View source for Rupert Hamer

{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{For|the British journalist|Rupert Hamer (journalist)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
| name                = Sir Rupert Hamer
| honorific-suffix    = [[Companion of the Order of Australia|AC]], [[Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire|KCMG]], [[Efficiency Decoration|ED]]
| image               = Rupert Hamer 1974 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Hamer in 1974
| order               = 39th [[Premier of Victoria]]
| monarch             = [[Elizabeth II]]
| governor            = [[Rohan Delacombe|Sir Rohan Delacombe]]<br />[[Henry Winneke|Sir Henry Winneke]]
| term_start          = 23 August 1972
| term_end            = 5 June 1981
| predecessor         = [[Henry Bolte|Sir Henry Bolte]]
| successor           = [[Lindsay Thompson]]
| deputy              = [[Lindsay Thompson]]
| office2             = 18th [[Deputy Premier of Victoria]]
| term_start2         = 21 April 1971
| term_end2           = 23 August 1972
| premier2            = [[Henry Bolte]]
| predecessor2        = [[Arthur Rylah]]
| successor2          = [[Lindsay Thompson]]
| constituency_MP3    = [[Electoral district of Kew|Kew]]
| parliament3         = Victorian
| term_start3         = 17 April 1971
| term_end3           = 17 July 1981
| predecessor3        = [[Arthur Rylah]]
| successor3          = [[Prue Sibree]]
| office4             = Member of the [[Victorian Legislative Council]]
| term_start4         = 21 June 1958
| term_end4           = 17 March 1971
| predecessor4        = [[Clifden Eager]]
| successor4          = [[Haddon Storey]]
| constituency4       = [[East Yarra Province]]
| birth_name          = Rupert James Hamer
| birth_date          = 29 July 1916
| birth_place         = [[Kew, Victoria|Kew]], [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]], Australia
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2004|3|23|1916|7|29|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Kew, Victoria|Kew]], [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]], Australia
| party               = [[Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division)|Liberal Party]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|April Felicity Mackintosh|1944}}
| profession          = 
| signature           = Rupert Hamer Siganture vector.svg
| footnotes           = 
}}
{{Rupert Hamer sidebar}}
'''Sir Rupert James "Dick" Hamer''', {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|sep=,|AC|KCMG|ED}} (29 July 1916 – 23 March 2004) was an Australian politician who served as the 39th [[premier of Victoria]] from 1972 to 1981, and prior to that, the 18th deputy premier of Victoria from 1971 to 1972.<ref name="parlv">{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/rupert-hamer/ |title=Sir Rupert James Hamer (KCMG) |publisher=State Government of Victoria |access-date=17 July 2025}}</ref> He held office as the leader of the [[Victorian Liberal Party|Victorian division]] of the [[Liberal Party of Australia]] (LPA) and a member of the [[Victorian Legislative Assembly]] (MLA) for the district of [[Electoral district of Kew|Kew]].

== Early years ==
Hamer was born in [[Melbourne]] to Elizabeth Anne McLuckie and Hubert Hamer, a solicitor. His three siblings all achieved success in their fields: his sister was [[Alison Patrick (historian)|Alison Patrick]] (1921–2009), an internationally known historian of the [[French Revolution]]; his brothers were [[David Hamer]] (1923–2002), a federal Liberal politician, and Alan, a Rhodes Scholar, chemist and managing director of ICI Australia.<ref>{{cite news |title=Maintained family's tradition of high achievement with learned French work  |first=Peter |last=McPhee |newspaper=The Age |date=10 April 2009 |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/maintained-familys-tradition-of-high-achievement-with-learned-french-work-20090409-a25h.html |access-date=12 November 2010}}</ref>

