John Alexander (Australian politician): Difference between revisions

{{Use Australian English|date=December 2011}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

| honorific-prefix =

| name = John Alexander

| nickname = J.A.

| image = John Alexander cropped.jpg

| term_end = 11 April 2022

| predecessor = Himself

| term_start1 = 21 August 2010

| term_end1 = 11 November 2017

| birth_name = John Gilbert Alexander

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1951|07|04}}

| death_date =

| death_place =

| module= {{Infobox tennis biography |embed=yes

| country = Australia

| height = {{convert|1.90|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| turnedpro = 1969<small> (amateur tour from 1967)</small>

| plays = Right-handed (one-handed backhand)

| careerprizemoney = $1,214,079

| singlestitles = 7

| highestsinglesranking = No. 8 (15 December 1975)

| Othertournaments = yes

| WCTFinalsresult = SF ([[1975 World Championship Tennis Finals – Singles|1975]])

| doublestitles = 28

| highestdoublesranking = No. 15 (23 August 1977)

| Team = yes

| DavisCupresult = '''W''' (1977)

}}

 

 

 

 

==Early life==

 

Alexander served as captain of the Australian [[Fed Cup]] team and worked as a sports commentator for Australian (Channel 7) and British (BBC) television networks for over 20 years.

 

==Business career==

 

==Political career==

 

As a [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] candidate, John Alexander won the seat of [[Division of Bennelong|Bennelong]] from the [[Australian Labor Party]] in the [[2010 Australian federal election|2010 election]] with a swing of 4.52 points, giving a two-party-preferred margin of 3.1 points.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://results.aec.gov.au/15508/website/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-15508-105.htm|title=House of Representatives Division First Preferences|first=Australian Electoral|last=Commission|website=results.aec.gov.au|access-date=11 November 2017}}</ref>

In the lead up to the [[2019 Australian federal election|2019 election]], Alexander was scrutinised for his comments in response to Fijian Prime Minister [[Frank Bainimarama]]. Bainimarama had asked the Australian Government to "please stop burning coal, you know the water level's just coming up and it's threatening our communities", to which Alexander responded "move to higher ground". Speaking at a community function in his electorate, Alexander elaborated: "It’s very much like your house is on fire, your children are in the house – should you call the fire brigade and get the children out of the house?" This statement was considered inflammatory by his [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] opponent, [[Brian Owler]], who stated that "he [Alexander] says if the house is on fire to get out. Well, we don’t have a second house - or planet - to run to. It would be better if we didn’t start the fire in the first place."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/move-to-higher-ground-liberal-mp-s-climate-advice-to-fijians-20190503-p51jpo.html|title='Move to higher ground': Liberal MP's climate advice to Fijians|date=3 May 2019|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=24 December 2021}}</ref> Bainimarama replied to Alexander in a formal statement to Fiji press members, imploring that "Fiji is lucky we even have the higher ground to allow for relocation at all. I’m keen to hear what Alexander believes the people of Kiribati should do in the face of rising seas, where the highest point in their country sits at just 1.8 metres above sea level." Alexander later appeared on [[History of ABC Radio (Australia)|ABC Radio]], clarifying the nature of his remarks by saying that adaptation was "a priority [...] we must also act to prevent further damage to our planet".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/08/fiji-pm-frank-bainimarama-slaps-down-liberal-mp-john-alexanders-climate-advice|title=Fiji PM Frank Bainimarama slaps down Liberal MP John Alexander's climate advice|date=8 May 2019|website=The Guardian|access-date=24 December 2021}}</ref> Despite the controversy, Alexander comfortably retained Bennelong, albeit suffering a 2.8% swing away from him.

 

 

==Tennis career finals==

| valign=top width=33% align=left |

{| class="wikitable"

|- bgcolor="#e5d1cb"

| Grand Slam ()

| valign=top width=33% align=left |

{| class="wikitable"

! Finals by surface

|-

===Doubles: 53 (28 titles, 25 runner-ups)===

{|class="sortable wikitable"

!style="width:20px" class="unsortable"|No.

!style="width:40px"|Year

!style="width:200px"|Tournament

!style="width:160px" class="unsortable"|Score

|-

|- style="background:#f3e6d7;"

| 1.

| 1970

| 3–6, 6–8, 3–6

|-

| 2.

| 1970

| 3–6, 4–6, 2–6

|-

| 1.

| 1970

| 10–8, 6–2, 6–4

|-

| 2.

| 1971

| 6–7, 2–6, 6–3, 7–6, 7–6

|-

| 3.

| 1971

| 6–4, 7–5, 7–9, 6–4

|-

| 4.

| 1971

| 5–7, 6–3, 6–4

|-

| 5.

| 1971

| 7–6, 6–4

|-

| 3.

| 1971

| 7–5, 7–6, 0–6, 5–7, 6–7

|-

| 4.

| 1972

| 6–4, 3–6, 5–7

|-

| 5.

