Bob Day
Encyclopedia
Robert John Day AO
(born 5 July 1952) is a businessman in South Australia
. A millionaire
, he is a home builder and one of the founders of Home Australia. He is a former Liberal Party
and Family First Party
political candidate, and is the federal chairman of the Family First Party.
). After six years he resigned and started in the building industry.
He was a founder of Homestead Homes and Home Australia, which now also owns Collier Homes in Western Australia
, Newstart Homes in Queensland
, Ashford Homes in Victoria
and Huxley Homes in New South Wales
. These are all major constructors of new houses in their respective states. He is the founder of Oz Homes Foundation, and is managing director of Home Australia. Day's business activities have made him a millionaire. He is a past president of the Housing Industry Association the trade association
which represents the residential housing industry in Australia.
Day was the long-time secretary of the New Right
-influenced H.R. Nicholls Society and a founder of Independent Contractors of Australia (ICA) - a front group campaigning for labour market deregulation in Australia. According to John Stone
of the H. R. Nicholls Society, "one of the most active members of that Association (ICA), Mr Bob Day, has been a member of the [H.R. Nicholls] Society's Board of Management almost from the outset. I do not think he will contradict me if I say that he has taken the ethos of the Society into the work of the Association." Day was also a former board member of the Centre for Independent Studies
- a libertarian
Australian think tank
.
Day was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
for service to the housing
industry and to social welfare, on Australia Day
2003. Day is a Board Member of the North East Development Agency and North East Vocational College in Adelaide.
In his community service role, Day has planted several thousand trees for farmers and land owners across the State. He undertook a roadside planting, irrigation and re-vegetation program along North East Road including a local school.
Bob was elected Federal Chairman of the Family First Party in 2008.
for the Liberal Party of Australia
in the 2007 federal election, one of the three marginal seats in South Australia lost to the Australian Labor Party
. On a two party preferred vote of 57.70 percent to Labor, it became the safest of the 23 seats they won from the coalition at the election. Day and the Liberals suffered a two party swing
in Makin of 8.63 percent.
candidate at the 2008 Mayo by-election
, after resigning his 20-year membership of the Liberal Party, accusing the party of a "manipulated" process which saw former Howard
government advisor chiefly for WorkChoices
, Jamie Briggs
, gain Liberal preselection. Although endorsed by former Treasurer Peter Costello
, the Liberal preselection process saw Day gain 10 of 271 votes. Labor did not contest the blue-ribbon seat, and on a two-party result of 57 percent at the previous election, the Liberals retained the seat in the by-election with 53 percent of the two-candidate vote against the Australian Greens
on 47 percent. Family First and Day received 11.40 percent of the primary vote, a swing of 7.38 percent, coming fourth out of eleven candidates, behind the Greens on 21.35 percent and independent Diane Bell
on 16.27 percent.
at the 2010 federal election. Previously, the 2007 result (where independent Nick Xenophon
polled 15 percent) saw the Family First Party in South Australia suffer a 1.09 percent swing
, finishing with a state-wide primary vote of 2.89 percent. After preferences, a candidate needs 14.3 percent of the vote (a quota) to gain election. Some commentators claimed Day had a "strong chance of taking one of the last two South Australian Senate seats", citing "effective preferences from nine smaller parties". Other commentators rated Day a "slim" chance, citing campaign and financial troubles with the Family First Party. The 2010 result saw Day and Family First receive a swing of 1.19 percent to finish on 4.08 percent of the vote, compared with the party's lower house vote of 4.96 percent, receiving a swing of 0.91 percent. This was well short of a quota, with Liberal Party former MP David Fawcett
projected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC) to win the last of the six South Australian Senate seats up for election. Progression of the count temporarily gave Day a 512 vote lead, with Day being listed by the ABC as the provisional sixth South Australian Senator. However further progression of the count put Fawcett back in the lead by several thousand votes and went on to win the sixth and final South Australian Senate seat.
In the 2009/10 financial year Bob Day made two loans totalling $405,000 to the Family First Party
.
He has expressed his admiration for Houston's
approach to zoning
. He says they have none, yet there is a vibrant economy and housing prices are low. He claims the relative cost of housing in Australia compared to Houston is related to urban growth boundaries which limit the amount of land available for building.
Day takes the position that Australia's stringent urban planning
regulations have the effect of driving home prices up artificially and pricing new and low income home buyers out of the market.
as an alternative to the traditional employment
relationship. He says "independent contracting offers people a real choice between traditional employment ... and ... arrangements which suit the parties themselves rather than one-size-fits-all, out-dated arrangements which have the added involvement of heavy-handed, self-interested third parties."
As a Liberal, Day had taken a position that WorkChoices
, an industrial relations reform enacted in 2005 by the Liberal government of John Howard
, did not deregulate the industrial relations system far enough. When he left the party and joined Family First, he supported the party platform which opposed WorkChoices. This position was viewed as a contradiction by Australian political journalist
Phillip Coorey, Chief Political Correspondent of The Sydney Morning Herald
who wrote in 2008:
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 5 July 1952) is a businessman in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. A millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
, he is a home builder and one of the founders of Home Australia. He is a former Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
and Family First Party
Family First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
political candidate, and is the federal chairman of the Family First Party.
