John Coates (politician) (original) (raw)

John Coates (born 23 March 1944) is an Australian retired politician. Born in Melbourne, he was educated at the University of Sydney, after which he became a biochemist at the University of Tasmania. In 1972, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Labor member for Denison, defeating sitting Liberal MP Robert Solomon. He was defeated by Liberal candidate Michael Hodgman in 1975, but in 1980 returned to politics when he was elected to the Senate. He remained a Senator until he resigned his place on 20 August 1996, six months after the federal election that had removed Labor from power.