Shelley Archer
Encyclopedia
Shelley Frances Archer is an Australia
n politician. She was an Australian Labor Party
member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
from May 2005, representing the Mining and Pastoral
electoral region. A former union official, she was one of several state MPs to become involved in the 2006-2007 Corruption and Crime Commission
investigation into the dealings of former-Premier-turned-lobbyist Brian Burke
. The partner of influential unionist Kevin Reynolds
, she was associated with the conservative wing of the party.
Shelley Archer resigned from the ALP
in November 2007.
and Australian Workers' Union
. She worked in several government departments throughout the 1980s, and was the cause of some controversy when she was promoted from a junior position with the Office of the Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of Premier and Cabinet to a much more senior position with the state Office of Industrial Relations in 1989. It was during this time, in 1990, that she began a relationship with unionist Kevin Reynolds
, whom she later married. She was subsequently sacked by the OIR in 1992 after being tried and convicted on 35 counts of welfare fraud
, and unsuccessfully appealed the decision to the state Industrial Relations Commission. The conviction was later declared spent in 2002, after the requisite ten-year period had passed.
In 1993, Archer took up a position as an industrial advocate with the State School Teachers Union
. She worked with the union for four years before being fired amidst union infighting in 1998. She had been on stress leave for six months prior to her dismissal due to claimed harassment by colleagues. Archer subsequently won an unfair dismissal case against the union, successfully arguing that she had been targeted because of her relationship with Reynolds, but lost a separate action for discrimination. She later worked as a senior industrial organiser with the Australian Nursing Federation
, before gaining a position as an electorate officer to Legislative Council member Graham Giffard
, a position which she held until her election to parliament in 2005. She made an unsuccessful bid for the national presidency of the ALP in 2003. Archer served as the campaign director for the campaign of Cimlie Bowden for the seat of Canning
at the 2004 federal election.
In December 2003, Archer nominated herself for party pre-selection to contest a seat in the Mining and Pastoral
electoral region of the Legislative Council at the 2005 state election
. She won the top position on the party's ticket for the region due to the party's affirmative action rules, displacing Minister for Local Government Tom Stephens
, who was forced to seek a seat in the Legislative Assembly to remain in parliament. This ensured her election to the Legislative Council, and she took office in July 2005.
In August 2005, Archer, along with fellow incoming MLC Vince Catania
, called for a public debate on lifting the state's ban on the mining of uranium
, the support of which had long been party policy. She became one of the most ardent opponents of the policy, and called for the setting aside of budget funds to research the merits of uranium mining. Facing firm opposition from Premier Geoff Gallop
, Archer and Catania later shifted their attention to overturning the federal party's ban on new mines, preparing a motion which they could take to the party's national conference. A similar motion was later adopted by the national conference in 2007, with the support of both former leader Kim Beazley
and current leader Kevin Rudd
. She later broke ranks with her party again over the issue of poker machines, calling for their introduction in regional areas to provide another source of income for rural pubs. She made an unsuccessful bid for the position of ALP state president in 2005.
Corruption and Crime Commission
launched a high-profile investigation into the dealings of former Premier Brian Burke
, a lifelong family friend of Archer. The investigation continued for a number of months, forcing the resignations of three government ministers. In late February 2007, the commission turned its focus to Archer after the commission heard a taped call between her and Burke which revealed that she had faxed him a confidential letter from the Broome Shire Council
to Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan
. The commission's inquiries culminated in an intense session on 28 February, when, under intense questioning from the commission's lawyers, Archer admitted that she had contacted MacTiernan and Fisheries Minister Jon Ford to obtain often-confidential information for Burke, had allowed Burke to write a letter that she subsequently sent to Ford in her name, and had acted as a regular go-between between Burke and several ministers. She strongly denied any wrongdoing during the hearings, referring to Burke as "my mentor" and describing her "undying friendship" with him.
The revelations before the commission had immediate consequences for Archer. Opposition Leader Paul Omodei
immediately called for her resignation, a call which he repeated regularly over the following weeks. Archer initially remained defiant, declaring that anyone trying to expel her from the party would "need a sledgehammer", threatening legal action if such a move occurred, and vowing that she would continue to meet with Burke. Carpenter publicly labelled her behaviour "unacceptable and reprehensible", but refused to expel her in the face of opposition and media pressure. He was accused both in parliament and in the media of being afraid to take action against Archer because of her relationship with Reynolds, by now a powerful factional leader within the party, an accusation which Carpenter strongly denied. A further factor that was noted in the press was the party's lack of control over the Legislative Council; if Archer was expelled, they would have to rely on her vote as an independent, giving her and Reynolds substantially greater power.
