Bob Whan
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Bob Whan
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AM}}
| image = Bob Whan 1974 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Whan in 1974
| constituency_MP = Eden-Monaro
| parliament = Australian
| majority =
| predecessor = Allan Fraser
| successor = Murray Sainsbury
| term_start = 2 December 1972
| term_end = 13 December 1975
| birthname = Robert Bruce Whan
| birth_date = {{birth date |df=yes|1933|1|5}}
| birth_place = Wodonga, Victoria, Australia
| death_date ={{death date and age|2015|10|4|1933|1|5|df=y}}
| death_place =
| spouse =
| party = Labor
| relations =
| children = Steve Whan
| residence =
| alma_mater = University of New South Wales
University of Leeds
| occupation = Agricultural scientist
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Robert Bruce Whan {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (5 January 1933 – 4 October 2015) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and represented the Division of Eden-Monaro in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975. He worked in the wool industry before entering politics.{{cite web
| title =Members of the House of Representatives since 1901
| publisher =Parliament of Australia
| work=Parliamentary Handbook
| url =http://www.aph.gov.au/library/handbook/historical/representatives/story.zammit.htm
| accessdate = 2007-08-28 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070611101408/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/handbook/historical/representatives/story.zammit.htm |archivedate = 2007-06-11}}
Early life
Whan was born in Wodonga, Victoria. His parents moved to Melbourne where he attended East Kew Central School and Richmond Technical College. He left school at the age of 15 and went with his family to King Island, where he worked in the dairy industry. Whan later moved to Albury, New South Wales, where he worked in a woolstore and gained a wool classing certificate. He later attained a degree in wool technology from the University of New South Wales and completed postgraduate studies at the University of Leeds in England.{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/former-edenmonaro-mp-bob-whan-dies-20151006-gk1yn2.html|title=Former Eden-Monaro MP Bob Whan dies|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=6 October 2015|access-date=30 April 2020}} He worked as a public servant before entering politics, serving as the officer-in-charge of the wool marketing section of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/101755896|title=Labor endorses public servant|date=7 February 1972|newspaper=The Canberra Times}}
Politics
Whan was elected to federal parliament at the 1972 federal election, as the Labor candidate in the Division of Eden-Monaro. He won the seat by a margin of 503 votes, and retained it at the 1974 election by a margin of 146 votes, making it one of the most marginal seats in the country.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110653480|title=A day in the life of Mr Whan, an MP in a sticky situation|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=19 August 1975}} He lost his seat in Labor's landslide defeat at the 1975 election, although the relatively small swing against him was seen as evidence of his personal following.{{Cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/102191866|title=More politics: Whan|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=15 December 1975}}
Whan won Labor preselection as the Labor candidate in the Division of Canberra at the 1977 election,{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110855077|title=Whan 'cleared' for ALP preselection|date=15 July 1977|newspaper=The Canberra Times}} but following a series of challenges the initial ballot was overturned and he was replaced by Henry Lawrence,{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110874364|title=Candidacy appeal by Whan|date=26 October 1977|newspaper=The Canberra Times}} who lost to the incumbent Liberal MP John Haslem. He later served as chief of staff to Richard Amery.
Later life
Personal life
Whan died of cardiac arrest on 4 October 2015 at the age of 82.{{cite news|last1=Kelly|first1=Emma|title=Former Eden-Monaro MP Bob Whan dies|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/former-edenmonaro-mp-bob-whan-dies-20151005-gk1yn2.html|accessdate=6 October 2015|work=The Canberra Times|date=6 October 2015}} His son, Steve Whan has been the member for Monaro in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2023, having previously been the member from 2003 to 2011 and a served in the Legislative Council from 2011 to 2015.
Prior to entering the New South Wales Parliament, Steve was the unsuccessful candidate for his father's old federal seat of Eden-Monaro in the 1998 and 2001 elections but was unsuccessful on both those occasions.{{cite web|url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1998/1998repsnsw.txt |title=Legislative Election of 3 October 1998|website=adam-carr.net|access-date=12 March 2024}}{{cite web|url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/2001/2001repsnsw.txt|title=Legislative Election of 10 November 2001|website=adam-carr.net|access-date=12 March 2024}}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
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{{succession box | title=Member for Eden-Monaro | before= Allan Fraser | after= Murray Sainsbury | years=1972–1975}}
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{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whan, Bob}}
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Eden-Monaro
Category:Members of the Order of Australia
Category:University of New South Wales alumni
Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds
Category:Australian agriculturalists