Editing Marshall Perron

{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = 
| name                = Marshall Perron
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = Marshall Perron - Library & Archives NT (PH0730-1372).jpg
| imagesize           = 
| smallimage          = <!--If this is specified, "image" should not be.-->
| alt                 = 
| caption             = 
| order               = 4th
| office              = Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
| term_start          = 14 July 1988
| term_end            = 26 May 1995
| deputy              = [[Barry Coulter]]
| predecessor         = [[Stephen Hatton]]
| successor           = [[Shane Stone]]
| constituency        = [[Electoral division of Fannie Bay|Fannie Bay]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1942|2|5|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Perth]], Western Australia
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| restingplace        = 
| nationality         = Australian
| party               = [[Country Liberal Party]]
| spouse              = Cherry Perron
| relations           = 
| children            = 
| residence           = 
| alma_mater          = 
| occupation          = 
| profession          = 
| cabinet             = [[Perron Ministry]]
| committees          = 
| portfolio           = 
| religion            = 
| signature           = 
| signature_alt       = 
| website             = 
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}}
'''Marshall Bruce Perron''' (born 5 February 1942) is a former Australian politician, who was [[Chief Minister of the Northern Territory]] from 1988 to 1995.<ref name="ntlamembers">[http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/pub/MEMBERS%20OF%20THE%201%20-%2011TH%20ASSEMBLY.pdf Members of the Legislative Assembly], [[Northern Territory Legislative Assembly]], 2009.</ref> He served as a [[Country Liberal Party]] member of the [[Northern Territory Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]] in the [[Northern Territory]] from the formation of the Assembly in 1974 until his resignation in 1995. From 1975 to 1995, save for an 11-month break in 1986 and 1987, he served as a cabinet minister or its equivalent.

==Early life==
Perron was born in [[Perth]], Western Australia in 1942. His family was from [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]], but had been evacuated to Perth due to the threat of Japanese attack during [[World War II]]. Perron was born on 5 February, two weeks before the [[bombing of Darwin]], and he would later jokingly blame "the Japanese for denying him his birthright as a Territorian."<ref name="abc2005">Green, Antony: [http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nt/2005/guide/fann.htm 2005 Northern Territory Election – Fannie Bay electorate profile], 28 June 2005.</ref>

==Political career==
{{NT parlbox header}}
{{NT parlbox|term=1st|start={{NT election link|1974}}|end=1977|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=[[Electoral division of Stuart Park|Stuart Park]]}}
{{NT parlbox|term=2nd|start={{NT election link|1977}}|end=1980|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=[[Electoral division of Stuart Park|Stuart Park]]}}
{{NT parlbox|term=3rd|start={{NT election link|1980}}|end=1983|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=[[Electoral division of Stuart Park|Stuart Park]]}}
{{NT parlbox|term=4th|start={{NT election link|1983}}|end=1987|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=[[Electoral division of Fannie Bay|Fannie Bay]]}}
{{NT parlbox|term=5th|start={{NT election link|1987}}|end=1990|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=[[Electoral division of Fannie Bay|Fannie Bay]]}}
{{NT parlbox|term=6th|start={{NT election link|1990}}|end=1994|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=[[Electoral division of Fannie Bay|Fannie Bay]]}}
{{NT parlbox|term=7th|start={{NT election link|1994}}|end=1995|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=[[Electoral division of Fannie Bay|Fannie Bay]]}}
|}
Perron entered politics in 1974, when he was elected as a member of the first [[Northern Territory Legislative Assembly]], which replaced the partly elected [[Northern Territory Legislative Council|Legislative Council]]. He represented the division of [[Electoral division of Stuart Park|Stuart Park]] for the [[Country Liberal Party]].

After surviving [[Cyclone Tracy]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=McKay |first=Gary |title=Tracy: the storm that wiped out Darwin on Christmas Day 1974 |date=2001 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |year=2001 |isbn=1 86508 558 8 |location=Crows Nest |pages=122}}</ref> a year later, Perron was promoted to cabinet. As [[self-government]] was not granted to the Northern Territory until 1978,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:zox0dNFTItYJ:parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/chamber/hansards/2003-08-19/0153/hansard_frag.pdf%3BfileType%3Dapplication%252Fpdf+self-government+was+not+granted+to+the+Northern+Territory+until+1978,&hl=en&gl=us&sig=AHIEtbQS9YbOpMHjLwrboTwOls-a4qg_Uw|title=The Senate adjournment – Northern Territory Day speech|date=2003-09-19|work=Parliamentary|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=6 February 2010}}</ref> until then the ministers under Majority Leaders [[Goff Letts]] and [[Paul Everingham]] were known as Executive Members. Perron joined Letts' [[Third Letts Executive|executive]] in December 1975 as Executive Member for Municipal and Consumer Affairs and Cabinet Member for Education and Planning from 1976 to 1977.