Carpenter initially suggested that he had no power to prevent Archer from continuing to meet with Burke, but facing increasing pressure to resign, Archer relented on 5 March, announcing that she would cease all personal and professional contact with him. Calls for her resignation persisted; former Cabinet minister Bob Kucera
and prominent unionist Dave Kelly both demanded that she resign, and state Energy Minister Fran Logan
announced that he would not give Archer information relating to his portfolios unless confident that she was "absolutely and clearly aware" of her ethical responsibilities as an MP. In response to the continuing pressure, Carpenter imposed a gag on all Labor MPs from speaking out about the commission's ramifications on 7 March. However, Archer faced further problems when, on 10 March, the opposition disclosed her past spent conviction, the details of which had previously remained unknown, and renewed its calls for her resignation on the basis of her refusal to previously disclose it. Four days later, Carpenter publicly refused to deny that he had asked Archer to resign from the ALP and been refused. After days of intense pressure, Archer broke her media silence on 20 March, again denying any wrongdoing and protesting the revelation of her spent conviction; however, this did little to cease the attacks on her.
In late March, the commission attempted to initiate a new investigation into Archer's dealings while a member of the Legislative Council's standing committee on estimates and financial operations. The commission's investigations had, by this time, also ensnared opposition Liberal MLC Anthony Fels
, a fellow member of the committee. The attempted investigation was cut short, however, when the Legislative Council, after briefly referring the matter to its privileges committee, refused to hand over crucial documents and banned MPs and staff from testifying before the commission, citing the doctrine of parliamentary privilege
. The unprecedented move forced the indefinite suspension of any further investigation into the pair.
Archer has kept a relatively low profile in and out of parliament since the height of the Burke affair. In June 2007, Archer voted in favour of a stem-cell research bill, during a rare conscience vote
.
Following the release of a parliamentary report in November 2007, Mrs Archer and her husband Kevin Reynolds
both resigned from the ALP
.
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. She was an 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...
member of the Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
from May 2005, representing the Mining and Pastoral
Electoral region of Mining and Pastoral
The electoral region of Mining and Pastoral is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the northern and eastern regions of the State. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with five members who had been...
electoral region. A former union official, she was one of several state MPs to become involved in the 2006-2007 Corruption and Crime Commission
Corruption and Crime Commission
The Corruption and Crime Commission is a permanent investigative commission established by the Government of Western Australia in 2003, largely as a result of the findings of a Royal Commission into the state's police service. Its role is to investigate public corruption...
investigation into the dealings of former-Premier-turned-lobbyist Brian Burke
Brian Burke
Brian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988...
. The partner of influential unionist Kevin Reynolds
Kevin Reynolds (unionist)
Kevin Reynolds is the Western Australian state secretary for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union . Prior to this he was involved with the Builders Labourers Federation in the 1970s and 1980s where he formed an association with Norm Gallagher.Reynolds today holds considerable...
, she was associated with the conservative wing of the party.
Shelley Archer resigned from the ALP
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...
in November 2007.
Early life and political career
Archer was born into a family of sixteen children. She is the daughter of Ted Archer, a prominent unionist with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees AssociationShop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association is the largest trade union in Australia with more than 230,000 members and branches in every state and one in the Newcastle, Hunter Valley and Central Coast region. The SDA is the union for retail and fast-food workers, but does have other...
and Australian Workers' Union
Australian Workers' Union
The Australian Workers' Union is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s, and currently has approximately 135,000 members...
. She worked in several government departments throughout the 1980s, and was the cause of some controversy when she was promoted from a junior position with the Office of the Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of Premier and Cabinet to a much more senior position with the state Office of Industrial Relations in 1989. It was during this time, in 1990, that she began a relationship with unionist Kevin Reynolds
Kevin Reynolds (unionist)
Kevin Reynolds is the Western Australian state secretary for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union . Prior to this he was involved with the Builders Labourers Federation in the 1970s and 1980s where he formed an association with Norm Gallagher.Reynolds today holds considerable...
, whom she later married. She was subsequently sacked by the OIR in 1992 after being tried and convicted on 35 counts of welfare fraud
Welfare fraud
Welfare fraud refers to various intentional misuses of state welfare systems by withholding information or giving false or inaccurate information. This may be done in small, uncoordinated efforts, or in larger, organized criminal rings...
