Jeff Kennett

Jeffrey Gibb Kennett AC (born 2 March 1948), Australian politician, was Premier of Victoria from 1992 to 1999. He was born in Melbourne and educated at Scotch College, Melbourne. He dropped out of the Australian National University after one year of an economics degree, and worked in retailing. In 1968 he was conscripted into the Australian Army, and served in Malaysia and Singapore. He returned to civilian life and went into advertising, forming his own company, KNF, in 1971. In 1972 he married Felicity Kellar, with whom he had four children.

Liberal leader

Kennett was elected Liberal MP for Burwood in 1976, and in 1981 he became Minister for Housing, Immigration and Ethnic Affairs in the government of Lindsay Thompson. When the Liberals were defeated in 1982 he was elected Leader of the Liberal Party, despite being the youngest member of the outgoing Cabinet. He was an aggressive Opposition Leader, and was much criticised for his "bull-in-a-china-shop" style and his populist anti-government rhetoric.

Related Topics:
Liberal - 1976 - 1981 - Lindsay Thompson - 1982

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The Labor government of John Cain was easily re-elected in 1985, but by the end of its second term the government was in trouble and the Liberals were given a good chance of winning the 1988 election. When Cain was returned with a small but workable majority, Kennett was criticised within his own party, and in 1989 he was deposed and replaced by Alan Brown, a little-known rural MP. A furious Kennett described Alan Hunt, the instigator of the coup, as "a man never to be trusted". Typically he publically pledged never to attempt a return to the Liberal leadership, but when Brown proved unable to challenge the government effectively, he allowed his supporters to stage a party-room coup and restore him to the leadership in 1991.

Related Topics:
John Cain - 1985 - 1988 - 1989 - Alan Brown - 1991

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