After the [[1977 Northern Territory general election|1977 election]], Perron was named deputy leader of the CLP under Everingham, and hence became Deputy Majority Leader (deputy premier), also taking the Finance and Planning portfolio. From 1 July 1978, when self-government came into effect, Perron became Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer and Minister for Lands and Housing until 1980 when he took the Industrial Development and Community Development portfolios instead of Lands and Housing, although he regained that position in 1982.<ref>[http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/pub/Ministries%20-%201974%20to%2026%20August%202001.pdf Ministries – 1st to 8th Assembly], [[Northern Territory Legislative Assembly]], 2009.</ref>

In 1982, Stuart Park was abolished in a redistribution, even as the size of the Assembly was increased from 19 to 25 seats. In the [[1983 Northern Territory general election|1983 election]], Perron stood for election in the division of [[Electoral division of Fannie Bay|Fannie Bay]], which had absorbed most of Stuart Park in the redistribution.  He won the seat from the incumbent [[Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch)|Labor Party]] candidate [[Pam O'Neil]].<ref name="abc2005" />

In December 1984, Chief Minister [[Ian Tuxworth]] took on Perron's role as Treasurer, with Perron taking the position of Attorney-General and Minister for Mines and Energy. Perron was Attorney-General when the discovery of a matinee jacket near Ayers Rock ([[Uluru]]) raised doubts about the conviction of [[Lindy Chamberlain]] for the [[Azaria Chamberlain disappearance|alleged murder of her infant daughter Azaria]]. Perron announced Chamberlain's immediate release from prison, and the establishment of a [[Royal Commission]] into the convictions of Lindy and her husband Michael.<ref>[http://www.lindychamberlain.com/content/audio Recordings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108084607/http://www.lindychamberlain.com/content/audio |date=8 January 2010 }}, [[Lindy Chamberlain|LindyChamberlain.com]]</ref> Perron returned to the backbench in May 1986, but returned in 1987 as Minister for Industries and Development under [[Stephen Hatton]].

Perron became Chief Minister on 14 July 1988, after having rejected previous offers for the position.<ref name="abc2005" /> He also served as his own Treasurer, and was Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services from September 1989 until July 1994.  He stayed in office for just under seven years, longer than any head of government in the Territory except Everingham.  He restored a measure of stability to the government, which had seen three Chief Ministers in four years.

Perron faced his first electoral test at the [[1990 Northern Territory general election|1990 Territory election]].  Although independent polls suggested that [[Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch)|Labor]] had its first realistic chance of winning power since the granting of self-government, the election saw the CLP win its sixth term in government with a healthy nine-percent primary vote swing.  CLP-commissioned polls conducted by social researcher [[Mark Textor]] predicted the CLP would win comfortably.  He was reelected almost as easily in [[1994 Northern Territory general election|1994]].

An advocate for [[voluntary euthanasia]],<ref>Perron, Marshall: [http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/suicide-debate-law-a-blow-to-free-speech/2006/01/04/1136050492339.html Suicide debate law a blow to free speech], ''[[The Age]]'', 5 January 1996.</ref> Perron was instrumental in devising the Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill which he introduced to Parliament on 22 February 1995. The bill was passed on 25 May, becoming the [[Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995]] and was enacted into law on 1 July 1996. Perron resigned as Chief Minister and retired from politics on the morning of the debate over the bill, maintaining that he did not want his position to influence the debate.<ref>{{cite book |title=Euthanasia and the right to die: a comparative view |last=Scherer |first=Jennifer M. |author2=Rita James Simon |year=1999 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=[[Lanham, Maryland|Lanham]] |chapter=Euthanasia in Australia, China, Japan and India |isbn=0-8476-9167-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/euthanasiarightt0000sche/page/75 75] |url=https://archive.org/details/euthanasiarightt0000sche|url-access=registration }}</ref> He was the last surviving member of the first Legislative Assembly.

==See also==
*[[Perron Ministry]]

==References==
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{{succession box | before=[[Stephen Hatton]] | title=[[Chief Minister of the Northern Territory]] | years=1988–1995 | after=[[Shane Stone]]}}
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{{s-ttl | title=Member for [[Electoral division of Stuart Park|Stuart Park]] | years=1974–1983 }}
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{{succession box | title=Member for [[Electoral division of Fannie Bay|Fannie Bay]] | before=[[Pam O'Neil]]| years=1983–1995 | after=[[Clare Martin]]}}
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{{succession box | before=[[Stephen Hatton]] | title=Leader of the [[Country Liberal Party]] | years=1988–1995 | after=[[Shane Stone]]}}
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{{Chief Ministers of the Northern Territory}}
{{Leaders of the Country Liberal Party}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perron, Marshall}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Chief ministers of the Northern Territory]]
[[Category:Deputy chief ministers of the Northern Territory]]
[[Category:Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:Attorneys-general of the Northern Territory]]
[[Category:Treasurers of the Northern Territory]]
[[Category:Euthanasia activists]]