Mr (Jim) James Alexander CAMERON (1930 - 2002)

Date of Birth: 09/11/1930
Place of Birth: Coraki, New South Wales, Australia
Date of Death: 19/01/2002
Place of Death: Avoca Beach, New South Wales, Australia

Parliamentary Service

Position	Start	End	Period	Parliament	Notes
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly	24 Feb 1968	5 Mar 1984	16yr(s) 11day(s)
Member of the NSW Legislative Council	30 Apr 1984	30 Oct 1984	6mths 1day		A Member of the directly elected Legislative Council. Date of Election 24 March 1984.
Member for Northcott	24 Feb 1968	13 Jan 1971	2yr(s) 10mth(s) 21day(s)	42nd (1968 - 1971)
Member for Northcott	13 Feb 1971	19 Oct 1973	2yr(s) 8mth(s) 7day(s)	43rd (1971 - 1973)
Member for Northcott	17 Nov 1973	2 Apr 1976	2yr(s) 4mth(s) 17day(s)	44th (1973 - 1976)
Member for Northcott	1 May 1976	12 Sep 1978	2yr(s) 4mth(s) 12day(s)	45th (1976 - 1978)
Member for Northcott	7 Oct 1978	28 Aug 1981	2yr(s) 10mth(s) 22day(s)	46th (1978 - 1981)
Member for Northcott	19 Sep 1981	5 Mar 1984	2yr(s) 5mth(s) 16day(s)	47th (1981 - 1984)
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly	4 Dec 1973	24 May 1976	2yr(s) 5mth(s) 21day(s)
Deputy Leader of the Opposition	1 Jun 1981	20 Oct 1981	4mth(s) 20day(s)

Political Party Activity

Liberal Party. Staff member of New South Wales Liberal Party 1948 - 1959; press secretary to P. H. Morton and R. Askin 1955 -1959. Joined in 1948, City of Sydney branch, member of the executive from 1967 and 1968 and of state and federal councils. Independent.

Qualifications, occupations and interests

Lawyer (barrister). Party employee and barrister. Educated in public schools, Canterbury Boys' High School, University of Sydney., LLB (1961), LLM (1970). called to the Bar in 1961; part time lecturer in jurisprudence and public international law, University of Sydney from 1970 until 1972; transferred to solicitors roll in 1972; represented New South Wales debating from 1952 until 1954, 1961; member of United Nations Association of Australia; elder of St Stephen's Presbyterian Church in Macquarie Street; Chairman call to the Nation committee Festival of Light in 1976. Recreational interests include gardening.

Personal

Son of Donald Cameron, blacksmith, and Joyce Betheras. Married Helen Bicket on 16 March 1963 and had issue, 2 daughters and 4 sons.

Additional Information

Text from the book: 'The Presiding Officers of the Parliament of New South Wales', Sydney, 1995

Jim Cameron was born on 9 November 1930 at Coraki in New South Wales. He joined the City of Sydney branch of the Liberal party in 1948 and was employed as a speech writer and a research officer to party leaders. He was press secretary to Deputy-Leader of the Liberal Party, Robin (later Sir Robert) Askin. Cameron represented New South Wales as an interstate debater from 1952 until 1954 and again in 1961. He was articled as a law clerk and in 1961, after completing his Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney, was admitted to the New South Wales Bar. In 1967 and 1968 Cameron was a Member of the Liberal Party's State Executive and in 1967 he also became a Member of the Party's Federal Council. He married Helen Bicket on 16 March 1963 and they had four sons and two daughters. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the Member for Northcott in 1968 and was re-elected on four occasions until 1981. In 1973 he was elected Speaker, holding this office until May 1976. Cameron was the New South Wales Opposition's Leader in the Lower House during 1980 and 1981 and from June until October 1981 he was the Deputy Leader. Although Cameron was elected to the Legislative Council as an Independent for a twelve year term in February 1984, he was forced to resign in October following a near-fatal heart attack. During his term in the Upper House he was the only Member to vote against the Human Tissues Bill which provided for heart transplants. However after his heart attack he was forced to revise his position and accept a heart transplant.

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