Stephen Loosley
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox MP
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Stephen Loosley
| honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AM|FRSN}}
| image =
|office1 = National President of the Labor Party
|term_start1 = 25 June 1991
|term_end1 = 6 June 1992
|predecessor1 = John Bannon
|successor1 = Barry Jones
| title2 = Senator for New South Wales
| term_start2 = 1 July 1990
| term_end2 = 19 May 1995
| successor2 = Tom Wheelwright
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1952|12|29}}
| birth_place = Carlton, New South Wales, Australia
| death_date =
| death_place =
| spouse =
| party = Labor
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater = University of New South Wales
| occupation = Lawyer
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Stephen Loosley (born 29 December 1952) is an Australian lawyer and former politician. He was a New South Wales Labor Senator from 1990 to 1995.{{Cite Au Senate|Sen id=loosley-stephen|name=LOOSLEY, Stephen (1952– )|first=Sylvia|last=Marchant|year=2017|access-date=2023-01-03}}[http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;db=;group=;holdingType=;id=;orderBy=;page=;query=%28Dataset%3Ahandbookparts,allmps,newhandbook%29%20State_Phrase%3A%22nsw%22%20Name_Phrase%3A%22loosley,%20stephen%22;querytype=;rec=0;resCount= Biography for LOOSLEY, Stephen], Parliament of Australia, August 2008.
Early life
Loosley was born on 29 December 1952 in Carlton, New South Wales. He is the son of Jean Elizabeth (née Pike) and Bernard Alan Loosley.
Loosley was educated at Carlton Public School before attending Sydney Technical High School from 1965. Between 1972 and 1975 he undertook a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of New South Wales, graduating with first-class honours in political science.
Politics
=Early involvement=
Loosley joined the ALP in 1972 and was mentored by Graham Richardson. In 1976 he began working as a research officer for Senator Kerry Sibraa. He subsequently joined the ALP headquarters as an organiser in 1977, becoming assistant general secretary in 1979 and succeeding Richardson as general secretary in 1983.
=Senate=
At the 1990 federal election, Loosley was elected to a six-year Senate term as the ALP's lead candidate in New South Wales.{{cite news|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22handbook%2Fallmps%2FBS4%22;querytype=;rec=0|title=Biography for LOOSLEY, Stephen, AM|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=3 June 2024}}
In the Senate, Loosley spoke frequently on foreign policy and human rights matters. He served as chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 1993 to 1995. He resigned from the Senate on 21 May 1995, in order to pursue a legal career and for family reasons.
Loosley served as National President of the ALP between 1991 and 1992, when he was pressured to resign amid controversy.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/118153572?searchTerm=%22Stephen%20Loosley%22%20%22President%22&searchLimits=sortby=dateAsc|||l-decade=199|||l-year=1991 The Canberra Times, 26 June 1991]
Later activities
Loosley completed a law degree in 1997, which he had begun in 1993 while still in the Senate. He joined Sydney law firm Dunhill Madden Butler, initially as director of its international and trade law division. He was made a partner in 1996 and remained with the firm following its acquisition by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1999, leaving in 2006 to join Babcock & Brown as a strategic adviser. After that firm went into liquidation in 2009 he worked for Minter Ellison until 2015 as a strategic counsel.
Since March 17, 2008 {{Cite web |title=New Thales board member - Australian Defence Magazine |url=https://www.australiandefence.com.au/FFC58590-F806-11DD-8DFE0050568C22C9 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=www.australiandefence.com.au |language=en}} Loosley has been the deputy chairman, Non-Executive Director, of Thales Group on the Australian board of directors.{{Cite web |title=Stephen Loosley AM {{!}} Thales Group |url=https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/australia-board-directors/stephen-loosley-am |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=www.thalesgroup.com |language=en}}
Loosley is an expert on American politics and is a regular commentator on US elections in Australian media outlets.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}
In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales.{{Cite web |title=Stephen Loosley AM {{!}} Thales Group |url=https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/australia-board-directors/stephen-loosley-am#:~:text=Stephen%20was%20made%20a%20fellow%20of%20the%20Royal%20Society%20in%202019. |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=www.thalesgroup.com |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{S-start}}
{{S-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=Graham Richardson}}
{{S-ttl|title=General Secretary of the Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch) |years=1983–1990}}
{{S-aft|after=John Della Bosca }}
{{end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loosley, Stephen}}
Category:People educated at Sydney Technical High School
Category:Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Category:20th-century Australian politicians