Biography
Ruddock was born in Canberra and was the son of Max Ruddock, a Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1962 and 1976, and the former Emmie Chappell. He was educated at Barker College in the Sydney suburb of Hornsby before entering University of Sydney, after which he practised as a solicitor. He was articled to the firm Berne, Murray and Tout and was promoted to partner.
On 22 September 1973, Ruddock was elected to the House of Representatives at a by-election for the seat of Parramatta. He narrowly held it at the 1974 general election, but was returned with a large swing in 1975. A redistribution ahead of the 1977 election, however, erased Ruddock's majority and turned it into a notional Labor seat. Ruddock shifted to the mewly seat of Dundas and held it without serious difficulty until it was abolished in 1993. He then transferred to Berowra, which he has held ever since.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, he was an active member of the parliamentary group of Amnesty International.
Ruddock was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry from 1983 to 1985 and from 1989 to 1996.
In August 1988, while Ruddock was still a backbencher, the Leader of the Opposition, John Howard, commented that he believed the rate of Asian immigration was too high. The Hawke Labor government sought to embarrass Howard and introduced a bill to Parliament to ensure that immigration did not discriminate on the basis of race. Ruddock along with fellow Liberals Steele Hall and Ian Macphee crossed the floor to support the Labor motion. In 1989, following Andrew Peacock's ascension to the leadership, Ruddock became Shadow Minister for Immigration and proposed a settlement scheme for Australia's far north.
Read more about this topic: Philip Ruddock
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