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Simon Findlay Crean (26 February 1949 – 25 June 2023) was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 2001 to 2003. He represented the seat of Hotham in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 2013 and was a cabinet minister in the Hawke government, Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments.
Crean was born in Melbourne, the son of Frank Crean who was deputy prime minister under Gough Whitlam. He studied law and economics at Monash University and was involved in the trade union movement from a young age, becoming general secretary of the Storemen and Packers' Union in 1979. He was elected vice-president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in 1981 and president in 1985. Crean stood down from this role upon his election to parliament at the 1990 federal election, and was immediately appointed Minister for Science and Technology in the Hawke government. He held several other ministerial posts until Labor's defeat at the 1996 election.
Following Labor's 1998 election defeat, Crean was elected deputy leader of the ALP under Kim Beazley, replacing Gareth Evans. He was elected unopposed to succeed Beazley as party leader following further defeat at the 2001 election, becoming leader of the opposition. Despite initial enthusiasm for his leadership, Crean struggled in opinion polling, and in June 2003 Beazley challenged him for the leadership. Although Crean won comfortably, speculation about his leadership only intensified, and in November 2003 he announced that he would resign, and was replaced by his shadow treasurer Mark Latham.
Despite losing the leadership, Crean remained a senior figure within the Labor Party, and returned to cabinet as Minister for Trade when Labor won the 2007 election. Crean supported Julia Gillard in her leadership challenge to Kevin Rudd in June 2010, and remained in the Cabinet after she was successful. Although he continued to support Gillard through the leadership spill in February 2012, in March 2013 he announced that he was switching support to Rudd, sparking another leadership spill; Gillard sacked him from the Cabinet in response. When Rudd eventually did return as prime minister at the leadership spill in June 2013, Crean ran unsuccessfully to return to the role of deputy leader; he subsequently announced his decision to retire from politics at the 2013 election. ABC News, 1 July 2013
Crean grew up in the inner Melbourne suburb of Middle Park. He was educated at Melbourne High School, before going to Monash University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws.
In 1979, Crean was elected General Secretary of the SPU, which entitled him to a seat on the board of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). He was elected ACTU vice-president in 1981, before in 1985 winning election as ACTU president. In this position, he played a key role in negotiating numerous agreements on wages and other industrial issues as part of the Prices and Incomes Accord with the Hawke government of Prime Minister Bob Hawke, himself a former ACTU president.
As ACTU president, Crean served on the board of Qantas from 1987 to 1990 and on the board of the Australian Industry Development Corporation from 1988 to 1990.
In November 2001, following Labor's third consecutive election defeat, Crean was elected unopposed to replace Kim Beazley as Leader of the Labor Party, becoming leader of the opposition; Jenny Macklin was elected as his deputy, also unopposed. On 4 February 2003, Crean led the Labor Party to condemn Prime Minister John Howard's decision to commit Australian troops to the Iraq War.
Throughout most of 2003, poor opinion polling led to speculation of a leadership challenge against Crean; on 16 June 2003, Crean called a leadership spill intending to put an end to the leadership tensions, winning against Kim Beazley by 58 votes to 34. This failed to stop Crean losing even further ground to Howard in opinion polls as preferred Prime Minister, and on 28 November 2003, Crean announced that he would resign as Leader of the Labor Party, stating that he felt he no longer had the confidence of his colleagues; this made him the first Labor Leader not to contest a federal election since 1916. On 2 December, Shadow Treasurer Mark Latham defeated Kim Beazley in a ballot by 47 votes to 45 to replace Crean; Latham appointed Crean immediately as Shadow Treasurer. After Labor suffered a fourth consecutive defeat at the 2004 election, Crean resigned from his Shadow Treasurer position; he initially intended to resign from the Shadow Cabinet entirely, but at Latham's insistence, he accepted the role of Shadow Minister for Trade.
Crean retained this position when Beazley returned to the leadership in January 2005. However, in a reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet in June 2005, Crean was demoted to Shadow Minister for Regional Development. He then faced a pre-selection challenge for his seat of Hotham from Martin Pakula, a member of his former union, the SPU, a move which Crean publicly blamed on Beazley, Hong Lim, and the Labor Right. Beazley refused to publicly support either candidate, but several frontbenchers, including Julia Gillard, supported Crean. This helped Crean to comfortably win the pre-selection for his seat; Crean singled out Senator Stephen Conroy for his part in the move against him, describing his front-bench colleague as "venal" and "one of the most disloyal people I've ever worked with in my life". Following the replacement of Kim Beazley by Kevin Rudd as leader in December 2006, Rudd reappointed Crean as Shadow Minister for Trade.
Following Julia Gillard's election unopposed as Prime Minister in June 2010, Crean was appointed to replace Gillard in the role of Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, with Stephen Smith taking over as Minister for Trade. After the 2010 election, Gillard reshuffled the Cabinet and appointed Crean as Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Development and Local Government.
