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John Coulter
John Coulter
4th Leader of the Australian Democrats
	In office; 2 October 1991 – 29 April 1993
Deputy	Meg Lees
Preceded by	Janet Powell
Succeeded by	Cheryl Kernot
4th Deputy Leader of the; Australian Democrats
	In office; 24 March 1990 – 2 October 1991
Preceded by	Michael Macklin
Succeeded by	Meg Lees
Senator for South Australia
	In office; 11 July 1987 – 20 November 1995
Succeeded by	Natasha Stott Despoja
Personal details
Born	John Richard Coulter; 3 December 1930; Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Died	6 September 2024 (aged 93); Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Political party	Independent (after 2001)
Other political; affiliations	Democrat (until 2001)
Spouses	; Brenda Bice; (m. 1953; div. 1978) ; Phyllis Johnstone; (m. 1984)
Children	2
Education	Wesley College
Alma mater	University of Western Australia; University of South Australia
Occupation	General practitioner; (Royal Adelaide Hospital); (Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science)
Profession	Physician; Politician

John Richard Coulter (3 December 1930 – 6 September 2024) was an Australian medical researcher and politician.^[1]^[2] He was the fourth elected parliamentary Senate leader of the Australian Democrats, serving from 2 October 1991 to 29 April 1993.^[3]^[4]

In his first speech, he criticised the failure of presently used economic indexes to measure the right things, such as the inclusion of costs as benefits in the measurement of GDP, and the absence of a national capital account giving a misleading impression of becoming richer by squandering natural capital and turning it into cash, which is then frittered away without turning it back into capital. He argued that correcting these misleading indices would reveal the paths toward ecological sustainability and a more humane society.^[5]

In his valedictory speech, he took up the case that economic growth is not sustainable and that ‘economic rationalism’ (neo-classical economics) is an ideology blind to empirical evidence.^[6]

His understanding of conservation and environment principles was exceptional for the time.^[7]^[8] One of Dr. Coulter's controversial concerns was the social and economic impact of population growth.^[9]^[10]

Coulter was born in Perth, Western Australia. He gained a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree at the University of Adelaide. He became a medical practitioner and researcher, and was also a university lecturer.^[4]

He was a member of Campbelltown Council in Adelaide during 1973–74. In 1980 he joined the Democrats.^[4]

He first took office in the Senate in 1987, representing South Australia, and resigned from the Senate on 20 November 1995, due to ill health.^[4] Natasha Stott Despoja was appointed his replacement three days later, having earlier been employed by him as a researcher.

In 1999, he was publicly critical of Meg Lees's leadership of the Democrats, especially of her handling of the Goods and Services Tax legislation. He believed Stott Despoja would make a better leader, and was working towards that goal, which she in fact attained in April 2001.^[4]

However, a week before the November 2001 federal election, Coulter resigned from the party because he believed Stott Despoja had reduced internal party democracy. He said she had taken the party further away from the grassroots, that it had become pragmatic, and that he could not recommend that people vote for the party.^[4]

References

^ Sustainable Population Australia (6 September 2024). "SPA pays tribute to a great environmentalist : Dr John Coulter". MediaNet. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
^ Goldie, Jenny (17 September 2024). "Vale Dr John Coulter". Pearls and Irritations. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
^ Australian Democrats (1 January 2022). "Australian Democrats : our history". Australian Democrats : our history. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Stock, Jenny Tilby. "COULTER, John Richard (1930– )". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
^ John Coulter (politician) (21 September 1987). "Budget statement and papers 1987-88". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Parliament of Australia: Senate. p. 398.
^ John Coulter politician (20 November 1995). "Adjournment : Senator Coulter : retirement". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Parliament of Australia: Senate. p. 3364.
^ Martin, Brian (1 July 1992). "Intellectual suppression: why environmental scientists are afraid to speak out". documents.uow.edu.au. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
^ Conservation Council SA; Green Adelaide; South Australia. Dept. for Environment and Water; University of Adelaide. Environment Institute (1 January 2024). "Dr John Coulter". SA Environment Hall of Fame. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
^ CSIRO Media; CSIROpedia (22 April 2008). "Population : the lost priority". CSIROpedia. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
^ Coulter, John; Bradshaw, Corey; Conservation Bytes (12 April 2015). "How things have (not) changed". ConservationBytes.com. Retrieved 5 June 2024.