Christopher John Hurford (30 July 1931 – 15 November 2020) was a
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
member of the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of the ...
seat of
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
from 1969 to 1987. He played a key role in the development of Australia's skills-oriented immigration policy, and founded the ALP Labor Unity faction in SA.
Early life
Hurford was born in
Mhow
Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...
, India, to an English father and Australian mother. In 1940, his mother took the children to Perth, Western Australia where Hurford attended school, before returning to India, then to England. In 1949, his whole family migrated to Western Australia as 'ten-pound poms', despite their Australian heritage.
[Don Dunstan Oral History Project](_blank)
Flinders University. After studying at the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
, Hurford worked in accountancy. He entered federal parliament in 1969, representing the
Division of Adelaide
The Division of Adelaide is an Australian electoral division in South Australia and is named for the city of Adelaide, South Australia's capital.
At the 2016 federal election, the electorate covered 76 km², is centred on the Adelaide ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. The seat had fallen to
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Andrew Jones during the massive Coalition landslide of
1966
Events January
* January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.
* January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
. However, Jones' strong conservatism did not play well in this traditionally Labor seat, and Hurford retook the seat for Labor on a resounding 14.3 percent swing, turning it into a safe Labor seat in one election cycle, taking a majority of the first preferences. He held Adelaide until his resignation in 1987.
Ministerial record
Hurford was
Minister for Housing and Construction, outside
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
in the
first Hawke Ministry from March 1983 to December 1984. In the
second Hawke Ministry, he was promoted to Cabinet as
Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs
The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Andrew Giles, pending the swearing in of the full Albanese ministry on 1 June 2022, following the ...
until February 1987, when he replaced
Don Grimes
Donald James Grimes (4 October 1937 – 20 November 2021) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1974 to 1987, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). In the Hawke Government he held ministerial office as ...
as
Minister for Community Services.
Hurford's period as Immigration Minister was notable for his attempt to have Sheikh
Taj El-Din Hilaly
Taj El-Din Hamid Hilaly (alternatively spelt Tajeddin Hilaly, Hilali, Al-Hilaly, Taj el-Din al-Hilali, Aldin Alhilali, Tajideen El-Hilaly or Tajeddine) Toni Hassan ABC Radio, The Religion Report (transcripKeysar Trad on an alternative Australia ...
deported, but was unsuccessful. He also made an early, unsuccessful attempt to reduce ministerial discretions in the granting of immigration visas.
In July 1987, Hurford withdrew from the third Hawke ministry for personal reasons. He retired from Parliament at the end of the year.
The resulting by-election in his seat of Adelaide saw his party lose the seat with voters expressing anger at the by-election and believing that Hurford would serve them as their member of parliament for the full term.
Internal ALP role
Within the South Australian ALP, Hurford is arguably an important modernising figure. He led the creation of the
Labor Unity
The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...
faction, a group variously described as "right-wing", moderate or (after the ascension of the UK Blair Government) "Third Way". A Catholic, Hurford won support from the socially conservative leadership of the Shop Distributive and Allied Trades Union in forming the faction.
In the 1980s Hurford led the SA Labor Unity group in vigorously defending within the ALP the policy direction of the Hawke Government, a direction with which the larger Centre-Left and Left factions were uncomfortable. By the 1990s Labor Unity became a substantial counterweight to the other factions in SA.
Post political life
On retirement from Parliament at the end of 1987, Hurford became Australia's Consul-General in
New York
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* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
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* '' ...
for four years.
In 1991 he was appointed as head of external relations at the University of South Australia.
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurford, Chris
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Adelaide
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Members of the Cabinet of Australia
1931 births
2020 deaths
20th-century Australian politicians
Consuls-General of Australia in New York
Government ministers of Australia
Officers of the Order of Australia