Robert George Halverson, OBE (22 October 1937 – 9 February 2016) was an Australian politician, air force officer and diplomat.
[1] Halverson served in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 1956 to 1981, attaining the rank of group captain.
His first posting was to RAAF Base Townsville, where an explosion left him deaf in one ear and ended his ambitions to become a pilot.
He returned to Australia but moved overseas again in 1976, when he was seconded to the British Royal Air Force's RAF Support Command for three years.
[4] He attracted attention in 1989 when he referred to government MP Elizabeth Harvey as "baby" during question time in the House of Representatives.
Halverson retired from politics at the 1998 election and was appointed the Australian Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See, which he remained until 2003 when he was succeeded by John Herron.