Career
Day's career started in the South Australian public service at the Highways Department Materials and Research Laboratories (now Transport SA). He qualified as a science technician after studying at the SA Institute of Technology (now UniSAUniversity of South Australia
The University of South Australia is a public university in the Australian state of South Australia. It was formed in 1991 with the merger of the South Australian Institute of Technology and Colleges of Advanced Education. It is the largest university in South Australia, with more than 36,000...
). After six years he resigned and started in the building industry.
He was a founder of Homestead Homes and Home Australia, which now also owns Collier Homes in Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, Newstart Homes in Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Ashford Homes in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and Huxley Homes in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. These are all major constructors of new houses in their respective states. He is the founder of Oz Homes Foundation, and is managing director of Home Australia. Day's business activities have made him a millionaire. He is a past president of the Housing Industry Association the trade association
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
which represents the residential housing industry in Australia.
Day was the long-time secretary of the New Right
New Right
New Right is used in several countries as a descriptive term for various policies or groups that are right-wing. It has also been used to describe the emergence of Eastern European parties after the collapse of communism.-Australia:...
-influenced H.R. Nicholls Society and a founder of Independent Contractors of Australia (ICA) - a front group campaigning for labour market deregulation in Australia. According to John Stone
John Stone (Australian politician)
John Owen Stone is a former Australian politician. He served as Secretary to the Treasury between 1979 and 1984,and as a Senator for Queensland representing the National Party from 1987 to 1990.-Biography:John Stone was born in 1929...
of the H. R. Nicholls Society, "one of the most active members of that Association (ICA), Mr Bob Day, has been a member of the [H.R. Nicholls] Society's Board of Management almost from the outset. I do not think he will contradict me if I say that he has taken the ethos of the Society into the work of the Association." Day was also a former board member of the Centre for Independent Studies
Centre for Independent Studies
The Centre for Independent Studies is a libertarian think tank founded in April 1976 by Executive Director Greg Lindsay. The CIS is one of six think tanks recognised by the National Institute for Research Advancement in Tokyo, Japan...
- a libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
Australian think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
.
Day was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
for service to the housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
industry and to social welfare, on Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
2003. Day is a Board Member of the North East Development Agency and North East Vocational College in Adelaide.
In his community service role, Day has planted several thousand trees for farmers and land owners across the State. He undertook a roadside planting, irrigation and re-vegetation program along North East Road including a local school.
Bob was elected Federal Chairman of the Family First Party in 2008.
2007 federal election
Day was the candidate in the Division of MakinDivision of Makin
The Division of Makin is an electoral division for the Australian House of Representatives located in the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide. Established in 1984 and named after Norman Makin, a former MP and diplomat, it has been a marginal seat at most elections since...
for the Liberal Party of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
in the 2007 federal election, one of the three marginal seats in South Australia lost to the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
. On a two party preferred vote of 57.70 percent to Labor, it became the safest of the 23 seats they won from the coalition at the election. Day and the Liberals suffered a two party swing
Swing (Australian politics)
The term swing is used in Australia in a different sense from the one employed in the UK. For the Australian House of Representatives and the lower houses of the parliaments of all the Australian states and territories except Tasmania and the ACT), Australia employs preferential voting in...
in Makin of 8.63 percent.
2008 Mayo by-election
Day decided to run as a Family First PartyFamily First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
candidate at the 2008 Mayo by-election
Mayo by-election, 2008
A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Mayo on 6 September 2008, following the retirement of Liberal Party MP Alexander Downer. The by-election was held on the same day as the Lyne by-election, and the Western Australian state election.The writ for the...
, after resigning his 20-year membership of the Liberal Party, accusing the party of a "manipulated" process which saw former Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
government advisor chiefly for WorkChoices
WorkChoices
The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...
, Jamie Briggs
Jamie Briggs
Jamie Edward Briggs MP is an Australian politician. He has been the Liberal Party of Australia member for the Division of Mayo since the 2008 Mayo by-election....
, gain Liberal preselection. Although endorsed by former Treasurer Peter Costello
Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello AC is an Australian politician and lawyer who served as the Treasurer in the Australian government from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving Treasurer in Australian history. Costello was a Member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2009, representing...
, the Liberal preselection process saw Day gain 10 of 271 votes. Labor did not contest the blue-ribbon seat, and on a two-party result of 57 percent at the previous election, the Liberals retained the seat in the by-election with 53 percent of the two-candidate vote against the Australian Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
on 47 percent. Family First and Day received 11.40 percent of the primary vote, a swing of 7.38 percent, coming fourth out of eleven candidates, behind the Greens on 21.35 percent and independent Diane Bell
Diane Bell
Diane Robin Bell is a pioneering Australian feminist anthropologist, author and activist, Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the George Washington University in Washington, D. C., Writer and Editor in Residence at Flinders University, South Australia and Visiting Professor School of Social...
on 16.27 percent.
