Paul Harriss Obituary, Funeral

Andrew Paul Harriss was an Australian politician. He was born on 11 August 1954 and died on 2 October 2022 at age 68.

Mr. Harriss was an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1996 to 2014, amassing a lengthy conservative voting record.

He resigned from the Legislative Council in 2014, a short time before the conclusion of his Legislative Council term, in order to contest the House of Assembly election as a Liberal.

He had previously lost a race as a Liberal candidate at the 1996 Tasmanian election.

Following the Liberals’ victory in the 2014 election, he was appointed Minister for Resources and in that role, he generated criticism for his combative stance against environmentalists.

Mr. Harriss announced on 17th Feb. 2016 that he was resigning from the Hodgman ministry and from the parliament, effective the next day.

Following his resignation, Kingborough Council councillor Nic Street was elected in a countback to fill the vacancy on 1 March 2016.

Mr. Harriss died after losing a two-year battle with prostate cancer.

Among Mr. Harriss’ final public act was his collaboration last year with Cancer Council Tasmania, urging all men to take regular prostate-specific antigen tests – the main tool used to screen for prostate cancer.

“Talk to your GP – and have the blood test. It’s once a year – a little needle. Don’t be complacent – don’t be ignorant – just do it,” he said at the time.