Neil Brown (Australian politician)

The Honourable Neil Brown QC
Member of the Australian Parliament for Diamond Valley
In office 25 October 1969 – 2 December 1972
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	David McKenzie
In office 13 December 1975 – 5 March 1983
Preceded by	David McKenzie
Succeeded by	Peter Staples
Member of the Australian Parliament for Menzies
In office 1 December 1984 – 25 February 1991
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Kevin Andrews
Personal details
Born	22 February 1940 Melbourne, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation	Barrister

Neil Anthony Brown, QC (born 22 February 1940) is a former Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.

Career

Neil Brown studied law at the University of Melbourne, and was admitted to the Bar in Victoria in 1964. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1980. He was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Diamond Valley from 1969 to 1972, and 1975 to 1983, and the Division of Menzies (both in Victoria) from 1984 to 1991. He was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party under John Howard from 1985 to 1987, Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs from 1981 to 1982, Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs in 1982 and Minister for Communications from 1982 to 1983. He was also a Parliamentary Delegate to the United Nations. He resigned from Parliament in 1991, triggering a by-election.

Brown is now a mediator and arbitrator in domestic and international commercial, trade and construction matters and in Internet domain name disputes.^[1][2]

He writes a weekly column for The Spectator Australia.^[3]

Honours

• 1 January 2001: Centenary Medal for service to the Commonwealth Parliament and Government from 1969 to 1991^[4]

Personal

After his retirement from Parliament, he separated from his wife and acknowledged his homosexuality.^[5][6]

References

1. Miller, Nick (19 September 2006). "Aussie by any name". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
2. Miller, Nick (19 September 2006). "Arbitrator backs claim domain name use was 'conduct in bad faith'". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
3. Neil Brown
4. It's An Honour, Australian Government.
5. Roy Baker, Defamation Law and Social Attitudes: Ordinary Unreasonable People, p. 92. Retrieved 26 June 2016
6. Janine McDonald, "Gay MP calls for conscience vote", The Age, 20 June 1998. Retrieved 26 June 2016

External links

• neilbrownqc.com (personal website)
• domaintimes.info (domain name dispute blog)