Bruce Baird, the Liberal stalwart who fought for refugees, has died aged 84

The former Liberal politician Bruce Baird, who served in state and federal parliaments and played a key role in securing the Sydney 2000 Olympics, has died while on an overseas trip. He was 84.

Several sources close to Baird have confirmed the keen ocean swimmer died in Singapore after a fall on his way home from a European holiday.

Baird is the father of former NSW premier Mike Baird, who led the state from 2014 to 2017, journalist Julia Baird, and Steve Baird, who works in the not-for-profit sector. His wife Judy died in 2021.

As the state MP for the now-abolished seat of Northcott, Baird was instrumental in winning the Olympics for Sydney while at Macquarie Street, where he was minister for tourism, roads, environment and transport.

NSW Liberal Party president Peter Collins paid tribute to his good friend on Friday night, who he described as a “classic Liberal”.

“Nick Greiner and I were delighted to add Bruce Baird to the front bench in the run-up to the winning 1988 election,” Collins said in a statement.

“Bruce did a lot of the heavy lifting and put his stamp on the Transport portfolio.”

Collins said Baird “had deep religious convictions. We even prayed together.”

“He loved his wife Judy and adored his three remarkable children, with Mike Baird achieving what his father came so close to,” Collins, who led the Liberal Party from 1995 to 1998, said.

Baird was elected to the seat of Northcott in 1984, which he held for 11 years, before moving to federal politics by winning the southern Sydney seat of Cook in 1998.

He represented the electorate for nine years, retiring before the 2007 election and making way for future prime minister Scott Morrison to take the seat.

Baird, however, was never a minister in federal parliament. He was overlooked for a frontbench position in the Howard government because of his stance on asylum seekers, which went against then-prime minister John Howard’s policy at the time, as well as his closeness to Howard’s treasurer and nemesis, Peter Costello.

In his valedictory speech, according to a report in the publication Sydney Anglicans in 2007, Baird paid tribute to a young man called Adnan, who was the first of 50 asylum cases that Baird became personally involved with.

Baird took the case to then-immigration minister Phillip Ruddock, who used his ministerial powers to grant Adnan refugee status. The young Iranian went on to study engineering and was a translator for his Farsi-speaking congregation at Guildford Anglican Church.

“This, for me, illustrates why a compassionate approach is so important,” Baird told his parliamentary colleagues.

NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane said she was “deeply saddened” to learn of Baird’s death, calling his contribution to public life “extraordinary”.

“Bruce was driven by a strong sense of service, conviction, and compassion, earning the trust and respect of people regardless of their political affiliation,” Sloane said. “Ever jovial and encouraging, Bruce was often the life of the party.”

The Liberal Party, via a spokesperson, called Baird a “stalwart” of the party.

“We offer our deepest condolences on behalf of all members to his family at this difficult time,” the spokesperson said.

Sydney Anglicans recounted how Baird made close friends across the political divide, including with Labor royalty. Baird, who was raised in a strict Brethren family, lived with his family next door to future Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam, and Baird befriended young Nicholas Whitlam.

Gough Whitlam would later contact Baird after he won federal preselection to say that, if they had to have a conservative in Cook, he was glad that Baird was the candidate.

Before his political career, Baird was assistant trade commissioner at the Australian embassy in Germany in the early 1970s, followed by a three-year stint as trade commissioner in New York.

Baird swam in the Bold & Beautiful Swim Squad, which regularly exercised in the waters off Manly and Shelly Beach. He was described as a “great mate” to those in the group by squad organiser Peter Anthony.

“Bruce was a much-loved part of our swim community and a wonderful friend to so many of us,” Anthony told members on Friday. “Our thoughts are with his family and everyone who loved him.”

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