WEST AUSTRALIANA

Signed by Kim Beazley. 467 p., [16] p. of plates : ill., ports. ; 25 cm. #0721 Beazley, Kim C. (Kim Christian), 1948- | Australian Labor Party — Biography. | Politicians — Australia — Biography.
Kim Christian Beazley AC (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian politician who is currently Governor of Western Australia. He was previously Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1995 to 1996, Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, and Ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2016. He served in multiple roles in the Hawke and Keating Governments from 1983 to 1996.

Beazley was born in Subiaco, Western Australia, the son of politician Kim Beazley. He studied at the University of Western Australia and Balliol College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. After a period as a lecturer at Murdoch University, Beazley was elected to Parliament at the 1980 election, winning the Division of Swan. Prime Minister Bob Hawke appointed Beazley to the Cabinet following Labor’s victory at the 1983 election, and Beazley served as a minister continuously through to the party’s defeat at the 1996 election. His roles included Minister for Defence from 1984 to 1990, Leader of the House from 1988 to 1996, Minister for Finance from 1993 to 1996 and Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 1996.

After Labor’s 1996 defeat, Beazley was elected unopposed as Labor Leader, replacing Paul Keating. Despite winning the popular vote at the 1998 election, Beazley could not win enough seats to form government, and after a second defeat in 2001, he resigned the leadership. He attempted twice to return to the leadership, doing so in 2005 after Labor lost the 2004 election, but was successfully challenged by Kevin Rudd in December 2006 following poor opinion polling. Beazley retired from Parliament at the 2007 election, which Labor won, and was appointed Ambassador to the United States. Beazley held this role until 2016, before being appointed Governor of Western Australia by Premier Mark McGowan in 2018.