30 Facts About Wilson Tuckey

Charles Wilson Tuckey was born on 10 July 1935 and is an Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2010, representing the seat of O'Connor in Western Australia for the Liberal Party.

From 23 May 1964 until 1 March 1965, Tuckey was the last mayor of the town of Carnarvon; after that date the Town was amalgamated into the Shire of Carnarvon.

Wilson Tuckey went on to serve as the first Shire president from 22 May 1965 until June 1971.

In 1967, while employed as a publican in Carnarvon, Wilson Tuckey was convicted of assault after striking an Aboriginal man with a length of steel cable and fined $50.

In 1979, Wilson Tuckey was endorsed by the Liberal Party, ahead of the 1980 election, as its candidate for the then-new seat of O'Connor, covering a large section of rural Western Australia.

Wilson Tuckey was one of the most controversial figures in Australian federal politics.

Reportedly, the last time they talked privately was when Keating stormed into Howard's office, furiously berated him for not disciplining Wilson Tuckey, and walked out.

Wilson Tuckey was a member of the Opposition shadow ministry from 1984 to 1989 and again from 1993 to 1996.

Wilson Tuckey was Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House from 1988 to 1989 and 1993 to 1994.

In 1989, a group of Liberal parliamentarians, including Wilson Tuckey, plotted to remove Howard from the Opposition leadership and give the position back to Andrew Peacock.

Wilson Tuckey addressed an AIDS conference and opened by saying "you don't catch AIDS, you let somebody give it to you".

Howard said that Wilson Tuckey's actions were foolish but refused to dismiss him.

In 2005, when the Australian parliament passed a motion asking Singaporean authorities that Van Tuong Nguyen not be executed for drug smuggling, Wilson Tuckey was the only member of parliament who refused to support the motion.

Wilson Tuckey was often quoted in the media as supporting free markets and less government intervention in the economy.

Wilson Tuckey is well known for criticising the National Party on a number of issues.

Wilson Tuckey was the most outspoken critic of the AWB in Federal Parliament, and he led the push for this board to be stripped of its export monopoly for wheat.

Wilson Tuckey labelled National Party politicians who supported the single-desk system as "drongos".

Wilson Tuckey labelled National Party senator Barnaby Joyce a "lightweight" for arguing in favour of foreign ownership restrictions on Medibank Private after privatization.

On 13 February 2008, Wilson Tuckey walked out during the opening of the 42nd Australian Federal Parliament immediately after prayers, and pointedly before the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a motion of apology to the Stolen Generation.

Wilson Tuckey was one of six Liberal MPs to leave the house in protest to the apology to the Stolen Generations, thereby boycotting the motion.

On 24 September 2008, Wilson Tuckey was again expelled from the house, this time for one hour, for an outburst during House of Representatives Question Time.

In March 2010, Wilson Tuckey said that acknowledging traditional landowners at official events was a "farce" and that he had "never thanked anyone for the right to be on the soil that is Australian".

From 1983 to 2007, Wilson Tuckey held O'Connor without serious difficulty, usually taking between 62 and 75 percent of the two-party preferred vote.

At the 2007 federal election, Wilson Tuckey was reelected with 46 percent of the primary vote and a two-party margin of 67 percent against Labor.

However, at the 2010 federal election, Wilson Tuckey was defeated by Nationals WA candidate Tony Crook.

Wilson Tuckey suffered a post-redistribution primary vote swing of 10 percent and a two-candidate swing of 20 percent, finishing on a primary vote of 38 percent and a two-candidate vote of 46 percent against Crook.

Wilson Tuckey was 75 years old at the time of his defeat, making him the oldest sitting MP.

Wilson Tuckey broke his self-imposed silence after the election, verbally attacking Crook on a range of fronts.

Wilson Tuckey described Crook as "a nobody who would be lucky to have his relatives turn up to hear his maiden speech in parliament".

Wilson Tuckey was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for "service to the people and Parliament of Australia".