Alan Cadman

Who is Alan Cadman?

Alan Glyndwr Cadman, OAM, Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from 18 May 1974 to 17 October 2007, representing the Division of Mitchell, New South Wales.

Cadman was born in Sydney and was educated at the University of New South Wales. He was an orchardist and company director before entering politics.

Cadman was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister 1981-83 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business 1997-98. In 1992 he was one of a group of Coalition members of parliament who founded the Lyons Forum, a conservative ginger group.

In 2003, Cadman was the unsuspecting target of a prank by comedy show CNNNN in which "rumours" were spread about his intentions to run against John Howard for the Prime Ministership.

On 16 June 2007, Cadman withdrew from the preselection contest, and later announced his current term would be his last. He was to later condemn the circumstances under which he lost preselection to Alex Hawke. The Australian newspaper wrote "One of parliament's longest-serving MPs has lashed out at the "extreme" right wing of the Liberal Party, saying it is no longer concerned with values or policies and has become obsessed with power for its own sake. Mitchell MP Alan Cadman has broken his silence on the preselection battle in which he lost the party's endorsement for his safe northern Sydney seat, which he won from Labor in 1974, to the right wing's Alex Hawke, 29. Mr Cadman said his loss to Mr Hawke... was the result of relentless branch-stacking within the electorate."