Peter Andren

Peter Andren was born in 1946 in Gulargambone NSW, and raised with his two sisters and brother in several country railway towns where his father was stationmaster.

He was educated in the public school system and Macquarie University, graduating Bachelor of Arts. Peter is also a graduate of Alexander Mackie Teachers College and taught from 1966 to 1968.

In 1969 he moved into television, working as a news producer for the 7 and 9 networks in Sydney before moving in 1977 to the Central West of NSW to become the news editor, in both radio and television, for 2GZ and PRIME respectively.

Having never belonged to any political party, he decided to contest the 1996 election as an independent, campaigning for retention of essential services in the bush – especially telecommunications, banking and health.

His work and leadership, on issues such as MPs’ entitlements, election funding, mandatory sentencing, asylum seekers and the war on Iraq, and his defence of public ownership of Telstra, has earned him the respect of the Calare electorate and has seen him returned three times as its Federal Member.

Peter is committed to encouraging more independents into local, state and federal politics. He strongly supports the need for Proportional Representation in all lower houses of parliament around the country to more fairly reflect the will of the electorate.

Peter’s book The Andren Report – an independent way in Australian Politics, is not only Peter’s life story so far, but a good backgrounder for anyone interested in understanding the political process, especially those wanting to know more about running a campaign. The book is available from Scribe Publications, or through any bookstore.

Peter’s website can be accessed at: www.peterandren.com.