David Hamer


David John Hamer was an Australian politician and Royal Australian Navy officer.

Early life and naval career

Born in Melbourne, he was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then the Royal Australian Naval College. He served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1940 to 1968. He was a lieutenant aboard during the battles of Leyte and Lingayen Gulf. In the rank of Acting Captain, he was an honorary aide-de-camp to the Governor-General, and Director of Naval Intelligence 1961 from 1963, and after confirmation in the rank of Captain, he served as Captain of and Captain of the Australian Destroyer Squadron 1963–65. Then after serving as Director of Project Coordination in Navy Office, he resigned from the RAN in 1968.

Political career

In 1969, David was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Isaacs. Narrowly defeated by Labor candidate Gareth Clayton in 1974, he became a political columnist for The Age newspaper and undertook a Master of Arts at Monash University in Constitutional Law, studying the historical role of the Australian Senate. He was re-elected to Isaacs in 1975 but contested the Senate in 1977. He was successful, and remained a Liberal senator for Victoria until his retirement in 1990. A strong supporter of improving the function of the Senate as a house of review, he was Chairman of Committees as well as Deputy President of the Senate from 1983–1990.
Hamer was also interested in promoting the arts in Australia, helping establish the Arts Council of Victoria, and serving as President of the Arts Council of Australia and of the Australian Film Institute. He was a keen supporter of the establishment of the National Film and Sound Archive as a way to collect and make accessible Australia's rich audiovisual history.

Later life, family and legacy

Hamer died in 2002 of leukaemia. He should not be confused with Professor David Hamer, New Zealand historian of liberal politics.
His publications include: The Australian Senate 1901–1918, An Appraisal ; ; and Bombers Versus Battleships – The Struggle Between Ships and Aircraft for Control of the Surface of the Sea
Hamer's brother was Sir Rupert Hamer, the Premier of Victoria 1972–81. His brother Alan had been a Rhodes Scholar, chemist and businessman. His sister Alison was an historian at Melbourne University. In 2004 the was set up in honour of all four siblings and its aims include projects that advance the arts, the environment and good government in Australia.