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David Meissner Kim Richardson Biography & Facts

Graham Frederick Richardson (born 27 September 1949) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1983 to 1994 and served as a Cabinet Minister in both the Hawke and Keating governments. He is currently a media commentator, public speaker, and political lobbyist. During his time in the Senate, Richardson was often referred to as a "power broker" within the Labor Right faction. Prior to entering parliament, Richardson was a Labor Party branch organiser and held the position of General Secretary of the Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch) from 1976 to 1983. Since retiring from politics, Richardson has become a political commentator for Sky News Australia, and previously hosted a weekly commentary program Richo. Early life Richardson, born in Sydney, was the only surviving child: 3  of Fred and Peggy Richardson, who were respectively New South Wales State Secretary and office manager of the Amalgamated Postal and Telecommunications Union. Raised as a Catholic, he was influenced as an adolescent by the factional fights that arose during the Labor split.: 5–12  His early years of schooling were at Marist College Kogarah. In November 1965, he was seriously injured in a car accident, in which his father was driving, at Tom Uglys Bridge at Dolls Point, resulting in the removal of his spleen, a torn bowel and 200 stitches to his face. A Catholic priest gave Richardson the last rites on two occasions in hospital.: 12  He later recalled: The worst moment – not just of my adolescence but of my life – was the day they took off the bandages and I saw myself in the mirror. I cried for hours ... It made me very unsettled. It really mucked me around badly, not to the point of being psychiatrically impaired but it did me a lot of harm in terms of stability and the capacity to concentrate.: 13  Nevertheless, Richardson completed his schooling at Sydney Technical High School, where he passed his Leaving Certificate. From 1966, he was active in the Catholic Youth Organisation, a recruiting ground for the right wing of Young Labor,: 14  where he formed friendships with Joe Hasham, Bob Scipelliti, and Brian Webb, the latter two acting as silent business partners for Richardson later in life.: 15  Motivated by the continued factional fighting impacting on his parents' life, Richardson joined the Monterey branch of the Labor Party in 1966, aged 17.: 19–20  Having earlier dropped out of an arts degree in 1969, Richardson followed his mother's encouragement and commenced studies for a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Sydney. Peggy Richardson died suddenly, aged 42, distracting Richardson from his studies as he threw himself into union and Labor politics.: 24–27  Early political career Encouraged by a Labor right-wing factional ally, Senator Kerry Sibraa, to seek election for a role as a Labor Party branch organiser in 1971, Richardson was successful, left his university studies, and discovered the powerbrokers in the NSW Right. He apprenticed himself to learn from these men, some of the toughest in the Labor Party, and progressed to become Assistant Secretary of the New South Wales (NSW) Labor Party in 1976 and General Secretary a little later that year, aged 26 – the youngest ever person to hold that role. John Faulkner, of Labor's socialist left faction, was Richardson's Assistant Secretary and for eight months, so great was their mutual hatred, they did not exchange a word. Influence of Daniel Casey Marrying Cheryl Gardiner in 1973, Richardson described the rigours of his early married life and union work to The National Times' Alan Ramsey in October 1983: ... then we got married, lived in the unit (in Ramsgate) for a while, and had a baby. We moved to a new house a quarter of a mile away. It cost me heaps. I had a mortgage I couldn't possibly afford. I remember for over a year we had a gross income of $9,000 and I was paying $4,500 on the mortgage. That was hard, very hard. We were really struggling. Richardson later told the Woodward Royal Commission that in 1973 he met Daniel Casey, a senior figure in Labor right-wing politics, and regarded him as a friend, drank with him at the Sackville Hotel in Rozelle, near Balmain, borrowed $2,000 from him, and paid it back by cheque in two instalments. Again, Ramsay reports Richardson as saying: Then in '76 I had this huge salary movement which made all these things (the mortgages and such) just not a problem at all." However, Evan Whitton, a noted journalist and campaigner against organised crime, claims that in May 1977 Richardson's wife, Cheryl, went on the payroll, at approximately $130 a week, of Casey's Balmain Welding, but did not have to attend at the office. Richardson later told the Woodward Royal Commission, it was the policy of the company not to hire office staff, so they sent the typing out to Mrs Richardson. She kept the job until about May 1979, by which time she was getting about $160 a week from Balmain Welding. Richardson's links with Casey were brought to public notice through the reconvening of the Woodward Royal Commission in 1980 due to allegations that Casey had funnelled $20,000, alleged to be a product of gambling and drugs, into NSW Labor. Richardson told the commission on 28 March 1980 that Casey had not donated $20,000 to the Party, and the Commission found no evidence against Casey. Numbers man In his years working at Labor's Sussex St offices, Richardson became renowned for an ability to bring in numbers; he was often referred to as a "numbers man" for the right wing of the NSW branch of Labor. Bill Hayden claimed that Richardson once explained to him: "... all decisions are democratically taken at a meeting of one; me." Richardson was highly effective in this position and became known as a "king maker"; three years after Richardson became party secretary, Paul Keating became elected unopposed as President of NSW Labor, succeeding John Ducker. Keating is believed to be the youngest President in the history of NSW Labor. Richardson was also instrumental in the 1983 coup that lead to Bob Hawke succeeding Hayden as Leader of the Opposition, which ultimately led to Hawke becoming prime minister. Enmore branch and factional fights During Richardson's time as General Secretary, there were significant battles over factional control of a number of inner city Labor branches. Peter Baldwin, a Labor member of the Legislative Council and a member of the socialist-left faction, was bashed by unknown assailants in his home on 16 July 1980. Baldwin had earlier initiated inquiries into "rorts" in the Enmore and other branches. Police began investigation into the assault on Baldwin, and included matters relating to the affairs of the Labor Party Enmore branch. Five people, including Joe Meissner and Tom Domican were charged with various offences. Richardson, in a later interview, confirmed that at the time he wrote to Attorney-General Frank Walker and all other.... Discover the David Meissner Kim Richardson popular books. Find the top 100 most popular David Meissner Kim Richardson books.