Alasdair Webster
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Alasdair Webster
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|OAM}}
| image =
| constituency_MP = Macquarie
| parliament = Australian
| majority =
| predecessor = Ross Free
| successor = Maggie Deahm
| term_start = 1 December 1984
| term_end = 13 March 1993
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1934|2|12}}
| birth_place = East Maitland, New South Wales
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Australian
| spouse =
| party = Liberal Party of Australia
Christian Democratic Party
| relations =
| children = 5
| residence =Springwood, New South Wales
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Politician, teacher, superintendent
| profession =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Alasdair Paine Webster {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OAM}} (born 12 February 1934) is an Australian former politician.
Early life
Webster was born in East Maitland, New South Wales. He underwent military service in 1953, attended the University of New England, and became a teacher.
From 1973 to 1984, Webster was chief superintendent of Daruk Boys' Home in Windsor, New South Wales.
Politics
=Federal politics=
In 1984, Webster was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the seat of Macquarie as a member of the Liberal Party. He held the seat until his defeat in 1993 by Maggie Deahm, representing the Australian Labor Party, who won by a margin of 105 votes.
Webster challenged the result in the Court of Disputed Returns. He made 22 allegations of irregularities, including widespread electoral fraud, and that an advertisement misled voters into thinking Deahm was a Democrat Candidate. Justice Mary Gaudron dismissed all but three of the allegations.{{cite AustLII|HCA|38|1993|litigants=Webster v Deahm |parallelcite=(1993) 116 ALR 223 |date=3 September 1993}}. The allegations that remained concerned allegations of multiple voting and impersonation. After the Electoral Commission had investigated the errors made in marking of the certified lists, Webster accepted that the additional marks were explicable as scanning errors. Justice Gaudron dismissed the petition, ordering that the Electoral Commission bear its own costs because of its own errors, but Webster was required to pay Deahm's costs.{{cite web|title=Example 1: The Webster v Deahm petition and the 1993 election for Macquarie|url=http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/australian_electoral_system/files/jscem/electoral_roll/sub26/js_sub26c.pdf|last=|first=|date=17 October 2000|work=Attachment 19 to Submission No 26 Inquiry into the Integrity of the Electoral Roll|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217042248/http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/australian_electoral_system/files/jscem/electoral_roll/sub26/js_sub26c.pdf|archive-date=17 February 2011|access-date=}}
=Later activities=
Webster subsequently joined the Call to Australia Party and unsuccessfully contested the Senate for them in 1996. He also contested the New South Wales Legislative Council for the Christian Democratic Party at the 1999 and 2003 state elections.
Webster was a delegate to the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention, which met to discuss the issue of an Australian republic.{{cite web|last=Carr |first=Adam |title=Australian Election Archive |work=Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive |url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia |year=2008 |accessdate=23 May 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514001510/http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia |archivedate=14 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}
He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia on Australia Day 2008 for "services to the Parliament of Australia, and to the community, through Indigenous, educational and service organisations".{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=1137857 |date=26 January 2008 |recipient=Mr Alasdair Paine Webster |award=Medal of the Order of Australia |postnominal=OAM |accessdate=27 May 2020}}
Child sexual abuse charges
In 2018, 60 Minutes reported that during his time at Daruk Boys' Home, he had facilitated and wilfully ignored rampant child abuse, including child sexual abuse.[https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/03/11/21/46/daruk-victims-of-government-run-home-expose-federal-politician-who-ignored-alleged-child-abuse Verbal abuse, sexual assault and a botched circumcision: Victims of government-run home expose federal politician who ignored alleged child abuse], 60 Minutes, 11 March 2018
On 11 March 2020, it was revealed that Webster was facing historical sexual abuse charges dating back to his time as superintendent of the home.[https://7news.com.au/news/nsw/former-federal-liberal-mp-alasdair-webster-facing-historical-sexual-assault-charges-c-739551 Former federal Liberal MP Alasdair Webster facing historical sexual assault charges], Seven News, 11 March 2020 In May 2020, his application for a suppression order on the case was refused by the court.{{cite news |last1=McKinnell |first1=Jamie |title=Alasdair Webster refused suppression order over charges of child sex abuse at Daruk Training School |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-27/alasdair-webster-refused-suppression-order-child-abuse-charges/12292908 |accessdate=27 May 2020 |work=ABC News |date=27 May 2020 |language=en-AU}}
References
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{{succession box | title=Member for Macquarie | before=Ross Free| after=Maggie Deahm| years=1984–1993}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Alasdair}}
Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Category:Christian Democratic Party (Australia) politicians
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Macquarie
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Category:People from Maitland, New South Wales
Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Category:Australian monarchists
Category:Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998
Category:Australian MPs 1984–1987