, and unsuccessfully appealed the decision to the state Industrial Relations Commission. The conviction was later declared spent in 2002, after the requisite ten-year period had passed.
In 1993, Archer took up a position as an industrial advocate with the State School Teachers Union
State School Teachers Union of Western Australia
The State School Teachers Union of Western Australia is an Australian trade union. It represents teachers working in the Western Australian state school system, and is affiliated with the federal Australian Education Union. It has been in continuous existence since the 1890s....
. She worked with the union for four years before being fired amidst union infighting in 1998. She had been on stress leave for six months prior to her dismissal due to claimed harassment by colleagues. Archer subsequently won an unfair dismissal case against the union, successfully arguing that she had been targeted because of her relationship with Reynolds, but lost a separate action for discrimination. She later worked as a senior industrial organiser with the Australian Nursing Federation
Australian Nursing Federation
The Australian Nursing Federation was established in 1924. The ANF is the national union for nurses and the largest professional nursing organisation in Australia...
, before gaining a position as an electorate officer to Legislative Council member Graham Giffard
Graham Giffard
Graham Thomas Giffard is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2000 to 2008, representing the North Metropolitan Region....
, a position which she held until her election to parliament in 2005. She made an unsuccessful bid for the national presidency of the ALP in 2003. Archer served as the campaign director for the campaign of Cimlie Bowden for the seat of Canning
Division of Canning
The Division of Canning is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Alfred Canning, the Western Australian government surveyor who surveyed the Canning Stock Route...
at the 2004 federal election.
In December 2003, Archer nominated herself for party pre-selection to contest a seat in the Mining and Pastoral
Electoral region of Mining and Pastoral
The electoral region of Mining and Pastoral is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the northern and eastern regions of the State. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with five members who had been...
electoral region of the Legislative Council at the 2005 state election
Western Australian state election, 2005
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 26 February 2005 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...
. She won the top position on the party's ticket for the region due to the party's affirmative action rules, displacing Minister for Local Government Tom Stephens
Tom Stephens
Thomas Gregory Stephens is a West Australian parliamentarian. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Parliament of Western Australia since 1982, serving in the Legislative Council from 1982 to 2004, and in the Legislative Assembly since 2005...
, who was forced to seek a seat in the Legislative Assembly to remain in parliament. This ensured her election to the Legislative Council, and she took office in July 2005.
In August 2005, Archer, along with fellow incoming MLC Vince Catania
Vince Catania
Vincent Alexander Catania is an Australian politician. He sat in the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2005 to 2008 and has been a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since 2008...
, called for a public debate on lifting the state's ban on the mining of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
, the support of which had long been party policy. She became one of the most ardent opponents of the policy, and called for the setting aside of budget funds to research the merits of uranium mining. Facing firm opposition from Premier Geoff Gallop
Geoff Gallop
Geoffrey Ian Gallop, AC is an Australian academic and former politician. He was the Premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He currently resides in Sydney.-Early life and education:...
, Archer and Catania later shifted their attention to overturning the federal party's ban on new mines, preparing a motion which they could take to the party's national conference. A similar motion was later adopted by the national conference in 2007, with the support of both former leader Kim Beazley
Kim Beazley
In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
and current leader Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
. She later broke ranks with her party again over the issue of poker machines, calling for their introduction in regional areas to provide another source of income for rural pubs. She made an unsuccessful bid for the position of ALP state president in 2005.
Corruption and Crime Commission investigation
In late 2006, the West AustralianWestern 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...
Corruption and Crime Commission
Corruption and Crime Commission
The Corruption and Crime Commission is a permanent investigative commission established by the Government of Western Australia in 2003, largely as a result of the findings of a Royal Commission into the state's police service. Its role is to investigate public corruption...
launched a high-profile investigation into the dealings of former Premier Brian Burke
Brian Burke
Brian Thomas Burke was Labor premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1983 until his resignation on 25 February 1988...
, a lifelong family friend of Archer. The investigation continued for a number of months, forcing the resignations of three government ministers. In late February 2007, the commission turned its focus to Archer after the commission heard a taped call between her and Burke which revealed that she had faxed him a confidential letter from the Broome Shire Council
Shire of Broome
The Shire of Broome is one of the four Local Government Areas in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia, covering an area of , most of which is sparsely populated. The shire's estimated population in 2010 was 16,298, most of whom reside in the town of Broome...
to Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan
Alannah MacTiernan
Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan is an Australian politician. She was an ALP member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since 1996, representing the electorate of Armadale until her resignation from the Western Australian Parliament on 19 July 2010...