2010 federal election
Day was first on the South Australian Family First Party ticket for the Australian SenateAustralian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
at the 2010 federal election. Previously, the 2007 result (where independent Nick Xenophon
Nick Xenophon
Nicholas "Nick" Xenophon is a South Australian barrister, anti-gambling campaigner and politician. He attended Prince Alfred College, and studied law at the University of Adelaide, attaining his Bachelor of Laws in 1981. Xenophon established and became principal of his own law firm, Xenophon & Co....
polled 15 percent) saw the Family First Party in South Australia suffer a 1.09 percent swing
Swing (Australian politics)
The term swing is used in Australia in a different sense from the one employed in the UK. For the Australian House of Representatives and the lower houses of the parliaments of all the Australian states and territories except Tasmania and the ACT), Australia employs preferential voting in...
, finishing with a state-wide primary vote of 2.89 percent. After preferences, a candidate needs 14.3 percent of the vote (a quota) to gain election. Some commentators claimed Day had a "strong chance of taking one of the last two South Australian Senate seats", citing "effective preferences from nine smaller parties". Other commentators rated Day a "slim" chance, citing campaign and financial troubles with the Family First Party. The 2010 result saw Day and Family First receive a swing of 1.19 percent to finish on 4.08 percent of the vote, compared with the party's lower house vote of 4.96 percent, receiving a swing of 0.91 percent. This was well short of a quota, with Liberal Party former MP David Fawcett
David Fawcett
David Julian Fawcett is an Australian politician and member of the Australian Senate. He was elected to the House of Representatives as member for the division of Wakefield in South Australia for the Liberal Party of Australia at the 2004 federal election. Despite an extensive campaign in 2007 he...
projected by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC) to win the last of the six South Australian Senate seats up for election. Progression of the count temporarily gave Day a 512 vote lead, with Day being listed by the ABC as the provisional sixth South Australian Senator. However further progression of the count put Fawcett back in the lead by several thousand votes and went on to win the sixth and final South Australian Senate seat.
In the 2009/10 financial year Bob Day made two loans totalling $405,000 to the Family First Party
Family First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
.
Political views
Bob Day's political views are set forth on his website NationBuild.ComLand use regulation
Day advocates sustainable, balanced land and water use which takes into account Australia's scarce resources.He has expressed his admiration for Houston's
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
approach to zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
. He says they have none, yet there is a vibrant economy and housing prices are low. He claims the relative cost of housing in Australia compared to Houston is related to urban growth boundaries which limit the amount of land available for building.
Day takes the position that Australia's stringent urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
regulations have the effect of driving home prices up artificially and pricing new and low income home buyers out of the market.
Industrial relations
Bob Day strongly supports independent contractingIndependent contractor
An independent contractor is a natural person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement. Unlike an employee, an independent contractor does not work regularly for an employer but works as and when...
as an alternative to the traditional employment
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
relationship. He says "independent contracting offers people a real choice between traditional employment ... and ... arrangements which suit the parties themselves rather than one-size-fits-all, out-dated arrangements which have the added involvement of heavy-handed, self-interested third parties."
As a Liberal, Day had taken a position that WorkChoices
WorkChoices
The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...
, an industrial relations reform enacted in 2005 by the Liberal government of John Howard
Fourth Howard Ministry
The Fourth Howard Ministry was the 64th Australian ministry.It was sworn in by the Governor-General Major-General Michael Jeffery on 22 October 2004, and it ended on 3 December 2007 when the Prime Minister resigned his commission after losing the 2007 election to the Australian Labor Party led by...
, did not deregulate the industrial relations system far enough. When he left the party and joined Family First, he supported the party platform which opposed WorkChoices. This position was viewed as a contradiction by Australian political journalist
Political journalism
Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power....
Phillip Coorey, Chief Political Correspondent of The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
who wrote in 2008:
In 2002, as secretary of H.R. Nicholls, he blamed the award system for high unemployment and the social ills of drugs, crime, violence, poor health, teenage pregnancy and suicide. In a March 2005 financial forum speech, he likened workplace regulations and protections to "Checkpoint Charlie" as he advocated his idea of workplace nirvana, called "Workforce Superhighway". Employment conditions would be determined solely between employers and employees and "no one else". "Hours of work, rates of pay, holidays, sick leave, long-service leave, hiring and firing, will all be agreed between the two parties". There would be no industrial relations commission and workers could settle disputes through either voluntary mediators or magistrates courts. In a January 2005 newspaper column, he urged a return to when apprentices were indentured to tradesmen and paid a modest wage that started at "10 to 15 per cent" of the tradesman's wage. Yet last week The Courier, a local paper in Mayo, featured a small interview piece with Day. "Even on Work Choices - the controversial industrial relations reform that was the biggest single factor in the Coalition's federal election loss - Mr Day said he shared the same views as his new party, which opposed the unpopular policy." Former fellow Liberals were bent double with laughter. "It's true to say his position was to oppose it but only because he thought Work Choices was too bound up with regulation and red tape," said one former colleague. "He was a complete deregulationist."