Hamer was educated at [[Melbourne Grammar School]] and [[Geelong Grammar School]] and graduated in law from the [[University of Melbourne]], where he was resident at [[Trinity College (University of Melbourne)|Trinity College]] from 1936. He was a member, with his brother Alan, of the College First XVIII Australian Rules football team, and was Secretary of the Student Club. He joined the [[Melbourne University Regiment]] of the [[Australian Army]] in 1935 and served with them until 1939. He was commissioned as an officer in August 1940 in [[2/43rd Battalion (Australia)|2nd/43rd Battalion]] [[Second Australian Imperial Force|AIF]] and served at [[Tobruk]], [[Syria]], [[El Alamein]], [[New Guinea]] and in [[D Day|Normandy]]. He was [[Mentioned in Dispatches]] in 1945 for "distinguished service in the South-West Pacific".<ref name="LG36972">{{London Gazette|issue=36972|date=8 March 1945|page=1305|supp=1}}</ref> After the war he became a partner in his family's law firm and was active in the [[Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division)|Liberal Party]]. In 1944 he married April Mackintosh, with whom he had five children.<ref>{{cite web|title=April love keeps the Hamer flame alight as tributes flow|date = 25 March 2004|url=https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/24/1079939722601.html?from=storyrhs|publisher=The Age}}</ref> He continued his military service and remained active in the [[Citizens Military Force]] joining [[the Victorian Scottish Regiment]] in 1948, of which he was Commanding Officer from 1954 to 1958.<ref>{{cite book |last=Speed |first=F.W. |date=1988 |title=Esprit De Corps – The History of the Victorian Scottish Regiment and the 5th Infantry Battalion |publisher=Allen & Unwin |page= 386 and 414 |isbn= 0-04-302007-0}}</ref>

== Parliamentary career ==
Hamer was elected to the [[Victorian Legislative Council]] for [[East Yarra Province]] in 1958. He was appointed to the cabinet of the Premier, [[Henry Bolte]], in 1962, becoming Assistant Chief Secretary. He was [[Minister for Local Government (Victoria)|Minister for Local Government]] from 1964 to 1971.

After [[Deputy Premier of Victoria|Deputy Premier]] [[Arthur Rylah]]'s retirement, Hamer was elected in a by-election for Rylah's [[Victorian Legislative Assembly|Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Kew|Kew]] in eastern Melbourne. He immediately assumed Rylah's portfolios of Deputy Premier and Chief Secretary. Although he was loyal to Bolte, he had a reputation for being much more liberal than his rough-edged conservative leader.

== Premier of Victoria ==

{{More citations needed section|date=May 2025}}

By the 1970s, the Liberal government was losing its appeal to younger, urban voters in Melbourne. Realizing that the Liberals had a year at most to retool their image before a statutory general election, Bolte retired in 1972 and endorsed Hamer as his successor. Despite opposition from the conservative wing of the party, Bolte's support was enough for Hamer to prevail in the ensuing leadership ballot, and he was sworn in as premier on 23 August.

Hamer represented such a sharp change from the Bolte era that he was able to campaign in the 1973 election as a new, reformist leader, despite the fact that the Liberals had been in power for 18 years. Employing the slogan "''Hamer Makes It Happen''", he won a landslide against the [[Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch)|Labor]] opposition under [[Clyde Holding]], increasing his party's already large majority.  He won an even larger victory in 1976, defeating Holding yet again.

Hamer, assisted by key allies such as Planning Minister [[Alan Hunt (politician)|Alan Hunt]], Conservation Minister [[Bill Borthwick]], Attorney-General [[Haddon Storey]], Social Welfare Minister [[Vasey Houghton]], Housing and Youth Sport and Recreation Minister [[Brian Dixon (Australian footballer)|Brian Dixon]] and Community Welfare Services Minister [[Walter Jona]] moved to modernise and liberalise government in Victoria. Environmental protection laws were greatly strengthened,<ref>Danielle Clode (2006) As if for a thousand years: A history of Victoria's land conservation and environment conservation councils, Victorian Environmental Assessment Council {{ISBN|1-74152-463-6}}</ref> the [[death penalty]] was abolished, [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] communities were given ownership of their lands, [[abortion]] and [[homosexuality]] were decriminalised and anti-discrimination laws were introduced.

