View source for Ray Groom

{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
| name                = Ray Groom
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AO}}
| image               =
| imagesize           =
| caption             = Groom in 1975
| order               = 39th
| office              = Premier of Tasmania
| term_start          = 17 February 1992
| term_end            = 18 March 1996
| monarch             = [[Elizabeth II]]
| deputy              = [[John Beswick (politician)|John Beswick]]
| governor            = [[Phillip Bennett|Sir Phillip Bennett]]<br />[[Guy Green (judge)|Sir Guy Green]]
| predecessor         = [[Michael Field (politician)|Michael Field]]
| successor           = [[Tony Rundle]]
| parliament1         = Tasmanian
| term_start1         = 8 February 1986
| term_end1           = 9 August 2001
| constituency_MP1    = [[Division of Denison (state)|Denison]]
| majority1           =
| predecessor1        = 
| alongside1          = [[Geoff Davis (Australian politician)|Davis]]/[[John Barker (Australian politician)|Barker]]/[[Bob Cheek|Cheek]]; [[Judy Jackson|Jackson]]; [[Bob Brown|Brown]]/[[Peg Putt|Putt]]; [[Neil Batt|Batt]]/[[David Crean|Crean]]/[[Julian Amos|Amos]]/[[Jim Bacon (politician)|Bacon]]; [[John White (Australian politician)|White]]; [[John Bennett (Australian politician)|Bennett]]/[[Chris Gibson (Australian politician)|Gibson]]/[[Michael Hodgman|Hodgman]]
| successor1          = 
| parliament2         = Australian
| term_start2         = 13 December 1975
| term_end2           = 26 October 1984
| constituency_MP2    = [[Division of Braddon|Braddon]]
| majority2           =
| predecessor2        = [[Ron Davies (Tasmanian politician)|Ron Davies]]
| successor2          = [[Chris Miles (politician)|Chris Miles]]
| birthname = Raymond John Groom
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1944|9|3}}
| birth_place         = [[Elsternwick, Victoria|Elsternwick]], [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]]
| death_date          =
| death_place         =
| nationality         = Australian
| party               = [[Liberal Party of Australia]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Gillian Groom (née Crisp)|21 January 1967}}
| relations           =
| children            = [[Matthew Groom]] 
| residence           =
| alma_mater          = [[University of Melbourne]]
| occupation          =
| profession          = Barrister; politician
| religion            =
| signature           =
| website             =
| footnotes           =
}}
'''Raymond John Groom''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AO}} (born 3 September 1944) is an Australian lawyer and former sportsman and politician, representing the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] in the [[Parliament of Australia|Federal Parliament]] 1975–84 and the [[Parliament of Tasmania|Tasmanian Parliament]] 1986–2001.  He was a Federal and state minister for a total of 13 years.  He was [[Premier of Tasmania]] from 1992 to 1996 and also served as Deputy Premier and Attorney-General.

==Early life==
Ray Groom was born in [[Elsternwick, Victoria|Elsternwick]], a suburb of [[Melbourne]].  His family moved to [[Tasmania]] when he was a young child.  He attended schools in both [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and Tasmania.

==Australian rules football career==

Groom initially played senior [[Australian rules football]] in Tasmania with the Cooee Football Club commencing at 16 years of age.  He represented the [[North Western Football Union]] and [[Tasmania Australian rules football team|Tasmania]] before joining the [[Victorian Football League]] (VFL) club [[Melbourne Football Club|Melbourne]] in [[1963 VFL season|1963]]. He played 96 senior games with Melbourne at centre half forward, as a ruck rover and at centre half back. On [[Ron Barassi]]'s retirement, Groom was invited by Melbourne coach [[Norm Smith]] to wear the club's prized Number 31 guernsey. He represented [[Victoria Australian rules football team|Victoria]] and won the [[Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal]] as Melbourne's Best and Fairest player in [[1968 VFL season|1968]]. Groom later represented Tasmania at the [[1969 Adelaide Carnival|1969 National Carnival]] in [[Adelaide]].

