David Hamer

Who was David Hamer?

David John Hamer AM, DSC was an Australian politician. Born in Melbourne, he was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then the Royal Australian Naval College. He served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1940 to 1968. He was a lieutenant aboard HMAS Australia during the battles of Leyte and Lingayen Gulf. He was an honorary aide-de-camp to the Governor-General, Director of Naval Intelligence 1961 from 1963, Captain of HMAS Vampire and Captain of the Australian Destroyer Squadron 1963-65.

In 1969, David was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Isaacs. Narrowly defeated by Labor candidate Gareth Clayton in 1974, he became a political columnist for The Age newspaper and undertook a Master of Arts at Monash University in Constitutional Law, studying the historical role of the Australian Senate. He was re-elected to Isaacs in 1975 but contested the Senate in 1977. He was successful, and remained a Liberal senator for Victoria until his retirement in 1990. A strong supporter of improving the function of the Senate as a house of review, he was Chairman of Committees as well as Deputy President of the Senate from 1983-1990.