{{Short description|Australian politician (1946–2007)}} {{Use Australian English|date=January 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Peter Andren | honorific_suffix = AM | image = | image_size = 150x200 | constituency_MP = Calare | parliament = Australian | majority = | predecessor = David Simmons | successor = John Cobb | term_start = 2 March 1996 | term_end = 17 October 2007 | birth_name = Peter James Andren | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1946|8|28}} | birth_place = Gulargambone, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2007|11|3|1946|8|28}} | death_place = | spouse = {{marriage|Jenny Price|end=div}} | party = Independent | relations = | children = Greg, Josh | alma_mater = Macquarie University | occupation = Teacher, journalist | profession = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Peter James Andren''' AM (28 August 1946 – 3 November 2007) was an Australian politician. He was an independent member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until October 2007, representing the electorate of Calare, New South Wales.
==Biography== Peter Andren was born in Gulargambone, New South Wales, and attended Normanhurst Boys High School<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wellbeing.com.au/school/brose_by_region_nsw?cid=12206&pid=1856641|title=School Choice – 2006 NSW schools, Vic schools – Browse NSW schools}}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{citation needed|date=July 2019}} and Macquarie University, Sydney. He was a teacher, television reporter, presenter and producer and radio and television news editor with Prime Television and 2GZ before entering politics.
left|upright|thumb|The Andren Report, by Peter Andren In the 1996 election, he stood for election in Calare. He was not only displeased with the quality of candidates in the field to succeed longtime Labor incumbent David Simmons, but felt that rural Australia was losing its voice in Canberra.<ref name=toosoon/> It was initially thought that Simmons' retirement gave the Nationals a chance to take the seat. However, owing partly to his name recognition (Prime's service area covered most of the electorate), Andren finished just ahead of Labor on the primary vote. After Liberal preferences allowed the Nationals to overtake Labor for second, Andren won the seat after Labor's preferences flowed overwhelmingly to him, taking 63 percent of the two-candidate vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/guide/cala/ |title=Calare - Australia Votes - Federal Election 2013 |publisher=Abc.net.au |date=2013-09-07 |accessdate=2018-06-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA LEGISLATIVE ELECTION OF 2 MARCH 1996 |url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1996/1996repsnsw.txt |access-date=June 10, 2024 |website=psephos.adam-carr.net}}</ref> He held the seat without serious difficulty in the next three elections; his two candidate-preferred vote of over 75 per cent in 2001 made Calare the second-safest seat in Australia.<ref>Peter Andren, [http://www.scribepublications.com.au/book/theandrenreport The Andren Report: An independent way in Australian politics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205224108/http://www.scribepublications.com.au/book/theandrenreport |date=5 December 2007 }}, Scribe Publications, 2003</ref>
He attempted to implement changes to politicians' superannuation, involving giving members the opportunity to opt out of the parliamentary scheme. He introduced a Private Member's Bill to this extent, which failed to pass through either house. He had been an active opponent of genetically modified crops, and was involved with the Standing Committee on Primary Industries and Regional Services. Andren was known to join with the other two rural independent members, Bob Katter and Tony Windsor, in raising regional issues with the Parliament and media. He was also a vocal critic of Australia's policy on asylum seekers, and the Iraq War.
