Bryan Alexander Green (born 30 June 1957) is a former Australian politician. He was the leader of the parliamentary Labor Party in Tasmania from 2014 to 2017, and a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the electorate of Braddon from 1998 to 2017.

Bryan Green
50th Leader of the Opposition of Tasmania
In office
31 March 2014 – 17 March 2017
PremierWill Hodgman
DeputyMichelle O'Byrne
Preceded byWill Hodgman
Succeeded byRebecca White
Deputy Premier of Tasmania
In office
24 January 2011 – 31 March 2014
PremierLara Giddings
Preceded byLara Giddings
Succeeded byJeremy Rockliff
In office
5 April 2006 – 15 July 2006
PremierPaul Lennon
Preceded byDavid Llewellyn
Succeeded bySteve Kons
Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
for Braddon
In office
29 August 1998 – 17 March 2017
Personal details
Born (1957-06-30) 30 June 1957 (age 67)
Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyLabor
OccupationMachinist, union organiser

Early life

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A native of New South Wales, Green was born in Wollongong. His family later moved to George Town, Tasmania and then to Burnie, Tasmania, where he attended Burnie High School and Burnie Technical College.

From 1974 to 1993, he worked as a machinist for the Burnie mills of Australian Paper. He then spent three years as an electorate officer for Senator Kay Denman, and then several years as a state organiser for the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU).[1]

Political career

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Green entered the Tasmanian parliament at the 1998 election. He was appointed to the ministerial portfolio of Primary Industries, Water and Environment in 2002. Following a reshuffle precipitated by the resignation of Premier Jim Bacon due to ill-health, Green was promoted to Minister of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources in 2004.

As Minister for Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Green was responsible for obtaining Parliamentary support for construction of the Meander Dam, a major water project that was opposed by conservationists. As Transport Minister he proposed lowering the states speed limits on rural roads from 100 km/h to 90 km/h, a proposition that was met with somewhat of a backlash. Green was later appointed as the chairman of the Tasmanian Road Safety Council.[2] He was the key negotiator with freight rail company Pacific National, which in September 2005 threatened to 'pull out' of intermodal operations in the State, forcing all containerised and coal rail freight onto the road. He agreed to a $120 million rescue package ($80 million funded by the Australian federal government) to the company.

On 14 July 2006 Green resigned from all leadership and frontbench positions following an enquiry by Auditor-General Mike Blake into a deal Green signed with Tasmanian Compliance Corporation (TCC).[3] The deal promised the TCC company, part-owned by two former Labor ministers (John White and Glen Milliner), a three-year exclusive business monopoly from the Government or $2.5 million compensation. Green faced trial in December 2007 on charges of conspiracy and attempting to interfere with an executive officer, which ended in a hung jury. A 2008 retrial also ended in a hung jury, with the DPP subsequently dropping the charges.[4][5] Green was reelected in 2010 and 2014.[6]

In 2011 Lara Giddings succeeded David Bartlett as Premier, and Green became Deputy Premier.[7] In March 2014, following the resignation of Giddings, Green was elected Labor leader in Tasmania after gaining unanimous support from colleagues.[8]

Green's political achievements included restructuring Tasmania's four port companies into a single entity, supporting a wide-ranging review into public passenger transport services, and increasing transparency in the forestry sector, through changes to Freedom of Information laws and by supporting the role of the Forest Practices Authority.

On the morning of 17 March 2017, Green told a party meeting that he was retiring from politics. Shadow health minister Rebecca White was elected unopposed to replace him, and Green's seat in Braddon was filled by a recount.[9] He was the first Tasmanian Labor leader in decades not to take the party into an election.

In December 2023, Labor Leader Rebecca White announced Green as Labor's candidate for the Legislative Council seat of Prosser in the 2024 periodic elections.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Bryan Alexander Green". Members of the Parliament of Tasmania. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Tas deputy premier on drink-driving charge". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 June 2011.
  3. ^ News report on TCC scandal[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Green to face retrial, ABC News, 13 December 2007
  5. ^ Former deputy premier goes from court to Parliament, ABC Local Radio, 13 March 2008
  6. ^ "House of Assembly Elections". www.tec.tas.gov.au. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  7. ^ Brown, Damien (24 January 2011). "Giddings is new Tas Premier". The Mercury. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
  8. ^ "Bryan Green takes on Tasmanian Labor leadership after Lara Giddings resigns". ABC News. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Green out, White in for Tasmanian Labor". ABC News. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Former Labor leader Bryan Green will run for the Upper House seat of Prosser". The Mercury. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
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Political offices
Preceded by Deputy Premier of Tasmania
2006
Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Premier of Tasmania
2011–2014
Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition (Tasmania)
2014–2017
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Labor Party in Tasmania
2014–2017
Succeeded by