Noel Crichton-Browne

Noel Ashley Crichton-Browne (born 2 February 1944) is a former Australian politician. He was a Senator for Western Australia from 1981 to 1996 and served as Deputy President of the Senate from 1993 to 1995. He was a member of the Liberal Party until his expulsion amid factional conflict in 1995.

Early life Crichton-Browne was born on 2 February 1944 in the remote mining town of Wiluna, Western Australia. He was one of three children born to Margaret Bennett and John Crichton-Browne. His father was an engineer at the Wiluna Gold Mine, while his mother worked as a nurse.

Being independently wealthy, Crichton-Browne was able to work full-time for the Liberal Party recruiting members and establishing new branches, travelling widely in regional Western Australia. His personal ties with officeholders in new branches allowed him to develop a power base and gain a reputation as a powerbroker. He was politically aligned with state premier Charles Court, with whom he shared similar views on resource development and states' rights, and their supporters were nicknamed the "Old Guard". He had won preselection for the third position on the Liberal ticket and narrowly defeated Australian Democrats candidate Jack Evans for the final vacancy in Western Australia. He personally funded a series of television advertisements.

Crichton-Browne held socially conservative views and opposed several pieces of equal-opportunity legislation introduced by the Hawke government, including the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986, and amendments to the Family Law Act 1975. Colleen Egan subsequently wrote that Crichton-Browne had told her "If you report how I vote I'll screw your tits off" and made other sexist remarks, while Jennifer Hewett wrote in the Australian Financial Review that Crichton-Browne had been visibly intoxicated and had a history of similar inappropriate remarks towards women.

Reporting of Crichton-Browne's remarks led many of his supporters to publicly distance themselves and seek his expulsion from the party. He was suspended from the federal Liberal partyroom on 4 August 1995 and was expelled by the Western Australian branch of the Liberal Party on 9 September 1995, Crichton-Browne remained in parliament as an "independent Liberal" until the end of his Senate term on 30 June 1996.