Brendan Nelson
Brendan John Nelson (19 August 1958— ) is a former Australian politician and was President of the Australian Medical Association from 1993-1995.
Born in Melbourne, Nelson studied Medicine at Flinders University, then relocated to Tasmania to work as a GP. He joined the Australian Medical Association (AMA) in 1988 and quickly rose through the ranks, finding himself elected unopposed as President of the Federal AMA on 30 May 1993.
Nelson, as a Catholic, personally opposed euthanasia. However, as President of the AMA, he advocated for the right of doctors to withdraw treatment from consenting critically ill patients. Nelson, for example, supported voluntary euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke while employed at Royal Darwin Hospital (Magazanik, 1993). He resigned as President of the AMA in June 1995 to enter politics.
Although an early Labor party supporter, Nelson was elected to Parliament as Liberal MP for Bradfield on 2 March 1996. Notably, he served as a Cabinet Minister in the 3rd and 4th of the Howard government as Minister for Education, Science and Training (2001–06) and Minister for Defence (2006–2007).
He was elected Leader of the Liberal Party (and so the Opposition) on 29 November 2007. However, disastrously low polling, due to a series of public gaffes and flip-flops on policy, meant that Nelson lost the leadership to Malcom Turnbull on 16 September 2008 and was relegated to the back bench. He retired from politics on 19 November 2009.
Since retiring, Nelson has served as Australian Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the European Union, and NATO, and was the Director of the Australian War Memorial. He is currently the president of Boeing Australia.
Magazanik, M. (9 July 1993). "Letting People Die Is A Duty – Doctor". The Age. p. 3