{{Short description|Australian politician (born 1930)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Michael Baume | honorific_suffix = AO | image = | office1 = Senator for New South Wales | term_start1 = 1 July 1985 | term_end1 = 9 September 1996 | successor1 = Bill Heffernan | constituency_MP2 = Macarthur | parliament2 = Australian | predecessor2 = John Kerin | successor2 = Colin Hollis | term_start2 = 13 December 1975 | term_end2 = 5 March 1983 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1930|7|6}} | birth_place = Sydney, Australia | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = | party = Liberal | relations = Frederick Baume (grandfather)<br/>Rosetta Baume (grandmother)<br/>Peter Baume (first cousin) | children = | alma_mater = University of Sydney | occupation = Journalist<br/>Stockbroker | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Michael Ehrenfried Baume''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AO}} (born 6 July 1930) is a former Australian politician. A member of the Liberal Party, he served in the House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983 and as a Senator for New South Wales from 1985 to 1996. He was a parliamentary secretary in the Fraser government and was later a shadow minister. He was a business journalist and stockbroker before entering politics and later served as the Australian consul-general in New York City from 1996 to 2001.
==Early life and education== Baume was born in Sydney on 6 July 1930. He is the son of Elizabeth Constance (née Gibbons) and Alan Charles Baume.<ref name=bio/> His father was a journalist and served in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II.<ref name=return>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/132920714|title=Journalist to Return To the Wife He Left|newspaper=The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate|date=23 February 1943}}</ref> His paternal grandfather Frederick Baume was a member of parliament in New Zealand, while his grandmother Rosetta Baume was one of the first women to stand for parliament in New Zealand.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://biography.senate.gov.au/baume-peter-erne/|title=Baume, Peter Erne (1935– )|work=The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate|year=2017|first=Clive|last=Beauchamp}}</ref>
Baume spent his early years in Dubbo, New South Wales, where his father was the editor of a weekly newspaper. The family later returned to Sydney and settled in Lindfield.<ref name=return/> Baume received his early education at Lindfield Public School and North Sydney Boys High School. He went on to graduate Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney in 1951.<ref name=bio/>
==Early career== Baume joined the ''Australian Financial Review'' in 1954 as a business journalist and became the paper's investment editor in 1963. He moved to ''The Bulletin'' in 1966 as finance editor and was a music reviewer for ''The Daily Telegraph''. In 1967, Baume published ''The Sydney Opera House Affair'', a book detailing the controversies involved in the building's design and construction. He was also a finance commentator on ABC Radio for six years and appeared as a panellist on the ABC television game show ''Would You Believe?'' from 1970 to 1974.<ref name=bio/>
In 1968, Baume began working as a research manager for Patrick Partners, Sydney's largest stockbroking firm. He became a staff partner the following year. The firm collapsed in July 1975, a few months before his election to parliament. He was also a director of meat exporter Tancred Brothers and Rothbury Estate, a winery in the Hunter Valley.<ref name=bio/>
==Politics== Baume served as president of the Liberal Party's Shellharbour, New South Wales, branch from 1974 to 1975. He was also editor of one of the party's publications, ''The Australian Liberal''.<ref name=aph>{{cite news|url=https://handbook.aph.gov.au/Parliamentarian/LE4|title=Baume, Michael Ehrenfried AO|work=Parliamentary Handbook|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=27 October 2024}}</ref>
===House of Representatives=== At the 1975 federal election, Baume won the seat of Macarthur for the Liberal Party from the incumbent Australian Labor Party MP John Kerin. He was re-elected at the 1977 and 1980 elections, but lost his seat to Labor candidate Colin Hollis at the 1983 election.<ref name=aph/>
Baume served as parliamentary secretary to federal treasurer John Howard from 1982 to 1983. After his defeat he continued working for Howard as a senior adviser and was also elected to the New South Wales state executive of the Liberal Party.<ref name=bio/>
===Senate=== In the 1984 election, Baume stood successfully as a Senate candidate in New South Wales. His term as Senator began on 1 July 1985, and he was re-elected in 1987 and 1993 before resigning from the Senate on 9 September 1996 to become Consul-General in New York (1996–2001).<ref name=bio>{{Cite Au Senate|Sen id=baume-michael-ehrenfried|name=BAUME, Michael Ehrenfried (1930– )|first=Jim|last=Kitay|access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref>
==Later life== In New York, Baume was elected President of the Society of Foreign Consuls (1999–2001) and was awarded the medal of the Foreign Policy Association (New York) for services to US-Australian relations. On 9 June 1999, Baume was made an Officer of the Order of Australia, "for service to the arts and the development of cultural life in Australia and internationally, to the Australian parliament and to the financial services industry."<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour|ausawardid=884430|recipient=Mr Michael Ehrenfried Baume|award=Officer of the Order of Australia|date=1999-06-14|postnominal=AO|access-date=2022-12-22}}</ref>
On his return to Australia, Baume was appointed a member of the Superannuation Complaints Tribunal for two years and was a foundation member of the Board of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.<ref name=bio/> He was for many years a member of the Council of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and for a decade was a regular columnist in ''The Australian Financial Review'' before moving to The Spectator Australia where his column appears monthly. He was for several years Special Counsel to former Sydney public relations and government relations firm, Wells Haslem Strategic Public Affairs Pty Ltd.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wellshaslem.com.au/michael-baume-ao.html |title=Michael Baume AO - Wells Haslem |website=www.wellshaslem.com.au |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303085303/http://www.wellshaslem.com.au/michael-baume-ao.html |archive-date=2014-03-03}}</ref>
== See also ==
* List of Jewish members of the Australian parliament
==References== {{Reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-par|au}} {{succession box | title=Member for Macarthur | before=John Kerin | after=Colin Hollis | years=1975–1983}} {{s-dip}} {{s-bef|before=Jim Humphreys}} {{s-ttl|title=Australian Consul General in New York|years=1996–2001}} {{s-aft|after=Ken Allen}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baume, Michael}} Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:People educated at North Sydney Boys High School Category:University of Sydney alumni Category:Australian stockbrokers Category:Australian business and financial journalists Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macarthur Category:Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Category:Members of the Australian Senate Category:Consuls-general for Australia in New York City Category:Australian MPs 1975–1977 Category:Australian MPs 1977–1980 Category:Australian MPs 1980–1983 Category:Officers of the Order of Australia