David Hamer

For the Welsh footballer or New Zealand academic, see David Hamer (footballer) and D. A. Hamer.

David John Hamer AM, DSC (5 September 1923 – 14 January 2002) was an Australian politician and Royal Australian Navy officer.

David Hamer AM, DSC
Member of the Australian Parliament for Isaacs
In office 25 October 1969 – 18 May 1974
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Gareth Clayton
In office 13 December 1975 – 10 November 1977
Preceded by	Gareth Clayton
Succeeded by	Bill Burns
Senator for Victoria
In office 1 July 1978 – 30 June 1990
Personal details
Born	(1923-09-05)5 September 1923 Melbourne, Victoria
Died	14 January 2002(2002-01-14) (aged 78) Melbourne, Victoria
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse	Barbara May McPherson
Children	3 children, 8 grandchildren
Occupation	Naval officer
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Branch/service	Royal Australian Navy
Years of service	1937–1968
Rank	Captain
Commands	HMAS Vampire
Battles/wars	Second World War Battle of Leyte Battle of Lingayen Gulf Korean War
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross

Early life and naval career

Born in Melbourne, he was educated at Geelong Grammar School and then the Royal Australian Naval College. He served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1940 to 1968. He was a lieutenant aboard HMAS Australia during the battles of Leyte in October 1944 and Lingayen Gulf in January 1945. During this time he served as the Australia's Air Defence Officer.

In the rank of acting captain, he was an honorary aide-de-camp to the governor-general, and director of naval intelligence 1961 from 1963, and after confirmation in the rank of captain, he served as captain of HMAS Vampire and captain of the Australian Destroyer Squadron 1963–65. Then after serving as director of project coordination in Navy Office, he resigned from the RAN in 1968.

Political career

In 1969, David was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Isaacs. Narrowly defeated by Labor candidate Gareth Clayton in 1974, he became a political columnist for The Age newspaper and undertook a Master of Arts at Monash University in Constitutional Law, studying the historical role of the Australian Senate. He was re-elected to Isaacs in 1975 but contested the Senate in 1977. He was successful, and remained a Liberal senator for Victoria until his retirement in 1990. A strong supporter of improving the function of the Senate as a house of review, he was Chairman of Committees as well as Deputy President of the Senate from 1983–1990.

Hamer was also interested in promoting the arts in Australia, helping establish the Arts Council of Victoria, and serving as President of the Arts Council of Australia and of the Australian Film Institute. He was a keen supporter of the establishment of the National Film and Sound Archive as a way to collect and make accessible Australia's rich audiovisual history.

Later life, family and legacy

Hamer died of leukaemia in 2002 (aged 78). His publications include:

• The Australian Senate 1901–1918, An Appraisal (1976);
• Can Responsible Government Survive In Australia? (1994); and
• Bombers Versus Battleships – The Struggle Between Ships and Aircraft for Control of the Surface of the Sea (1998) ISBN 9781557500434

Hamer's brother was Sir Rupert Hamer (Dick Hamer), the Premier of Victoria 1972–81. His brother Alan had been a Rhodes Scholar, chemist and businessman. His sister Alison Patrick was an historian at Melbourne University. In 2004 the Hamer Family Fund was set up in honour of all four siblings and its aims include projects that advance the arts, the environment and good government in Australia.