| 1972

| 6–7, 2–6

|-

| 6.

| 1972

| 7–6, 7–6

|-

| 7.

| 1972

| 6–4, 6–3

|- style="background:#f3e6d7;"

| 6.

| 1973

| 3–6, 4–6, 6–7

|-

| 8.

| 1973

| 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–2

|-

| 7.

| 1973

| 4–6, 6–7

|-

| 9.

| 1973

| 1–6, 7–6, 7–6

|-

| 8.

| 1974

| 3–6, 6–3, 6–7

|-

| 10.

| 1974

| 4–6, 6–4, 7–5

|-

| 11.

| 1974

| 7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 6–3

|-

| 9.

| 1974

| 4–6, 6–7

|- style="background:#f3e6d7;"

| 12.

| 1975

| 6–3, 7–6

|-

| 10.

| 1975

| 7–6, 6–7, 3–6

|-

| 13.

| 1975

| 7–6, 4–6, 6–4

|-

| 11.

| 1975

| 4–6, 7–6, 2–6

|-

| 14.

| 1975

| 6–1, 6–4

|- style="background:#f3e6d7;"

| 12.

| 1975

| 4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 4–6

|-

| 15.

| 1975

| Carpet (i)

| Phil Dent

| 6–3, 6–4

|-

| 13.

| 1975

| 6–7, 6–7

|-

| 16.

| 1976

| 6–3, 6–4

|-

| 14.

| 1976

| 4–6, 2–6

|-

| 17.

| 1976

| 6–7, 6–2, 7–5

|-

| 15.

| 1977

| 3–6, 4–6

|- style="background:#f3e6d7;"

| 16.

| 1977

| 3–6, 4–6, 6–3, 9–8, 4–6

|-

| 18.

| 1977

| 6–3, 7–6

|-

| 19.

| 1977

| 7–5, 7–5

|-

| 20.

| 1977

| 6–1, 6–4

|-

| 17.

| 1977

| 6–3, 6–7, 4–6

|-

| 21.

| 1977

| 7–6, 2–6, 6–3

|- style="background:#f3e6d7;"

| 18.

| 1977

| 6–7, 6–7

|-

| 22.

| 1978

| 7–6, 7–6

|-

| 23.

| 1978

| Hard

| [[Butch Walts]]

| 3–6, 6–4, 7–6

|-

| 24.

| 1978

| 6–3, 7–6

|-

| 25.

| 1978

| 6–3, 7–6

|-

| 19.

| 1979

| 1–6, 7–5, 4–6

|-

| 20.

| 1979

| 7–6, 6–7, 4–6

|-

| 21.

| 1981

| 7–6, 3–6, 1–6

|-

| 22.

| 1981

| 3–6, 6–3, 6–7

|- style="background:#f3e6d7;"

| 26.

| 1982

| 6–7, 6–2, 7–6

|-

| 27.

| 1982

| 6–4, 7–6

|-

| 28.

| 1983

| 7–5, 6–4

|-

| 23.

| 1984

| 6–3, 3–6, 4–6

|-

| 24.

| 1984

| 4–6, 7–5, 7–9

|-

| 25.

| 1985

{{performance key|short=yes|active=no}}

{| class="wikitable"

! Tournament !! 1967 !! 1968 !! 1969 !![[1970 Grand Prix (tennis)|1970]]!![[1971 Grand Prix (tennis)|1971]]!![[1972 Grand Prix (tennis)|1972]]!![[1973 Grand Prix (tennis)|1973]]!![[1974 Grand Prix (tennis)|1974]]!![[1975 Grand Prix (tennis)|1975]]!![[1976 Grand Prix (tennis)|1976]]!! colspan=2|[[1977 Grand Prix (tennis)|1977]]!![[1978 Grand Prix (tennis)|1978]]!![[1979 Grand Prix (tennis)|1979]]!![[1980 Grand Prix (tennis)|1980]]!![[1981 Grand Prix (tennis)|1981]]!![[1982 Grand Prix (tennis)|1982]]!![[1983 Grand Prix (tennis)|1983]]!![[1984 Grand Prix (tennis)|1984]]!! [[1985 Grand Prix (tennis)|1985]]

|-

|align="center" |A

|align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |[[1969 Australian Open – Men's singles|2R]]

|align="center" style="background:#afeeee;" |[[1971 Australian Open – Men's singles|3R]]

|align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|[[1972 Australian Open – Men's singles|1R]]

|align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|[[1975 Australian Open – Men's singles|QF]]

|align="center" |A

 

==Personal==

 

==Honours==

{{s-par|au}}

{{s-bef|before=[[Maxine McKew]]}}

{{s-end}}

 

{{Australian Open boys' singles champions}}

{{Wimbledon boys' singles champions}}

{{Authority control}}

 

[[Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia]]

[[Category:Living people]]

[[Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bennelong]]

[[Category:Politicians from Sydney]]

[[Category:21st-century Australian politicians]]

[[Category:Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles]]