Snow was elected to the
Australian House of Representatives as the member for
Eden-Monaro in 1983. He was defeated by
Gary Nairn in the
1996 election. Prior to parliament Jim Snow was an honorary lieutenant (pharmacist) in the military reserve of officers for some years. Snow chaired the government (
Parliamentary Labor Party) caucus from 1993 to 1996 after chairing the Transport and Communications Policy Committee. He was also Convenor of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Working Group and the Land Transport and Postal Services Working group. He convened 'search conferences' to find solutions and resolve conflicts in both local and national issues, including two on the need to control
feral animals, the first of which was followed by the first National Feral Animal control program. Those and other search conferences brought together local and national expertise and were facilitated by Dr
Alistair Crombie of the
Australian National University,
Geoff Pryor,
Penny Lockwood,
Kevin Hambly, and
Justin Mahon. The search conferences also dealt with Land Transport, Fishing and Abalone issues, recycling human waste and the future of
Barunguba / Montague Island following the controversial automation of the lighthouse. The latter conference led to agreement to have national parks supervision and a human presence on the island. Snow moved a
private member motion (House of Representatives Hansard, 17 December 1992) that the parliament deal with drug-related crime, health and social problems by initiating the availability of
heroin,
cocaine and
amphetamines on prescription by addiction trained physicians and dispensers. On 18 November 1993 he moved that the executive move for constitutional change to remove state governments and reform and strengthen local government. Neither motion reached a vote. Snow lost his After losing his seat in the
1996 federal election, Jim Snow and his wife, Lesley, worked with Aboriginal organisations and he became patron of
Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Medical Service. He was a foundation member of the Drug Law Reform Foundation and served as co-convenor of Beyond Federation which seeks constitutional reform, including the removal of the state tier of government and he serves as a member of
Home in Queanbeyan, an initiative providing accommodation and care to the mentally ill. He has edited four editions of the
After Parliament Guide printed by the parliament to assist former members in their transition from parliamentary life. He was made a life member of the
Australian Labor Party. Snow was one of three members of the ALP Caucus who were absent (he was ill) in the vote that saw
Paul Keating oust
Bob Hawke as Prime Minister and ALP leader in
December 1991. The others were Foreign Minister
Gareth Evans who was out of the country and
Con Sciacca who was instead with his dying son. ==References==