Charlie Lynn
Encyclopedia
Charlie John Stuart Lynn (born 14 January 1945 in Orbost, Victoria
) is an Australia
n politician and Liberal Party of Australia
member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
. Lynn has been an MLC since 19 October 1995.
in East Gippsland
.
, going on to serve his country in the Vietnam War
in 1967. After the end of the war, he remained in the Army until 1986 and served in Singapore
and the United States
. He qualified as a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) military parachutist with the US Army in 1978. He is a graduate of the Officer Cadet School, Portsea, Victoria and the Army Staff College at Fort Queenscliff, Victoria. He represented the Army in Australian Rules football
, tennis
, squash
and marathon running.
to Melbourne
Ultra Marathon, the Anzac Day
Marathon, the 18,000 km Round Australia Relay for the Australian Cancer Foundation, the Great Australian Caravan Safari, the Darwin
-Cairns-Melbourne Relay for the Melbourne Olympic Committee
, and the international George Street Mile footrace. He was a Consultant to Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and also a Facilitator for Adventure West Leadership and Survival Training activities.
He is a Trek Leader for Kokoda
Adventure Treks and a Developer of the Kokoda Adventure Leadership Program. He held the New South Wales 24-hour Ultra Marathon record in 1985 and 1986.
Charlie has been appointed to the Board of the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway
at Concord
. He was also recently elected President of the NSW Parliamentary Lions Club and is a Trustee on the Anzac Memorial building in Sydney.
He was Chairman of the Campbelltown
Chamber of Commerce and Industry between 1993 and 1994.
of January 1994 in which his ALP opponent was future Opposition Leader Mark Latham. Werriwa is a safe ALP seat and Latham was elected although Lynn succeeded in achieving a swing for the Liberal Party.
While Lynn was never expected to win Werriwa he did come close to being elected to the Federal Parliament when he was preselected as the Liberal candidate for the marginal ALP seat of Macarthur. However supporters of former NSW Liberal Premier John Fahey wanted Fahey to be in the Federal Parliament and Macarthur was the ideal seat for Fahey but Lynn refused to step aside for Fahey.
However a deal was brokered to accommodate both Fahey and Lynn when former State Liberal Minister Ted Pickering had retired from State Parliament. The deal was for Lynn to fill Pickering's Legislative Council seat in return for giving up the Macarthur preselection for Fahey. Lynn accepted the deal and was appointed to the aforementioned casual vacancy in the New South Wales Legislative Council
on 19 October 1995 following the resignation of Pickering on 10 October. Fahey went on to win Macarthur at the 1996 Federal election.
Lynn as an MLC first stood for election in his own right in the 1999 New South Wales election
. He was placed fourth on the joint Liberal/Nationals
election ticket. He was re-elected after receiving the ninth highest quota of votes.
He stood for re-election in 2007 New South Wales election. He was placed first on the joint Liberal/Nationals election ticket. He was re-elected after receiving the second highest quota of votes.
for saying "I'm not happy about someone else having my credit card details, it's bad enough that my wife has them.".
Orbost, Victoria
Orbost is a town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, located east of Melbourne and south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about from the town of Marlo on the coast of Bass Strait. At the 2006 census, Orbost had a population of 2452...
) is an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician and 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...
member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
. Lynn has been an MLC since 19 October 1995.
Personal history
Lynn was born to parents Melva and Keith Lynn, and is the eldest of eight siblings. He grew up in a small timber home on the banks of the Snowy RiverSnowy River
The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the Snowy River National Park in Victoria and emptying into...
in East Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
.
Military service
Leaving school, he began working in a Country Roads Board camp. In 1965 he was conscripted into the Australian ArmyAustralian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
, going on to serve his country in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
in 1967. After the end of the war, he remained in the Army until 1986 and served in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He qualified as a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) military parachutist with the US Army in 1978. He is a graduate of the Officer Cadet School, Portsea, Victoria and the Army Staff College at Fort Queenscliff, Victoria. He represented the Army in Australian Rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
and marathon running.
Professional history
After his discharge from the Army, became a Special Events Organiser. He has organised the SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
Ultra Marathon, the Anzac Day
ANZAC Day
Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all...
Marathon, the 18,000 km Round Australia Relay for the Australian Cancer Foundation, the Great Australian Caravan Safari, the Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
-Cairns-Melbourne Relay for the Melbourne Olympic Committee
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
, and the international George Street Mile footrace. He was a Consultant to Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and also a Facilitator for Adventure West Leadership and Survival Training activities.
