Political Career
Andrews was elected to the House of Representatives at a 1991 by-election for the Division of Menzies in Victoria, representing the Liberal Party of Australia.
As a backbencher, Andrews authored the Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996 to overrule Northern Territory legislation that legalised euthanasia (the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995). It is one of only fifteen Private Member's Bills passed into law in Australian parliamentary history.
Andrews has called for an end to trials of the RU-486 drug and voted against a bill that took away the Health Minister's power to veto applications to allow the drug to be used.
In taking a stance against stem cell research in 2002, he stated that it was the "first time" that "human beings can be treated as a commodity". He also took a stance against stem cell research during a debate in 2006, which resulted in the overturning of a previous ban on the research.
After the Coalition's third victory in 2001, Andrews was brought into the outer ministry as Minister for Ageing, a portfolio in which he served from 26 November 2001 to 7 October 2003. He was subsequently appointed to Cabinet as the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and was responsible for introducing the Howard Government's major changes to industrial relations law in 2005, commonly known as WorkChoices. In a reshuffle in early 2007, Andrews was made Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, a position which he held until the swearing-in of the First Rudd Ministry on 3 December 2007, following the defeat of the Howard Government in the 2007 election.
During 2008 and 2009 he served as Chairman of the Coalition's Policy Review Committee, reviewing and developing the Opposition's policies, until he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet (to the position of Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services) in December 2009 by the newly elected Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott. He was also appointed Deputy Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee.
Andrews is a member of the Lyons Forum, a socially conservative Christian faction within the Coalition. He has served as the Forum Secretary and is credited with suggesting the name for the faction.
In the 2010 Federal election, Andrews was re-elected to the seat of Menzies with a 2.70% swing against the Labor Party.
Read more about this topic: Kevin Andrews (Australian Politician)
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“He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.”
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