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John Charles Kerin (21 November 1937 – 29 March 2023) was an Australian economist and Labor Party politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1993. He held a number of senior ministerial roles in both the Hawke government and Keating governments, including six months as Treasurer of Australia and eight years as Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, holding the latter role for the longest period in Australian history.
After Labor's landslide victory at the 1983 election, newly elected Prime Minister Bob Hawke appointed Kerin as Minister for Primary Industries and Energy owing to Kerin's significant experience both in economics and working on commodities and agricultural policies. His background made Kerin a good fit for the role, and he remained in the position for almost the entirety of Hawke's time as Prime Minister, making him by far the longest-serving minister in this portfolio in Australian history. During his time as Primary Industries and Energy Minister, Kerin played a key role in the Hawke government's numerous economic reforms, particularly the gradual abolition of most tariff protections on agricultural imports.
After Paul Keating resigned as Treasurer of Australia in June 1991 to mount an unsuccessful leadership challenge to Hawke, Kerin was appointed to replace him. Keating had been an influential and long-serving treasurer, as well as being Hawke's primary political partner, leading to significant and immediate media pressure on Kerin to see how he would compare. Kerin was highly regarded as Minister for Primary Industry. (1996). 020718769X, Angus & Robertson. 020718769X After an initially positive start, Kerin was judged by several journalists as failing to respond adequately to the Liberal-National Coalition's proposals for their new 'Fightback!' economic policy. Kerin was further undermined by hostile briefing by some from within the Labor Caucus, and ultimately his authority in office was fatally undermined when he made a public gaffe by appearing to forget the meaning of a gross operating surplus. (1993). 070222586X, University of Queensland Press. 070222586X Hawke felt that he had no option but to sack Kerin as treasurer, replacing him with Ralph Willis, and instead appointing Kerin as Minister for Transport and Communications.
However, his time in this role would be brief, as Keating mounted a successful challenge to Hawke's leadership less than a fortnight later. Having promised the portfolio of Transport and Communications to his close ally Graham Richardson, Keating moved Kerin to the role of Minister for Trade and Overseas Development. In this position, Kerin played a key role in preparing the groundwork for the APEC Leaders' Summit at which the Bogor would be declared, pledging significant movement towards free trade amongst Pacific economies. He was dropped from the ministry after the 1993 election and at the end of that year Kerin announced his retirement from Parliament, stating that he wished to move on to other things.
In October 2010 Kerin 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 New South Wales branch of the Labor Party 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 party had become increasingly involved in policy formulation, leaving little room for meaningful participation by rank and file party members.Steve Lewis, ' ALP elder Kerin quits in disgust', The Courier-Mail, 15 August 2011. In August 2012, he rejoined the Party as a member in Canberra, where he stated he felt that local management of the party was more responsive to the concerns of members.
In 2017, Kerin released an extensive memoir of his experiences as Primary Industries and Energy Minister between 1983 and 1991.John C. Kerin. 2017. ' The way I saw it; the way it was: the making of national agricultural and natural resource management policy.'. Melbourne: Analysis and Policy Observation.
Kerin died on 29 March 2023, at the age of 85.
On 1 January 2001 Kerin was awarded the Centenary Medal. Centenary Medal
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