Gordon Bilney

Who was Gordon Bilney?

Gordon Neil Bilney was an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Kingston from 1983 to 1996.

Bilney was born in Renmark, South Australia. Prior to entering politics, Bilney was a diplomat, and his first chosen occupation, prior to that, was a dentist. He served as Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the OECD from 1975 to 1978 and as the Australian High Commissioner to the West Indies from 1980 to 1982.

He was first elected to federal parliament at the 1983 federal election. He won the seat of Kingston, based in the southern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, defeating incumbent Liberal MP Grant Chapman. Bilney was subsequently re-elected to the same seat at the 1984, 1987, 1990 and 1993 elections. He was defeated by Liberal candidate Susan Jeanes at the 1996 federal election.

Between 1990 and 1996, Bilney was a minister in the Labor governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. He was the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel from 1990 to 1993 and the Minister for Development Cooperation and Pacific Island Affairs from 1993 to 1996.

Bilney died on Sunday 28 October 2012 at the age of 73.