Alby Schultz

Albert John Schultz (29 May 1939 – 14 July 2015) was an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to August 2013, representing the Division of Hume in New South Wales.

Alby Schultz
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Hume
In office
3 October 1998 – 5 August 2013
Preceded byJohn Sharp
Succeeded byAngus Taylor
Majority8.72%
Member of the NSW Parliament
for Burrinjuck
In office
19 March 1988 – 1 September 1998
Preceded byTerence Sheahan
Succeeded byKatrina Hodgkinson
Personal details
Born
Albert John Schultz

(1939-05-29)29 May 1939
Melbourne, Victoria
Died14 July 2015(2015-07-14) (aged 76)
Cootamundra, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal Party of Australia
SpouseGloria Schultz
Children2
ResidenceGoulburn
OccupationMeat Worker

Biography

Early life

Schultz was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and was a meat processing worker before entering politics. He was a field officer for the Liberal Party (1986–88) and a member of the Cootamundra Shire Council (1983–91).

Career

Schultz was the member for Burrinjuck in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 1998,[1] before being elected to represent Hume at the 1998 federal election. He was subsequently returned at the 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010 elections. He gained national media attention in the lead up to the privatisation of Telstra claiming that he would not support the legislation but would not "cross the floor". In the end he abstained from voting on the matter.[2]

Schultz was initially a supporter of Prime Minister John Howard but as a result of being overlooked for promotion by Howard, Schultz in 2005 changed his allegiance to Howard's heir apparent Peter Costello.[3]

However a year later in 2006, Schultz accused Costello of disloyalty to Howard following the revelation of a deal of when Howard would hand over the Prime Ministership to Costello.[4]

Alby Schultz was one of the several Liberal Party politicians along with Peter Dutton, Don Randall, Wilson Tuckey, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Dennis Jensen and Sophie Mirabella, who boycotted Parliament on the day that the formal apology to the Stolen Generations was made by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.[5][6]

Schultz apologised in June 2009 for a physical confrontation with one of his Liberal parliamentary colleagues in a party room meeting in Parliament House. He had been angered by a remark made by Chris Pearce, the member for Aston in Victoria, during a debate about whether the Liberal Party should run candidates against National Party MPs. Schultz reportedly responded by grabbing Pearce around the neck. He later apologised to Pearce and the entire party room for the incident.[7]

In September 2012 he prompted an investigation by the Department of Parliamentary Service about a "serious security breach" when he became aware his private calendar became accessible on other MP's computers. The investigation determined that his own office was responsible for the error when configuring the email service, by nominating access to multiple users.[8]

Schultz retired at the 2013 Australian federal election.[9][10]

In 2015 he was listed as patron of the anti-wind farm lobby, the Waubra Foundation.[11]

Personal

In 2003 he lost an eye in an accident with hydrochloric acid while cleaning a swimming pool filter, and in 2004 received a prosthetic eye.[12][13]

Schultz was a staunch monarchist and long fought against the movement to make Australia a republic.[14]

Not long after his retirement, in May 2013, Schultz was diagnosed with inoperable liver and oesophageal cancer. Two months before the diagnosis, it was revealed he had prostate cancer.[15] He died on 14 July 2015, aged 76.[16]

References
  1. "Mr (Alby) Albert John Schultz (1939-2015)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  2. "Liberal MP to abstain from Telstra Sale Vote". ABC AM Radio. 4 July 2003. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  3. "Liberal MP switches support to Costello". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 March 2005.
  4. "Schultz urges Costello to quit over 'disloyalty' to PM". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 July 2006.
  5. Maiden, Samantha; John Stapleton (14 February 2008). "Howard walks while we say sorry". News Limited. The Australian. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  6. Coorey, Phillip (14 February 2008). "Libs stage boycott as Nelson heckled". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  7. "Schultz outburst: 'Parliament's a pressure cooker'". ABC Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 June 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  8. "User error blamed for security concerns". The Age. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  9. "Alby Schulz to retire". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  10. "Mr Alby Schultz MP, AM". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  11. "Our People | Waubra Foundation".
  12. "MP loses sight in one eye after acid accident". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 November 2003. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  13. "Schultz eye to eye with implant". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 October 2004. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  14. "Reference at www.theaustralian.com.au".
  15. "Alby Schultz suffering inoperable cancer". The Canberra Times. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  16. "Late former MP Alby Schultz 'a champion of regional Australia'". Nine News. Nine Network. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
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