John Kerin

John Charles Kerin AO, FTSE (born 21 November 1937) is an Australian economist and former Australian Labor Party (ALP) politician.

For the Australian reproductive doctor, see John F. Kerin. For the American baseball umpire, see John Kerin (umpire).

The Honourable John Kerin AO, FTSE
Minister for Trade and Overseas Development
In office 27 December 1991 – 22 December 1993
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Neal Blewett
Succeeded by	Peter Cook
Minister for Transport and Communications
In office 9 December 1991 – 27 December 1991
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Kim Beazley
Succeeded by	Graham Richardson
Treasurer of Australia
In office 4 June 1991 – 8 December 1991
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Paul Keating
Succeeded by	Ralph Willis
Minister for Primary Industry
In office 11 March 1983 – 3 June 1991
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Peter Nixon
Succeeded by	Simon Crean
Member of the Australian Parliament for Werriwa
In office 23 September 1978 – 22 December 1993
Preceded by	Gough Whitlam
Succeeded by	Mark Latham
Member of the Australian Parliament for Macarthur
In office 2 December 1972 – 13 December 1975
Preceded by	Jeff Bate
Succeeded by	Michael Baume
Personal details
Born	John Charles Kerin (1937-11-21) 21 November 1937 Bowral, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Residence	Canberra
Occupation	Economist

Early life and education

Kerin was born in Bowral in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales.[1] Growing up in a rural area, he was educated at Hurlstone Agricultural High School and Bowral High School. He worked as a poultry farmer before later completing a BA from the University of New England, Armidale, in 1967, and then a B.Econ. from the Australian National University in Canberra in 1977.[1]

Career in politics

Kerin worked at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) before being elected to the Commonwealth Parliament as the Labor member for Macarthur in the 1972 federal election. He lost his seat in the Labor defeat in the 1975 election and returned to the ABARE. He was re-elected as the ALP member for Werriwa in 1978 following the retirement from that seat of former prime minister Gough Whitlam.

Kerin served as Minister for Primary Industries (1983–1987), Minister for Primary Industries and Energy (1987–1991), Minister for Transport and Communications (1991), and Treasurer (1991) in the Labor government of Bob Hawke and later Minister for Trade and Overseas Development (1992–1993) in the Labor Government of Paul Keating.

Kerin replaced Paul Keating as Australian Treasurer in June 1991 after Keating resigned following an unsuccessful challenge to Hawke as Labor leader and Prime Minister, although Bob Hawke himself was treasurer for a day after Paul Keating resigned.[2] Kerin was highly regarded as Minister for Primary Industry[3] but his period as Treasurer was a difficult one,[4] not least because of the ongoing tension between Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.[5] Kerin resigned as Treasurer shortly before Keating's second, successful, bid for leadership in December 1991. Keating later appointed Kerin as Minister for Trade and Overseas Development.

Activities since leaving parliament

After leaving politics in 1993, Kerin held senior positions with the Australian Meat and Livestock Corporation and numerous other bodies. Kerin remains active across a range of activities in public policy in Australia. In October 2008 he was appointed to the board of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. He was appointed the 2008 Distinguished Life Member of the Australian Agriculture and Resource Economics Society.[6]

In October 2010 he was appointed Chair of the Crawford Fund, a position he held until early 2017. The Crawford Fund aims to increase Australia's engagement in international agricultural research, development and education.

In 2011 he resigned from the NSW branch of the ALP in protest at what he saw as the increasingly highly centralised nature of control over the operations of the organisation. He said that the administrative arm of the ALP in NSW had become increasingly involved in policy formulation leaving little room for meaningful participation by rank and file members of the ALP.[7] In August 2012 he rejoined the ALP in Canberra where he felt that local management of the party was more responsive to the concerns of rank and file members.

Later, in 2017, he set out his memoirs of his experiences as a minister in the agriculture and natural resource portfolios between 1983 and 1991 in his book "The way I saw it; the way it was: the making of national agricultural and natural resource management policy".

References

1. Kerin, John C. (2017). The way I saw it; the way it was. Melbourne: Analysis & Policy Observatory (APO). Retrieved 20 October 2018.
2. "Hawke Ministry (ALP) 4.4.1990 – 20.12.1991". Parliamentary Handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. 10 January 2003. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2006.
3. Hayden, Bill (1996). Bill Hayden: An Autobiography. Sydney, Australia: Angus & Robertson. p. 483. ISBN 0207 18769X.
4. Gordon, Michael (1993). Paul Keating: A Question of Leadership. St Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press. pp. 169, 170. ISBN 0 7022 2586X.
5. Ibid., p. 170.
6. "The Honorable John Kerin A.M., C.M., FTSE, FAIAST". Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. 54: 269–270. 2010. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8489.2010.00502.x.
7. Steve Lewis, 'ALP elder Kerin quits in disgust', The Courier-Mail, 15 August 2011.

External links

• John Kerin (2003), "Primary Industry Policy", in Susan Ryan and Troy Bramston (Eds.), The Hawke Government: A Critical Perspective, Pluto Press, ISBN 978-1864032642.
• John Kerin (2013), "Primary Industry Policy", in Troy Bramston (ed.), The Whitlam Legacy, The Federation Press, Annandale, NSW. ISBN 978-186287-903-4 (hbk)
• John C. Kerin (2017), "The way I saw it; the way it was: the making of national agricultural and natural resource management policy".

Political offices
Preceded by Peter Nixon	Minister for Primary Industry Minister for Primary Industries and Energy 1983–1991	Succeeded by Simon Crean
Preceded by Bob Hawke	Treasurer of Australia 1991	Succeeded by Ralph Willis
Preceded by Kim Beazley	Minister for Transport and Communications 1991	Succeeded by Graham Richardson
Preceded by Neal Blewett	Minister for Trade and Overseas Development 1991–1993	Succeeded by Peter Cook
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Jeff Bate	Member for Macarthur 1972–1975	Succeeded by Michael Baume
Preceded by Gough Whitlam	Member for Werriwa 1978–1993	Succeeded by Mark Latham