. The commission's inquiries culminated in an intense session on 28 February, when, under intense questioning from the commission's lawyers, Archer admitted that she had contacted MacTiernan and Fisheries Minister Jon Ford to obtain often-confidential information for Burke, had allowed Burke to write a letter that she subsequently sent to Ford in her name, and had acted as a regular go-between between Burke and several ministers. She strongly denied any wrongdoing during the hearings, referring to Burke as "my mentor" and describing her "undying friendship" with him.
The revelations before the commission had immediate consequences for Archer. Opposition Leader Paul Omodei
Paul Omodei
Paul Domenic Omodei , Australian politician, was the leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia from 24 March 2006 until 17 January 2008....
immediately called for her resignation, a call which he repeated regularly over the following weeks. Archer initially remained defiant, declaring that anyone trying to expel her from the party would "need a sledgehammer", threatening legal action if such a move occurred, and vowing that she would continue to meet with Burke. Carpenter publicly labelled her behaviour "unacceptable and reprehensible", but refused to expel her in the face of opposition and media pressure. He was accused both in parliament and in the media of being afraid to take action against Archer because of her relationship with Reynolds, by now a powerful factional leader within the party, an accusation which Carpenter strongly denied. A further factor that was noted in the press was the party's lack of control over the Legislative Council; if Archer was expelled, they would have to rely on her vote as an independent, giving her and Reynolds substantially greater power.
Carpenter initially suggested that he had no power to prevent Archer from continuing to meet with Burke, but facing increasing pressure to resign, Archer relented on 5 March, announcing that she would cease all personal and professional contact with him. Calls for her resignation persisted; former Cabinet minister Bob Kucera
Bob Kucera
Robert Charles Kucera is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2008, representing the district of Yokine, initially for the Australian Labor Party and from June 2008 as an independent.Joining the police force of Western Australia in...
and prominent unionist Dave Kelly both demanded that she resign, and state Energy Minister Fran Logan
Fran Logan
Francis "Fran" Michael Logan is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Cockburn in the southern suburbs of Perth for the Labor Party...
announced that he would not give Archer information relating to his portfolios unless confident that she was "absolutely and clearly aware" of her ethical responsibilities as an MP. In response to the continuing pressure, Carpenter imposed a gag on all Labor MPs from speaking out about the commission's ramifications on 7 March. However, Archer faced further problems when, on 10 March, the opposition disclosed her past spent conviction, the details of which had previously remained unknown, and renewed its calls for her resignation on the basis of her refusal to previously disclose it. Four days later, Carpenter publicly refused to deny that he had asked Archer to resign from the ALP and been refused. After days of intense pressure, Archer broke her media silence on 20 March, again denying any wrongdoing and protesting the revelation of her spent conviction; however, this did little to cease the attacks on her.
In late March, the commission attempted to initiate a new investigation into Archer's dealings while a member of the Legislative Council's standing committee on estimates and financial operations. The commission's investigations had, by this time, also ensnared opposition Liberal MLC Anthony Fels
Anthony Fels
Anthony James Fels was an Australian politician. He was the member of the Western Australian Legislative Council representing the Agricultural Region...
, a fellow member of the committee. The attempted investigation was cut short, however, when the Legislative Council, after briefly referring the matter to its privileges committee, refused to hand over crucial documents and banned MPs and staff from testifying before the commission, citing the doctrine of parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made related to one's duties as a legislator. It is common in countries whose constitutions are...
. The unprecedented move forced the indefinite suspension of any further investigation into the pair.
Archer has kept a relatively low profile in and out of parliament since the height of the Burke affair. In June 2007, Archer voted in favour of a stem-cell research bill, during a rare conscience vote
Conscience vote
A conscience vote or free vote is a type of vote in a legislative body where legislators are allowed to vote according to their own personal conscience rather than according to an official line set down by their political party....
.
Following the release of a parliamentary report in November 2007, Mrs Archer and her husband Kevin Reynolds
Kevin Reynolds (unionist)
Kevin Reynolds is the Western Australian state secretary for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union . Prior to this he was involved with the Builders Labourers Federation in the 1970s and 1980s where he formed an association with Norm Gallagher.Reynolds today holds considerable...
both resigned from the ALP
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...
.