Robert Murray Hill (born 25 September 1946) is a retired Australian politician. He is an Adjunct Professor in Sustainability and Co-Director of the Alliance 21 project at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a Commissioner of the Global Ocean Commission. Early life and family Born in Adelaide, Hill studied at Scotch College, Adelaide and the University of Adelaide, where he took degrees in Arts and Law, and later the London School of Economics, where he gained a master's degree in law. Hill was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics. He was Vice-President of the Liberal Party in South Australia 1977–79 and President 1985–87. Like many South Australian Liberals, Hill belonged to the liberal or moderate wing of the Liberal Party. He was also a member of the Liberal Party's Federal Executive 1985–87 and 1990–93. Hill comes from a political family. His father, Murray Hill, was a prominent Liberal member of the South Australian Legislative Council from 1965 to 1988. His daughter, Victoria, is an Australian actress. Career Political career Hill was elected as a Senator for the State of South Australia, representing the Liberal Party, at the 1980 Federal election. He took his seat in the Senate on 1 July 1981, and served until 15 March 2006. Following the announcement of the 1987 Senate election results, Hill was one of four senators who received a three-year term as a consequence of which method was chosen to allocate the seats. After the Liberals' defeat (their fourth consecutive loss) at the 1990 federal election, Hill became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (1990–96), and held appointments during these years as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence, Public Administration and Education, Science and Training. In 1994 he was Chairman of the Senate's Policy Review Committee. In 1994 he was unsuccessful in seeking Liberal preselection for the House of Representatives seat of Boothby for the 1996 election. The preselected candidate was instead Andrew Southcott who went on to win the seat at the 1996 election and Hill remained in the Senate until his retirement in 2006. Following the landslide election victory of the Liberals under John Howard in 1996, Hill became Leader of the Government in the Senate (1996–2006) and Minister for the Environment (1996–98). He was subsequently appointed Minister for the Environment and Heritage (1998–2001) and Minister for Defence (2001–06). On 1 January 2001,