Szuty as part of the Michael Moore Independent Group, and at the 1995 and 1998 general elections as Moore Independents. He represented the electorate of Molonglo.

He was Minister for Housing, Corrections and Children's Services and was Manager of Government Business. He chaired the Australian Ministerial Councils for both Health and Corrections.[citation needed]

Moore was a social progressive who was responsible for the legalisation of prostitution,[3] the decriminalisation of cannabis[4] and was a strong advocate for trialling the provision of heroin to dependent users.[5] He was a joint founder of the Australian Parliamentary Group on Drug Law Reform,[6] the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and sponsored the early meetings of the group Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform.[7][8]

## Other positions

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Since 2006, he has been a political and social columnist with the Canberra City News.[9] From 2008 until 2018, Moore served as chief executive officer of the Public Health Association of Australia.[10]

## References

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1. ^ "Members of the ACT Legislative Assembly" (PDF). ACT Legislative Assembly. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2010.
2. ^ Hyland, Kathleen (4 July 2003). "Michael Moore". Stateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
3. ^ "Prostitution (Consequential Amendments) Bill 1992". ACT Legislative Assembly. 1 December 1992. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
4. ^ Armitage, Liz (5 July 2001). "Moore calls it quits". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 2 January 2010.[permanent dead link]
5. ^ "Supporters of a heroin trial in Australia". Supporters. Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform. 1 December 1992. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
6. ^ "Australian Parliamentary Group for Drug Law Reform" (PDF). E-Newsletter. Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation. May 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
7. ^ "Heroin in Australia, Part Two: A Conversation with Michael Moore, ACT Health Minister". The Drug Reform Coordination Network. 30 April 1999.
8. ^ "Crocodile tears as Moore bows out". The Canberra Times. Fairfax Media. 7 July 2001. Retrieved 2 January 2010.[permanent dead link]
9. ^ Moore, Michael (23 July 2009). "From pickle to political profit" (PDF). Canberra City News. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
10. ^ Mark, David (29 February 2008). "Academics angry over Govt blocked medical reports". PM. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 January 2010.