1. Rupert Hamer held office as the leader of the Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia and a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the division of Kew.
22 Facts About Rupert Hamer
1. 2.
Rupert Hamer was educated at Melbourne Grammar School and Geelong Grammar School and graduated in law from the University of Melbourne, where he was resident at Trinity College from 1936.
3.
Rupert Hamer was a member, with his brother Alan, of the College First XVIII Australian Rules football team, and was Secretary of the Student Club.
4.
Rupert Hamer joined the Melbourne University Regiment of the Australian Army in 1935 and served with them until 1939.
5.
Rupert Hamer was Mentioned in Dispatches in 1945 for "distinguished service in the South-West Pacific".
6.
Rupert Hamer continued his military service and remained active in the Citizens Military Force joining the Victorian Scottish Regiment in 1948, of which he was Commanding Officer from 1954 to 1958.
7.
Rupert Hamer was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for East Yarra Province in 1958.
8.
Rupert Hamer was appointed to the cabinet of the Premier, Henry Bolte, in 1962, becoming Assistant Chief Secretary.
9.
Rupert Hamer was Minister for Local Government from 1964 to 1971.
10.
Rupert Hamer immediately assumed Rylah's portfolios of Deputy Premier and Chief Secretary.
11.
Rupert Hamer represented such a sharp change from the Bolte era that he was able to campaign in the 1973 election as a new, reformist leader, despite the fact that the Liberals had been in power for 18 years.
12.
Rupert Hamer won an even larger victory in 1976, defeating Holding yet again.
13.
Rupert Hamer, assisted by key allies such as Planning Minister Alan Hunt, Conservation Minister Bill Borthwick, Attorney-General Haddon Storey, Social Welfare Minister Vasey Houghton, Housing and Youth Sport and Recreation Minister Brian Dixon and Community Welfare Services Minister Walter Jona moved to modernise and liberalise government in Victoria.
14.
Rupert Hamer began the modernisation of Melbourne's moribund tramway system, ordering 100 new trams immediately with further orders following, and approving the extension of the Burwood tram line from Warrigal Road to Middleborough Road.
15.
Rupert Hamer was instrumental in the introduction of the Historic Buildings Act 1974 and made significant moves in 1977 which guaranteed the protection of several significant buildings including the Windsor Hotel and Regent Theatre in Melbourne and Shamrock Hotel in Bendigo.
16.
Rupert Hamer promoted some new younger ministers such as Lou Lieberman, Norman Lacy and Jeff Kennett who continued to pursue a reformist liberal agenda particularly in human services, education, environment protection, planning and the arts.
17.
Rupert Hamer is the last non-elected Victorian Premier to have subsequently been elected in his own right.
18.
Rupert Hamer remained active in public and community affairs after his retirement.
19.
Rupert Hamer was chairman of the Victorian State Opera from 1982 to 1995, president of the Victorian College of the Arts from 1982 to 1996 and a patron of the Public Transport Users Association from 1989.
20.
Rupert Hamer died of heart failure in his sleep on 23 March 2004, and his family accepted the offer of a state funeral from the Labor Premier, Steve Bracks.
21.
Shortly after his death in 2004, the main concert hall of the Melbourne Arts Centre, of which Rupert Hamer had played a significant role in its development and the arts in Victoria generally, known as the Melbourne Concert Hall, was renamed the Rupert Hamer Hall.
22.
In March 2024, his 31-year-old grand-niece Amelia Rupert Hamer was selected as the Liberal candidate for the Division of Kooyong in the 2025 Australian federal election.