John Alexander (Australian politician)
John Gilbert Alexander is an Australian politician and former professional tennis player.
As a tennis player, Alexander reached a career-high singles rank of No. 8 in the world in 1975. He reached the semifinals of the Australian Open singles on three occasions, and won the doubles in 1975 and 1982. He also played in the Australian team that won the 1977 Davis Cup. After the end of his playing career, Alexander worked as a tennis commentator and managed various sports-related businesses.
Alexander won the Division of Bennelong for the Liberal Party at the 2010 election, and retained the seat in 2013 and 2016. He resigned effective 11 November 2017 due to constitutional ineligibility arising from his dual citizenship of the United Kingdom. He renounced his UK citizenship and stood as the Liberal Party candidate at the by-election, held on 16 December 2017, which he won.
Early life
Alexander was born in Sydney. His father, Gilbert Alexander, was born in Essex, England, in 1907 and moved to Australia at the age of three.Tennis career
During a tennis career spanning the late 1960s to mid-1980s, Alexander won seven tour singles titles and 27 doubles titles, and earned a total of $1,214,079 in prize money. He achieved a career best singles ranking of World No. 8 in December 1975. Alexander is the youngest player to represent Australia in the Davis Cup. He was also one of Australia's longest serving Davis Cup players, representing his country from 1968 to 1983. From 1974 to 1986, Alexander served as the resident tennis professional at Lamar Hunt's World Championship Tennis Peachtree World of Tennis Club in Peachtree Corners, Georgia US.Alexander served as captain of the Australian Fed Cup team and worked as a sports commentator for Australian and British television networks for over 20 years.
Business career
As managing director of Next Generation Clubs Australia, Alexander designed and built sport and fitness clubs; including the Ryde Aquatic Centre in Sydney to host the 2000 Summer Olympic Games water polo event, the development of Memorial Drive in Adelaide into a multi-function health and fitness facility, and Royal King's Park in Perth.In 1995 Alexander served as referee during the first series run of the Australian adaptation of the television series Gladiators.
Shortly before his election to Parliament in 2010, Alexander's Tennis Professionals won a High Court case for the right to redevelop the White City Tennis Centre in Sydney.
Alexander also managed a variety of small businesses in the retail and sporting sectors.
Political career
As a Liberal Party candidate, John Alexander won the seat of Bennelong from the Australian Labor Party in the 2010 election with a swing of 4.52 points, giving a two-party-preferred margin of 3.1 points.Alexander delivered his maiden speech to parliament on 28 October 2010, detailing his particular interest in areas of preventative health, infrastructure, transport and sustainable growth. During his first term Alexander was put in charge of several internal policy committees, with a particular focus on regional development and policies to tackle urban congestion.
In October 2011 Alexander ran the inaugural Bennelong Cup Table Tennis Test match, involving players from China, Korea and Australia playing in a formal competition in Ryde, a suburb within his constituency. In October 2012 the opening games were played in the Great Hall of Parliament House, Canberrathe first competitive sporting event ever played there. The Ambassadors for China and Korea participated in a friendly competition with Alexander and Minister for Sport Kate Lundy. The Bennelong Cup is the celebration of Alexander's Bennelong Schools Table Tennis Program which has put tables in all 40 Bennelong schools in order to encourage social interaction between students of different cultural backgrounds, together with a healthy activity. The Bennelong Cup has continued every year since with an interschool tournament followed by international competition in Ryde, preceded by exhibition matches in Parliament House, Canberra.
Alexander has also established a range of other local programs including Bennelong Gardens, which provides work opportunities for people with disabilities in specially designed market gardens, and Bennelong Village Business program which promotes the benefits of local small business shopping and negotiates discounted advertising rates for small businesses in the local newspaper. John Alexander received much publicity for his 100 km charity walk around Bennelong to raise money and awareness of motor neurone disease after the loss of two close friends to the disease.
Alexander was not challenged in Liberal preselection in 2012. In the 2013 election Alexander was re-elected as Member for Bennelong, increasing his two party preferred margin to 7.8 points.
In September 2013 Alexander was appointed chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Tax & Revenue, a role in which he worked on improving access to 'light touch' tax returns for individuals with simple tax affairs. Following this he was appointed chair of the House Standing Committee on Economics, where he instigated an inquiry into home ownership and opportunities for tax reform. Following Malcolm Turnbull's ascension to Prime Minister John Alexander was appointed chair of the newly formed House Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport & Cities, where he commenced an inquiry into transport connectivity, regional development, high speed rail and the use of value capture as an innovative funding mechanism.
