Mr. Peter Anderson

Peter Anderson with Donald Anderson of Jamaica inspecting Melbourne 2006 facilities
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Peter has been an Executive Member of the Australian Commonwealth Games Association since 1984, apart from a two year break, attending his first meeting around 1980.

Peter grew up in Concord West, a suburb very close to the Homebush Olympic site.In 1957 he joined the Royal Military College at Duntroon as a Cadet and it was here as an 18 year old that he first became involved in competitive target shooting.After graduating from the College in 1960 he qualified as a Surveyor at the University of NSW.His first job was with the Commonwealth Department of the Interior.

In the late 60s and early 70s he lived and worked (mainly in a tent) in various locations surveying outback Australia, moved on to Darwin and finally settled in Canberra in 1973.Whilst working in Woomera, South Australia, he became active at club level in the administrative side of shooting, then at State level when in Darwin.After settling in Canberra he became involved administratively at the National level, particularly on the technical side of shooting.Peter has had two stints as Secretary of Pistol Australia, 1977-1983 and again from 1991 to present.

To his credit Peter has been involved in many different capacities with every Commonwealth Games since 1974:

At Christchurch (1974) he was Technical Official on the Shooting Jury; At Edmonton (1978) he was Shooting Team Training Co-ordinaror; At Brisbane (1982) he was Section Manager for Shooting; At Edinburgh (1986) he was Administration Officer in Team HQ; At Auckland (1990) he was Assistant General Manager for the Australian Team; At Victoria (1994) he was Australian Team Transport Officer, and At Kuala Lumpur (1998) he was a Technical Official on the jury of Appeal.

As well Peter has been Secretary of the Commonwealth Shooting Federation since 1982.In this role he has particularly enjoyed meeting many people from all Commonwealth Nations, having the opportunity to occasionally develop extra events such as the introduction of women's events, and being involved with the process of having shooting reinstated to the 2002 Games sporting program.He holds an international Judges Licence A Grade and will be on the Jury for Shooting at the 2000 Olympics being held in Sydney.

AUSSIE AWARD: Malua Bay resident Peter Anderson was awarded an Order of Australia medal on Australia Day.AUSSIE AWARD: Malua Bay resident Peter Anderson was awarded an Order of Australia medal on Australia Day.
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Mr Anderson has been secretary for the Oceania Shooting Federation and the Commonwealth Shooting Federation, and judged at numerous national and international shooting events.

While his list of achievements is impressively long, Mr Anderson is particularly proud of his efforts in the campaign to allow women to shoot competitively.

"I led all the administrative processes that led to all that happening," Mr Anderson said.

"A number of those positions I was invited to hold.I suppose I'd become known as someone with ideas and was willing to push them through.

"The Australian women have done exceptionally well since those events have been introduced."

Mr Anderson was thrilled to accept the medal, which he will receive later this year at a ceremony in either Sydney or Canberra.

"I think it's exciting, and I appreciate it very much," he said.

Mr Anderson thanked his family and wife, Carolyn, who also involved herself in the sport, and "was a fair shot too", Mr Anderson said.

"None of this would have been possible without the support from her."

Mr Anderson has always been passionate about shooting, particularly pistol shooting.

"It goes back in my family.My father and uncles were taught shooting, and I suppose it was circumstance after that."

His fondness grew for the sport when he joined the army in 1957, and took off when both he and Carolyn joined the pistol club in Woomera a decade later.

Mr Anderson loves the discipline the sport imposes on shooters, and he enjoys the pressure of refereeing major events.

"Everyone in a competition deserves an equal chance.That's what drives me," he said.

That spirit was further exemplified in the shooting events at the Para-Olympics.

"I can't think of any other sport that can cater for people with that degree of disability," he said of a particular air-rifle event.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry acting chief executive Peter Anderson said it was perfectly reasonable for the new government to consider options, but any proposals should be based on fact and economic realism.

He said many larger businesses already had well developed schemes of employer-paid maternity leave, but small and medium business had a different capacity to pay and not all business would receive the same value.

Mr Anderson said business would oppose any scheme that simply compelled all employers to fund a scheme, because it would be a "completely unsustainable impost on the economy".

He said the baby bonus - which gives more than $4,000 to all mothers, not just those who work - already formed a "de facto maternity leave scheme".

"There needs to be a mature assessment of the current programs and if they can be improved and better coordinated, industry will support that," he told AAP.

Peter Anderson - Shooting