Michael Danby
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Michael David Danby (born 16 February 1955), Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 1998 representing the Division of Melbourne Ports, Victoria. He was born in Melbourne, Victoria and was educated at Melbourne University. He was an editor and ministerial advisor before editing politics.
Danby was Assistant Private Secretary to Barry Cohen, a minister in the Hawke government 1983-84, Editor of the Australia-Israel Review 1986-93 and an Advisor to Alan Griffiths, a minister in the Keating government, 1993-94. He was an industrial officer with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association 1994-96.
Danby has been an Opposition Whip since November 2001. He is the only Jewish member of the Australian Parliament and has frequently spoken in support of Israel and in opposition to anti-Semitism and other forms of racism. However, he has been criticised for being a supporter of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2004, which legalizes--under Australian law--the institutions and procedures as specified in an Executive Order by President Bush, which set up the torture regimes at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The act cites the relevant Executive Order by Bush by name, and also cites by name the lawless military detention system at Guantanamo Bay, to which that order gave rise. Danby officially spoke in Parliament for the (nominally) opposition Labor Party on behalf of this bill, which was put forward by the government of Liberal Party Prime Minister John Howard.