John Reginald Williams (born 16 January 1955) is an Australian politician. He has been a National Party member of the Australian Senate since July 2008, representing the state of New South Wales.
Williams was first elected to the Senate at the 2007 federal election. This followed his victory over incumbent Senator Sandy Macdonald in preselection for the National Party's one winnable spot on the Coalition Senate ticket in New South Wales.
Williams was born in Jamestown, South Australia. Prior to entering politics, he was a truck driver, a farmer, a sheep shearer and a small business owner.
Williams vote was the third out of five votes required to give maverick Barnaby Joyce the Senate leadership in September 2008.
Famous quotes containing the words john, williams, south, wales and/or federal:
“Oh! full Surrey twilight! importunate band!
Oh! strongly adorable tennis-girl’s hand!”
—Sir John Betjeman (1906–1984)
“the sea is circled and sways
peacefully upon its plantlike stem”
—William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)
“We in the South were ready for reconciliation, to be accepted as equals, to rejoin the mainstream of American political life. This yearning for what might be called political redemption was a significant factor in my successful campaign.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“I just come and talk to the plants, really—very important to talk to them, they respond I find.”
—Charles, Prince Of Wales (b. 1948)
“Prestige is the shadow of money and power. Where these are, there it is. Like the national market for soap or automobiles and the enlarged arena of federal power, the national cash-in area for prestige has grown, slowly being consolidated into a truly national system.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)