He is a Trek Leader for Kokoda
Kokoda
Kokoda is a station town in the Oro Province of Papua New Guinea. It is famous as the northern end of the Kokoda Track, site of the eponymous Kokoda Track campaign of World War II. In that campaign, it had strategic significance because it had the only airfield along the Track...
Adventure Treks and a Developer of the Kokoda Adventure Leadership Program. He held the New South Wales 24-hour Ultra Marathon record in 1985 and 1986.
Charlie has been appointed to the Board of the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway
Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway is a memorial walking track located in the suburb of Concord West, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located along the foreshore of shores of Brays Bay on the Parramatta River, and is a unique tribute to the Australian troops who fought in the World War II...
at Concord
Concord, New South Wales
Concord is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay....
. He was also recently elected President of the NSW Parliamentary Lions Club and is a Trustee on the Anzac Memorial building in Sydney.
He was Chairman of the Campbelltown
Campbelltown, New South Wales
Campbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...
Chamber of Commerce and Industry between 1993 and 1994.
Representative history
Lynn had been the Liberal candidate for the Werriwa by-electionWerriwa by-election, 1994
A by-election for the Australian House of Representatives division of Werriwa was held on 28 January 1994. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting Labor Party member and former minister John Kerin....
of January 1994 in which his ALP opponent was future Opposition Leader Mark Latham. Werriwa is a safe ALP seat and Latham was elected although Lynn succeeded in achieving a swing for the Liberal Party.
While Lynn was never expected to win Werriwa he did come close to being elected to the Federal Parliament when he was preselected as the Liberal candidate for the marginal ALP seat of Macarthur. However supporters of former NSW Liberal Premier John Fahey wanted Fahey to be in the Federal Parliament and Macarthur was the ideal seat for Fahey but Lynn refused to step aside for Fahey.
However a deal was brokered to accommodate both Fahey and Lynn when former State Liberal Minister Ted Pickering had retired from State Parliament. The deal was for Lynn to fill Pickering's Legislative Council seat in return for giving up the Macarthur preselection for Fahey. Lynn accepted the deal and was appointed to the aforementioned casual vacancy in the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
on 19 October 1995 following the resignation of Pickering on 10 October. Fahey went on to win Macarthur at the 1996 Federal election.
Lynn as an MLC first stood for election in his own right in the 1999 New South Wales election
New South Wales state election, 1999
Elections to the 52nd Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 27 March 1999. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election...
. He was placed fourth on the joint Liberal/Nationals
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...
election ticket. He was re-elected after receiving the ninth highest quota of votes.
He stood for re-election in 2007 New South Wales election. He was placed first on the joint Liberal/Nationals election ticket. He was re-elected after receiving the second highest quota of votes.
Official Parliamentary Positions Held:
| Position | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council | 19 Oct 1995 | current |
| Member, Joint Select Committee into the Transportation and Storage of Nuclear Waste | 22 May 2003 | 24 Feb 2004 |
| Member, General Purposes Standing Committee No. 5 | 10 Jul 2003 | 29 Jun 2004 |
| Member, General Purpose Standing Committee No. 3 | 29 Jun 2004 | 2 Mar 2007 |
| Member, Select Committee on the Continued Public Ownership of Snowy Hydro Limited | 20 Sep 2006 | 26 Oct 2006 |
| Member, General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5 | 29 May 2007 | current |
| Member, Committee on the Office of the Ombudsman and the Police Integrity Commission | 26 Jun 2007 | current |
| Member, Standing Committee on Social Issues | 17 Dec 2004 | 2 Mar 2007 |
| Member, Committee on the Office of the Valuer-General | 22 Sep 2005 | 2 Mar 2007 |
Party Positions Held
- Vice-President of Camden Branch: 1994-95.
- President Macarthur FEC 1998-00
Community Activity
- Chairman of the Campbelltown Chamber of Commerce and Industry: 1993-94.
- Founding Chairman of the Kokoda Track Foundation.
- Trustee of the ANZAC Memorial, Sydney
- Director of the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway, Concord, NSW
- Founding Chairman of Network Kokoda
- Patron of the Vietnam Veterans Reconstitution Group
- Patron of Communities for Communities, NSW
- Corrective and Emergency Services Committee: 1995.
Controversy
He was nominated for an Ernie AwardErnie Awards
The Ernie Awards are an Australian award for comments deemed misogynist.It is named after former Australian Workers Union secretary Ernie Ecob, who was known for his misogynist remarks. One of his best-known remarks was "Women aren't welcome in the shearing sheds. They're only after the sex," which...
for saying "I'm not happy about someone else having my credit card details, it's bad enough that my wife has them.".