===Playing statistics===
:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/R/Ray_Groom.html|title=Ray Groom|publisher=AFL Tables}}</ref>
{{AFL player statistics legend/ruckman}}
{{AFL player statistics start/ruckman}}
|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[1963 VFL season|1963]]
|{{AFL Mel}}
| 15 || 19 || 17 || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || 0.9 || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}}
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[1964 VFL season|1964]]
|{{AFL Mel}}
| 15 || 12 || 9 || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || 0.8 || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}}
|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[1965 VFL season|1965]]
|{{AFL Mel}}
| 31 || 8 || 2 || 5 || 52 || 20 || 72 || 18 || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}} || 0.3 || 0.6 || 6.5 || 2.5 || 9.0 || 2.3 || {{n/a}} || {{n/a}}
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[1966 VFL season|1966]]
|{{AFL Mel}}
| 31 || 16 || 7 || 9 || 181 || 47 || 228 || 50 || {{n/a}} || 80 || 0.4 || 0.6 || 11.3 || 2.9 || 14.3 || 3.1 || {{n/a}} || 5.3
|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[1967 VFL season|1967]]
|{{AFL Mel}}
| 31 || 18 || 1 || 2 || 212 || 42 || 254 || 71 || {{n/a}} || 136 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 11.8 || 2.3 || 14.1 || 3.9 || {{n/a}} || 7.6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[1968 VFL season|1968]]
|{{AFL Mel}}
| 31 || 19 || 0 || 0 || 246 || 28 || 274 || 76 || {{n/a}} || 34 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 12.9 || 1.5 || 14.4 || 4.0 || {{n/a}} || 1.9
|- class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3| Career
! 92
! 36
! 16
! 691
! 137
! 828
! 215
! {{n/a}}
! 250
! 0.4
! 0.3
! 11.3
! 2.2
! 13.6
! 3.5
! {{n/a}}
! 4.9
|}

==Athletics==
Groom won state titles in both Tasmania and Victoria as a sprinter and long jumper. In 1962, at 18 years of age, he represented Tasmania at the National Athletics Championships in Sydney, was a nationally ranked athlete and was chosen as a member of the Australian [[Commonwealth Games]] selection squad.

==Early legal career==
After obtaining a [[Bachelor of Laws]] from the [[University of Melbourne]] in 1967 Groom practised as a [[barrister]] and [[solicitor]] in [[Melbourne]] and later in [[Tasmania]].  He was a partner in the Tasmanian firm of Crisp, Hudson & Mann and appeared regularly in the [[Supreme Court of Tasmania]] on trial and appeal matters and the Magistrates Courts.

==Political career==

===Federal politics===
Groom first stood for the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] seat of [[Division of Braddon|Braddon]] in [[1974 Australian federal election|1974]] at the age of 30 but was unsuccessful. In [[1975 Australian federal election|1975]] he ran for Braddon again and won, and held it until 1984.  His 1975 election result was significant in that as a [[Australian Liberal Party|Liberal]] candidate he outpolled a [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] opponent on the West Coast of Tasmania, the first time this had ever occurred.<ref>Pink. Kerry (2001) ''Through Hells Gates: A History of Strahan and Macquarie Harbour'' Fifth edition {{ISBN|0646366653}}, p.84 for photo and p.85 text re poll results</ref> In the 1974 and 1983 Australian federal elections, he achieved the largest swing of any Liberal candidate in the nation.  Between the election of 1974 and his last election in 1983, the Liberal two-party vote in Braddon increased from 38% to 63%.

He served in the [[second Fraser Ministry]] as [[Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (Australia)|Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development]] from December 1977 to December 1978 and then [[Minister for Housing (Australia)|Minister for Housing and Construction]] until November 1980.

He retired from the Australian Parliament immediately prior to the [[1984 Australian federal election|1984 election]].

===State politics===
Groom and his family moved from [[Burnie]] to [[Hobart]] at the end of 1984 and he was then appointed senior advisor to the [[Premier of Tasmania|Tasmanian Premier]] [[Robin Gray (Australian politician)|Robin Gray]].

In 1986 he re-entered politics as a member for [[Division of Denison (state)|Denison]] in the [[Tasmanian House of Assembly]], topping the poll in that electorate.  He immediately became the Minister for Forests, Mines and Sea Fisheries.  In November 1988, he became deputy leader of the state Liberal Party and hence [[Deputy Premier of Tasmania]].  He became deputy opposition leader after the Liberals' defeat in 1989. In 1991, he successfully challenged Gray's leadership and became Tasmanian state leader of the Liberal Party.<ref>{{cite Tas Parliament|id=groomr658|title=Groom, Ray|access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref>

====Premier of Tasmania====

Groom became [[Premier of Tasmania]] after leading the Liberals to victory in the [[1992 Tasmanian state election|1992 state election]] with a majority of 19 seats on a swing of over seven percent.<ref>Pink. Kerry (2001) ''Through Hells Gates: A History of Strahan and Macquarie Harbour'' Fifth edition {{ISBN|0646366653}}. ''epilogue'' – p.89 and the washup after the [[Franklin Dam]] issues had effected state politics</ref>

