Interested in: Electoral systems: STV; MMP; Lists; preferential/plurality; non-proportional multi-member. Bicameralism: second chambers and money bills; federal bicameralism; parliamentary versus congressional; deadlock resolution. Responsible government: executive power; non-executive heads of state; choosing the head of government. Heads of state: popular versus indirect election.

Publications (selected): Crises, Deadlocks and Dissolutions: A Constitutional and Parliamentary History of Queensland 1859 to 1922, London, 2017 in production; “Boots and All - the Benjamin Kitt Affair: Queensland’s Constitutional Crisis 1888”,JRHSQ, 17, 5, 2000, pp. 228-240; “A Tale of Two Chambers: Bicameralism in Queensland 1860-1885”, JRHSQ, 17, 6, 2000, pp. 247-270; “Ideology or Expediency? The Abolition of the Queensland Legislative Council 1915-1922”, Labour History, 79, 2000, pp. 162-178.

Consultancies (selected): Queensland Department of the Premier and Economic Development: Exercise of sovereignty beyond the low-water mark by the Queensland Government. Thuringowa City Council: Electoral redistribution.

Teaching Jan 1995 - July 1999 James Cook University Department of History and Politics: Australian federal and state politics; European history.

I have 20 years combined experience as an academic, and as a senior policy adviser with the Australian government. Both of these fields of endeavour place a high premium on the quality of written expression. During my career in government I edited, researched and wrote high-level documents including the historical background brief for the Australian Governor-General's Anzac Day visit to Timor Leste in 2001, event and question time briefs for Ministers of State, and policy advice and correspondence for senior officials including departmental secretaries. I researched, wrote and edited six chapters of the three volume report of the Clarke Review of Veterans' Entitlements, the most significant review into veterans' affairs in the last 40 years. Since retiring from the Australian Government in 2016, I have established my own on-line editing, proof-reading, writing and research business, Your Wizard Wordsmith http://wizardwordsmith.com . I recently undertook work on the Australian Electoral Commission's publication "Voting in Australia", an on-line document targeted at first time voters. I also recently edited manuscripts on Queensland political history and PhD theses in political science. Finally, I am a full professional member of the Institute of Professional Editors Australia, the Canberra Society of Editors, and the Society of Editors (Tasmania).

I offer editing, proof-reading, writing (including ghost writing) and research services for politicians, policy advisers, academics and students in the humanities, lawyers, and freelance writers of fiction and non-fiction. I also have extensive experience writing speeches for public and private occasions including addresses to community organisations such as Lions and Rotary, and wedding and funeral speeches.

I can make your existing documents work for your maximum benefit: - corporate histories - government reports - articles and research papers by journalists, academics, students, personal biographies, and even novels and short stories (I love horror and sci-fi). Or, I can research and write whatever it is that you need - again for your maximum benefit - either way I am YOUR WIZARD WORDSMITH!

I am available at any time to discuss your requirements. Depending on the nature of your project, providing quote may take one or two days.