A redistribution of electoral boundaries in 2006 effectively cut Calare in half and reduced Andren's notional majority, leading to speculation that he might have stood for the neighbouring seat of Macquarie, which now included former Calare cities Bathurst and Lithgow, at the next election.<ref>{{cite news|title=Seat redistribution angers politicians |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Seat-redistribution-angers-politicians/2006/06/30/1151174387547.html |work=The Age |publisher=Fairfax Media |date=30 June 2006 |accessdate=15 March 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Redistribution forces Andren to decide on electorate |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2006-09-14/redistribution-forces-andren-to-decide-on/1263530 |work=ABC News |publisher=ABC |date=14 September 2006 |accessdate=2022-06-03}}</ref> On 29 March 2007, he instead made an announcement that he would stand down from Calare to contest a New South Wales seat in the Senate—a race that it was widely believed he would win.<ref name=toosoon/><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/NSW-Independent-Andren-seeks-Senate-seat/2007/03/29/1174761633547.html | title = NSW Independent Andren seeks Senate seat | author = AAP | author-link = Australian Associated Press | publisher = Sydney Morning Herald | date = 29 March 2007 }}</ref>
However he subsequently announced on 10 August 2007 that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and that "the diagnosis and available interventions to treat this cancer are not very encouraging." Due to his illness, he had to abandon his candidacy for a seat in the Senate<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22221776-29277,00.html | title = I'll beat cancer, says federal MP | last = Veness | first = Peter |author2=Shelley Markham | work = News.com.au | publisher = News Corporation | date = 10 August 2007 }}</ref> and he saw out his term as member for Calare until the parliament was dissolved on 17 October, before the 2007 election. He died less than three weeks later, on 3 November, survived by his partner Valerie Faber, his two sons Greg and Josh and his ex-wife Jenny Price.<ref name=toosoon>{{cite news | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/an-independent-voice-silenced-too-soon/2007/11/04/1194117875368.html | title = An independent voice silenced too soon | last = Davis | first = Mark | work = Sydney Morning Herald | publisher = Fairfax Media | date = 5 November 2007 | accessdate = 10 November 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/03/2080811.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071103150241/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/03/2080811.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 3 November 2007 | title = Andren dies after four-month illness | work = ABC News | publisher = ABC | date = 3 November 2007 }}</ref> His funeral at Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Orange was attended by an estimated 600–1000 people.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/farewell-to-andren-a-beacon-of-decency/2007/11/09/1194329513042.html | title = Farewell to Andren, a beacon of decency | last = McFarland | first = Greg | work = Sydney Morning Herald | publisher = Fairfax Media | date = 10 November 2007 | accessdate = 10 November 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Andren-remembered-as-an-openhearted-man/2007/11/09/1194329504063.html | title = Andren remembered as an open-hearted man | last = AAP | author-link = Australian Associated Press | work = Sydney Morning Herald | publisher = Fairfax Media | date = 9 November 2007 | accessdate = 10 November 2007 }}</ref>
Andren's seat of Calare was won by John Cobb for the National Party at the 2007 election.
On 9 June 2008 Andren's appointment as a Member of the Order of Australia was posthumously announced. The award cited his services in Parliament and to rural and regional Australia.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/high-honours-for-howard-and-his-righthand-man/2008/06/08/1212863458301.html | title = High honours for Howard and his right-hand man | work = Sydney Morning Herald | date = 10 June 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title = The Queen's Birthday 2008 Honours |publisher = Governor-General of Australia |date = 9 June 2008 |url = http://www.ag.gov.au/portal/govgazonline.nsf/03EBD7A0FE59560ECA25746300034423/$file/S106.htm |accessdate = 9 June 2008 |quote = For service to the Parliament of Australia, and to the rural and regional communities of central west New South Wales, particularly through support for a range of Indigenous, disability and health service organisations. |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080613125500/http://www.ag.gov.au/portal/govgazonline.nsf/03EBD7A0FE59560ECA25746300034423/$file/S106.htm |archivedate = 13 June 2008 |df = dmy-all }}</ref>
After his death, the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service set up a $5,000 medical scholarship named in Andren's honour.<ref>{{cite news |title=Scholarship to honour Peter Andren's memory |url=http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au/news/local/news/general/scholarship-to-honour-peter-andrens-memory/420285.aspx |work=ABC News Online |publisher=ABC |date=11 July 2007 | accessdate=1 January 2009}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikinews|Peter Andren, Australian MP dies aged 61}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070808030535/http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/member.asp?ID=KL6 Official Website] from ''The Parliament of Australia'' *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210616/http://peterandren.com/pdf/Press%20Release/2007/Press20070810.pdf Cancer Announcement] – Official Press Release
{{s-start}} {{s-par|au}} {{succession box | title=Member for Calare | before=David Simmons | after=John Cobb | years=1996–2007}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Andren, Peter}} Category:1946 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Australian television producers Category:Australian television journalists Category:Australian television presenters Category:Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Macquarie University alumni Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Calare Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Australia Category:Members of the Order of Australia Category:People educated at Normanhurst Boys' High School Category:Australian MPs 1996–1998 Category:Australian MPs 1998–2001 Category:Australian MPs 2001–2004 Category:Australian MPs 2004–2007