Alexander also served as chair of the Coalition Policy Committees on Infrastructure & Regional Development, and on Tourism, of the Sydney Airport Community Forum, and of the Australia-East Asia Parliamentary Network.
As a strong proponent of high-speed rail linking Australia's eastern seaboard, Alexander delivered the keynote speech at a high-speed rail conference at University of Melbourne in February 2014, highlighting the resultant opportunities for regional development and reduction in traffic congestion in major cities.
Alexander was not challenged in Liberal preselection in 2016. In the 2016 election, he was re-elected as member for Bennelong.
During the Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, on 6 November 2017, it was reported that Alexander might also be a British citizen and so had never been eligible for election to the Parliament. On 11 November 2017, Alexander resigned from parliament after conceding that he was likely a dual citizen, necessitating a by-election in Bennelong. He renounced his UK citizenship and stood as the Liberal Party candidate at the by-election, held on 16 December 2017, which he won.
Tennis career finals
Singles: 27 (7 titles, 20 runner-ups)
| Result | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 1. | Aug 1970 | Kitzbühel, Austria | Clay | Željko Franulović | 4–6, 7–9, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2. | Jan 1971 | Hobart, Australia | Hard | Alex Metreveli | 6–7, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
| Loss | 3. | Jan 1971 | Sydney, Australia | Hard | Phil Dent | 3–6, 4–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 4. | May 1971 | Tehran, Iran | Clay | Marty Riessen | 7–6, 1–6, 3–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 5. | Dec 1972 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Hard | John Newcombe | 1–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 6. | Apr 1973 | Gothenburg, Sweden | Carpet | Stan Smith | 7–5, 4–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 7. | Sep 1973 | Seattle, United States | Hard | Tom Okker | 5–7, 4–6 |
| Loss | 8. | Jan 1974 | Lakeway, United States | Cliff Richey | 6–7, 1–6 | |
| Loss | 9. | Apr 1974 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Hard | Andrew Pattison | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 1. | Feb 1975 | Fort Worth WCT, United States | Hard | Dick Stockton | 7–6, 4–6, 6–3 |
| Loss | 10. | Mar 1975 | Atlanta WCT, United States | Carpet | Mark Cox | 3–6, 6–7 |
| Win | 2. | Mar 1975 | Tucson, United States | Hard | Ilie Năstase | 7–5, 6–2 |
| Loss | 11. | Jul 1975 | Chicago, United States | Carpet | Roscoe Tanner | 1–6, 7–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 12. | Mar 1977 | St. Louis WCT, United States | Carpet | Jimmy Connors | 6–7, 2–6 |
| Win | 3. | Jul 1977 | North Conway, United States | Clay | Manuel Orantes | 2–6, 6–4, 6–4 |
| Loss | 13. | Jul 1978 | Louisville, United States | Clay | Harold Solomon | 2–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 14. | Jul 1978 | North Conway, United States | Clay | Eddie Dibbs | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Loss | 15. | Oct 1978 | Brisbane, Australia | Grass | Mark Edmondson | 4–6, 6–7 |
| Loss | 16. | Mar 1979 | Milan, Italy | Carpet | John McEnroe | 4–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 17. | Apr 1979 | Nice, France | Clay | Víctor Pecci | 3–6, 2–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 4. | Jul 1979 | Louisville, United States | Hard | Terry Moor | 7–6, 6–7, 3–3 ret. |
| Loss | 18. | Sep 1979 | Atlanta, United States | Hard | Eliot Teltscher | 3–6, 6–4, 2–6 |
| Win | 5. | Jun 1982 | Bristol, England | Grass | Tim Mayotte | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Loss | 19. | Sep 1982 | Palermo, Italy | Clay | Mario Martinez | 4–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 6. | Dec 1982 | Sydney, Australia | Grass | John Fitzgerald | 4–6, 7–6, 6–4 |
| Win | 7. | Jan 1983 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | Russell Simpson | 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 |
| Loss | 20. | Jul 1983 | South Orange, United States | Clay | Brad Drewett | 6–4, 4–6, 6–7 |
Doubles: 53 (28 titles, 25 runner-ups)
Grand Slam singles performance timeline
Personal
Alexander was briefly married, while in the United States, to a Canadian model and later married to Rosemary Brown, a former Olympic swimmer, for almost ten years. He and the former Ms. Brown have three children: Emily, Georgia and Charles. Today, Alexander lives in his electorate in Epping.Honours
On 26 January 1992, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.On 30 August 2000, he was awarded the Australian Sports Medal.