After the [[1996 Tasmanian state election|1996 election]], the Liberals suffered a three-seat swing, losing their majority.  The balance of power rested with the [[Australian Greens]], but the [[Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch)|Labor Party]] refused to enter into any agreement with them.  This left a Liberal minority government supported by the Greens as the only realistic option.  However, Groom had promised before the election that he would only govern in majority and resigned.  He was replaced by [[Tony Rundle]], who quickly reached an agreement with the Greens.  He remained in Parliament until 2001, serving as Attorney-General, Minister for Tourism and Minister for Workplace Standards until the 1998 election, when the Rundle Government was defeated.

==Life after politics==
Groom is actively involved in community affairs and has been a chairman/director of several community organisations since retiring from politics.  He is a former chairman of Southern Cross Care Tasmania and Southern Cross Care Australia.

Since retiring from parliament, he has practised as a [[barrister]] and [[solicitor]] and as an arbitrator and mediator. He was appointed a Deputy President of the Australian [[Administrative Appeals Tribunal]] in 2004 and continues in that position.  He is currently a member of the Tribunal's Executive Deputy Presidents Committee and the Practice and Procedure Committee.<ref>Administrative Appeals Tribunal Annual Report 2009–10, Appendix 1</ref>

==Honours==
In the [[2010 Australia Day Honours]], Groom was appointed an Officer (AO) of the [[Order of Australia]] "For service to the Parliament of Tasmania as Premier and through a range of portfolio responsibilities, and to the community through leadership roles within organisations supporting Indigenous, aged and welfare groups".<ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1141691 It's an Honour]</ref>

==Personal life==
Groom is married to Gillian Crisp and they have four sons and two daughters.  One of his sons, [[Matthew Groom]], also served as a member of the [[Parliament of Tasmania|Tasmanian parliament]] until 2018

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://demonwiki.org/tiki-index.php?page=Ray+Groom Demonwiki profile]
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010305031854/http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ha/ISGroomRay.htm |date=5 March 2001 |title=Ray Groom's maiden speech to parliament }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par | au}}
{{s-bef | before= [[Ron Davies (Tasmanian politician)|Ron Davies]] }}
{{s-ttl | title= Member for [[Division of Braddon|Braddon]] | years=1975–1984}}
{{s-aft | after= [[Chris Miles (politician)|Chris Miles]] }}
{{s-bef | rows=2 | before=[[Kevin Newman (politician)|Kevin Newman]] }}
{{s-ttl | title= Minister for [[Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (Australia)|Environment]], [[Minister for Housing (Australia)|Housing<br />and Community Development]] | years= 1977–1978}}
{{s-aft| after= [[James Webster (Australian politician)|James Webster]] }}
{{s-ttl | title= [[Minister for Housing (Australia)|Minister for Housing and Construction]] | years=1979–1980}}
{{s-aft | after= [[Tom McVeigh]] }}
{{s-par | au-tas}}
{{s-bef | before= [[Geoff Pearsall]] }}
{{s-ttl | title= [[Deputy Premier of Tasmania]] | years=1988–1989 }}
{{s-aft | after= [[Peter Patmore]] }}
{{s-bef | before= [[Robin Gray (Australian politician)|Robin Gray]] }}
{{s-ttl | title= [[Leader of the Opposition (Tasmania)|Opposition Leader of Tasmania]] | years=1991–1992 }}
{{s-aft | after= [[Michael Field (politician)|Michael Field]]}}
{{s-bef | before= [[Michael Field (politician)|Michael Field]] }}
{{s-ttl | title= [[Premier of Tasmania]] | years=1992–1996 }}
{{s-aft | after= [[Tony Rundle]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{TasmaniaPremiers}}
{{Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Groom, Ray}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Australian rules footballers from Melbourne]]
[[Category:Deputy premiers of Tasmania]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania]]
[[Category:Melbourne Football Club players]]
[[Category:Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners]]
[[Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Braddon]]
[[Category:Premiers of Tasmania]]
[[Category:Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly]]
[[Category:Melbourne Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Australian sportsperson-politicians]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:Australian rules footballers from Tasmania]]
[[Category:Cooee Football Club players]]
[[Category:Leaders of the opposition in Tasmania]]
[[Category:Treasurers of Tasmania]]
[[Category:Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian politicians]]
[[Category:People from Elsternwick, Victoria]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1975–1977]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1977–1980]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1980–1983]]
[[Category:Australian MPs 1983–1984]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian sportsmen]]