Len Harris (politician)
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Len Harris
| honorific-suffix =
| image =
| title1 = Senator for Queensland
| term_start1 = 2 July 1999
| term_end1 = 30 June 2005
| predecessor1 = Heather Hill
| successor1 = Barnaby Joyce
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1943|9|22}}
| birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Australian
| spouse =
| party = The Silent Majority (since 2021)
| otherparty = One Nation
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Businessman
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| website =
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}}
Leonard William Harris (born 22 September 1943){{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/40/mpsbyage.htm |title=The 40th Parliament Senators and Members, by Date of Birth |date=1 April 2004 |publisher=Parliament of Australia Parliamentary Library |access-date=25 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006124555/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/parl/40/mpsbyage.htm |archive-date= 6 October 2008 }} is an Australian politician who was a One Nation Senator representing the state of Queensland from 1999 until 2005. He took his seat in September 1999, after a successful challenge to the election in October 1998 of Heather Hill, on the basis that, although a naturalised Australian, she had not renounced her childhood United Kingdom citizenship and was thus ineligible to sit in the Australian Parliament.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=86mKZvQzURkC|page=83|title=The Rise and Fall of One Nation|author1=Michael Leach |author2=Geoff Stokes |author3=Ian Ward |publisher=Univ. of Queensland Press|year=2000|isbn=0-7022-3136-3}}
Political career
Harris was born in Brisbane and was a self-employed businessman and gold miner.{{cite news|author=Margo Kingston|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/03/1064988404523.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|title=Carmen, Len, Harry and Peter – Web Diary's unholy public education alliance|date=3 October 2003}} Prior to being chosen as the number two Senate candidate for One Nation at the 1998 election, he was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1997 Australian Constitutional Convention election, running as an ungrouped candidate on the "Retention of the Existing Constitution" ticket.{{cite web|url=https://www.aec.gov.au/elections/constitutional_convention/files/report.pdf|title=Constitutional Convention Report|date=2 February 1998|website=Australian Electoral Commission |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240728103747/https://www.aec.gov.au/elections/constitutional_convention/files/report.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2024}}
He came briefly to prominence during the 2003 debate on the legislative reforms to tertiary education, proposed by federal Education Minister Brendan Nelson. After initially indicating he would vote against the legislation, Harris later changed his mind and allowed the reform package to pass, much to the annoyance of student organisations.{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/26/1064083191621.html?from=storyrhs|title=Academia on the defensive|author=Roslyn Guy|date=27 September 2003|work=The Age|access-date=25 January 2010}}
By the time of the 2004 election One Nation was seriously in decline, and Harris was expected to struggle to retain his seat.{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/library/Pubs/cib/2003-04/04cib08.pdf|title=Queensland election 2004|work=Current Issues Brief|date=22 March 2004|author=Scott Bennett|publisher=PARLIAMENTARY LIBRARY|access-date=25 January 2010}} With a drastic fall in the One Nation vote nationally, he lost his seat,{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2004/10/10/1216883.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717165425/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2004/10/10/1216883.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 July 2012|title=Qld Senate result could take time|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=10 October 2004|access-date=25 January 2010}} polling only 0.2 of a quota.{{cite journal|title=A Right-of-Centre Triumph: The 2004 Australian Half-Senate Election|author=Nick Economou|doi=10.1080/10361140600959742|journal=Australian Journal of Political Science|volume=41|issue=4|date=December 2006|pages=501–516|s2cid=153999759}} His term expired on 30 June 2005.