Hamer began the modernisation of Melbourne's moribund tramway system (now the world's biggest by route length), ordering 100 new trams immediately with further orders following, and approving the extension of the [[Melbourne tram route 75|Burwood tram line]] from [[Warrigal Road]] to Middleborough Road. These were the first new trams and first new tram line since 1956, when Bolte stopped further expansion of the system and cancelled an order for 30 extra [[W-class Melbourne tram#W7|W7 class trams]].

Restrictions on shop trading hours, and on public entertainment on Sundays, were eased. A major new centre for the performing arts, the [[Arts Centre Melbourne]], was built in the centre of the city. These measures won the support of middle-class voters, and the Melbourne daily ''[[The Age]]'', which had been critical of Bolte during his later years in power, strongly supported Hamer's government.

Hamer was instrumental in the introduction of the Historic Buildings Act 1974 and made significant moves in 1977 which guaranteed the protection of several significant buildings including the [[Hotel Windsor (Melbourne)|Windsor Hotel]] and [[Regent Theatre, Melbourne|Regent Theatre]] in Melbourne and [[Shamrock Hotel (Bendigo)|Shamrock Hotel]] in Bendigo.

By 1979, however, the gloss was wearing off the Hamer image, as Victoria was beset by increasing economic difficulties, rising unemployment, industrial unrest and a decline in Victoria's traditional manufacturing industrial base. At the same time, the Labor Party was mounting a stronger challenge to the Liberals than it had in some time. [[Frank Wilkes]] had taken over as ALP leader from Holding in 1977, and took Labor into the 1979 election with a realistic chance of winning government for the first time since 1955. Ultimately, the Liberals suffered an 11-seat swing, losing many seats in eastern Melbourne. Their majority was reduced to only one seat, although they could also count on the support of the rural-based [[National Party of Australia – Victoria|National Country Party]].

In spite of the setback, Hamer continued in office. He promoted some new younger ministers such as [[Lou Lieberman]] (Planning), [[Norman Lacy]] (Educational Services and The Arts) and [[Jeff Kennett]] (Housing) who continued to pursue a reformist liberal agenda particularly in human services, education, environment protection, planning and the arts.  It reformed the administration of the highly centralised Department of [[Education in Victoria]] into a regionalised organisation with devolution of greater control to local schools. It established a ''[[Special Assistance Program]]'' to address illiteracy and innumeracy in primary schools. It introduced a ''Health and Human Relations Education'' curriculum and compulsory ''Physical Education'' in government schools. Also, it completed the construction of the ''[[Victorian Arts Centre]]'', established the ''[[Australian Children's Television Foundation]]'', established the [[Metropolitan Meat Market#Government purchase|''Meat Market Craft Centre'']], acquired and established the ''[[Heide Museum of Modern Art]]'', created ''[[Film Victoria]]'' and reconstituted the ''[[Victorian College of the Arts]]''. These changes were not enough to prevent Labor from taking seven seats off the Coalition in Victoria at the [[1980 Australian federal election|1980 federal election]], over half of its nationwide 12-seat swing.

During this period the conservative wing of the Liberal Party, which had always disliked Hamer's social liberalism, began to undermine his position. The leading conservative, Economic Development Minister [[Ian Smith (Australian politician)|Ian Smith]], was sacked from Cabinet for disloyalty in March 1981. He was reinstated after pledging loyalty to Hamer, but resigned again in May. It was apparent by this stage that Hamer had lost the support of his party. He resigned in June, and was succeeded by Deputy Premier [[Lindsay Thompson]]. The following month he resigned from Parliament, and was knighted, becoming '''Sir Rupert Hamer'''. At the ensuing by-election, [[Prue Sibree]] retained his seat for the Liberals. At the election the following year the Liberals were defeated after 27 years in power.

