Biographical entry: Gray, Robin (1940 - )
- Born
- 1940
- Occupation
- Politician
Summary
Robin Trevor Gray, politician, is the most successful Liberal premier to date, governing for just over seven years (May 1982 to June 1989).
Details
He won government in 1982, five months after winning the Liberal leadership and seven years after being elected to Parliament. He was re-elected in 1986. Gray's premiership was marked by environmental battles, primarily the Gordon-below-Franklin dam dispute of the early 1980s, and the Wesley Vale pulp and paper mill battle which contributed to his government's defeat in 1989. A staunch state's rights campaigner, he won support from across the political spectrum. Despite being criticised in the report of the Carter Royal Commission into electoral bribery, he remained the Party's strongest vote winner, perhaps due to his capacity for work and ability to remember names and faces.
Stephen Tanner