On 21 March 2013, following significant leadership tensions arising from poor opinion polling, Crean called for Gillard to spill the leadership, with the aim of encouraging Rudd to challenge for the position of Prime Minister. This marked a change in Crean's position; he had long been a committed supporter of Gillard. Crean said he would challenge Wayne Swan for the role of deputy leader, if Rudd ran for the leadership. However, Rudd declined to run, leaving Gillard to retain the leadership unopposed. Gillard quickly sacked Crean from the Cabinet, expressing publicly her disappointment at his "disloyalty" to her. Crean became the first Labor minister to be sacked with a dismissal letter from the Governor General since Jim Cairns in 1975.
Before his sacking, Crean had been one of the few federal politicians to have never spent time on the backbencher. After Rudd did eventually replace Gillard as prime minister in June 2013, Crean ran for the position of Deputy Leader but was defeated by Anthony Albanese by 61 votes to 38. Crean subsequently announced he would retire from politics at the 2013 election.
Crean retired as the first person to serve as a Cabinet Minister under four Labor Prime Ministers (Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard) since Jack Beasley (who served under James Scullin, John Curtin, Frank Forde and Ben Chifley).
Crean was an associate professor at Deakin University and chaired the university's Advanced Manufacturing Group. In 2014 Deakin University awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Laws. The same year, he returned to his alma mater Monash University as a member of the University Council, serving as Deputy Chancellor from 2020 until his death in 2023.
Other positions Crean held included chair of the Australia-Korea Business Council, the Australian Livestock Exporters' Council, the European Australian Business Council and co-chair of Cornerstone Group Advisory Board.
Crean was also a director on the boards of Linfox and Melbourne's Luna Park.
Crean was posthumously appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours.
Crean died from a pulmonary embolism in Berlin, on 25 June 2023, while visiting Germany as part of an industry delegation as head of the European Australian Business Council. He was 74. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called him "a giant of the labour movement". He confirmed Crean would be given a state funeral.
Trade unionist
Following his graduation from Monash University, Crean worked in several roles with various trade unions, before becoming an official within the Storeman and Packers Union (SPU). In 1977, aged 28, he stood for ALP preselection to succeed his father in the seat of Melbourne Ports, widely considered a safe Labor seat. He was defeated for preselection by former ALP state leader Clyde Holding, with Holding winning the ballot by 36 votes to 34.
Political career
Hawke and Keating governments
Ahead of the 1990 election, Crean was easily selected as the Labor candidate for the safe seat of Hotham; he was elected to Parliament on 24 March, and immediately entered the Cabinet as Minister for Science and Technology. He became Minister for Primary Industries and Energy in 1991, retaining this job when Paul Keating replaced Bob Hawke as prime minister in December 1991. After Labor's victory at the 1993 election, Keating moved Crean to become Minister for Employment, Education and Training, a role he held until 1996.
Opposition
After the Labor Party was heavily defeated at the 1996 election, Crean chose to contest the deputy leadership, but was defeated by Gareth Evans by 42 votes to 37. He joined the Shadow Cabinet, and after Evans retired from politics following Labor's 1998 election defeat, Crean was easily elected to replace him, becoming Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Treasurer. In January 2001, Crean was awarded the Centenary Medal.
Rudd and Gillard governments
After Labor's victory at the 2007 election, new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appointed Crean to the Cabinet as Minister for Trade. In this role, Crean visited Singapore and Vietnam to pursue Australia's trade and economic interests at a range of ministerial and other high-level meetings. Crean also attended the APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade and the OECD Roundtable on Sustainable Development on behalf of the Australian Government. Crean also co-chaired the 8th Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee with the Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Võ Hồng Phúc in Hanoi, leading to an improvement in the trading relationship between Australia and Vietnam.
Career after politics
In October 2014, Crean was elected chairman of the Australian Livestock Exporters Council. He was re-elected for a second term in 2016.
Personal life
Crean was married to Carole for 50 years and they had two children. He was a supporter and patron of the North Melbourne Football Club.
See also
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1949 Births, 2023 Deaths, Australian Labor Party Members Of The Parliament Of Australia, Labor Right Politicians, Leaders Of The Opposition, Australian People Of Irish Descent, Australian Republicans, Gillard Government, Members Of The Australian House Of Representatives, Members Of The Australian House Of Representatives For Hotham, Members Of The Cabinet Of Australia, Companions Of The Order Of Australia, Monash Law School Alumni, Politicians From Melbourne, Rudd Government, Trade Unionists From Melbourne, People Educated At Melbourne High School, Leaders Of The Australian Labor Party, Australian Council Of Trade Unions People, Australian Mps 1990–1993, Australian Mps 1993–1996, Australian Mps 1996–1998, Australian Mps 1998–2001, Australian Mps 2001–2004, Australian Mps 2004–2007, Australian Mps 2007–2010, Australian Mps 2010–2013
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