Hamer is the last non-elected Victorian Premier to have subsequently been elected in his own right.

== Later career ==
[[File:Rupert "Dick" Hamer Statue, Treasury Place, Melbourne Australia.jpg|thumb|Rupert Hamer's Statue at [[1 Treasury Place]]|upright]]
Hamer remained active in public and community affairs after his retirement. He was chairman of the [[Victorian State Opera]] from 1982 to 1995, president of the [[Victorian College of the Arts]] from 1982 to 1996 and a patron of the [[Public Transport Users Association]] from 1989. He died of [[Congestive heart failure|heart failure]] in his sleep on 23 March 2004, and his family accepted the offer of a state funeral from the [[Australian Labor Party (Victorian Branch)|Labor]] Premier, [[Steve Bracks]]. Hamer was praised by Victorians of all political views. The former Labor federal president, [[Barry Jones (Australian politician)|Barry Jones]] (and was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly between 1972 and 1977 serving alongside then Premier Hamer), called him "the finest flower in the Victorian [[Alfred Deakin|Deakinite]] tradition.".<ref>{{cite news|title=Sir Rupert Hamer dies|url=https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/23/1079939646165.html|access-date=4 December 2013|newspaper=The Age|date=24 March 2004|author=Darren Gray|author2=Jesse Hogan}}</ref>

Despite being a knight, Hamer was a staunch republican and a member of the Australian Republican Movement's advisory committee.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2004-03-24/sir-rupert-hamer-renaissance-premier/157732|title=Sir Rupert Hamer: Renaissance premier|publisher=ABC News |location=Australia|date=24 March 2004}}</ref>

=== Hamer Hall ===
Shortly after his death in 2004, the main concert hall of the Melbourne [[The Arts Centre (Melbourne)|Arts Centre]], of which Hamer had played a significant role in its development and the arts in Victoria generally, known as the Melbourne Concert Hall, was renamed the [[Hamer Hall, Melbourne|Hamer Hall]].<ref>Rodan, "Rupert 'Dick' Hamer: The urbane liberal", pg.297</ref>

== Family ==
In March 2024, his 31-year-old grand-niece [[Amelia Hamer]] was selected as the Liberal candidate for the [[Division of Kooyong]] in the [[2025 Australian federal election]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sakkal |first=Paul |last2=Smethurst |first2=Annika |date=23 March 2024 |title=Amelia Hamer: Liberal royalty picked to replace Josh Frydenberg as Liberal candidate in Kooyong |url=https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/liberal-royalty-picked-to-replace-frydenberg-as-liberal-candidate-in-kooyong-20240322-p5fekm.html |access-date=23 March 2024 |website=The Age |language=en}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
*{{cite book|last=Rodan|first=Paul|title=The Victorian Premiers, 1856–2006: Volume 2|year=2006|publisher=The Federation Press|location=Leichardt|isbn=978-1-86287-549-4|pages=294–313|editor=Paul Strangio, Brian Costar|chapter=Rupert "Dick" Hamer: The urbane liberal}}

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{{Succession box|title=[[East Yarra Province|Member for East Yarra Province]]| before=Clifdon Eager|after=[[Haddon Storey]]| years=1958–1971}}
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{{Succession box|title=[[Electoral district of Kew|Member for Kew]]|before=[[Arthur Rylah]]|after=[[Prue Sibree]]|years=1971–1981}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Deputy Premier of Victoria]]|years=1971–1972}}
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{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Henry Bolte]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Premier of Victoria]]|years=1972–1981}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Treasurer of Victoria]]|years=1972–1979}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister for Creative Industries|Minister for the Arts]]|years=1972–1979}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Norman Lacy]]}}
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{{Succession box|title=Leader of the [[Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division)|Liberal Party]] in [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]]|before=[[Henry Bolte]]|after=[[Lindsay Thompson]]|years=1972–1981}}
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{{Premiers of Victoria}}
{{Treasurers of Victoria}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamer, Rupert}}
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