Francis Daniel Crean (28 February 1916 – 2 December 2008) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1951 to 1977, representing the Labor Party. He was a minister in the Whitlam Government, including as

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

from 1972 to 1974 and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

for a few months in 1975. Crean was born in

Hamilton, Victoria Hamilton is a large town in south-western Victoria, Australia, at the intersection of the Glenelg Highway and the Henty Highway. The Hamilton Highway connects it to Geelong. Hamilton is in the federal Division of Wannon, and is in the Southern ...

. He attended

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1905, the school caters for boys from Year 9 t ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

, and subsequently worked as a tax accountant. Crean was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

in 1945. He lost his seat in 1947 and reclaimed it in 1949, but quit state politics two years later to stand at the 1951 federal election. Crean spent the first 21 years of his career in federal politics

in opposition ''In Opposition'' was a Canadian television sitcom, which aired on CBC Television in 1989."Some Hon. Members: Yawn; In opposition a political sitcom without politics -- or laughs". ''Ottawa Citizen'', October 24, 1989. The show lasted only a singl ...

, albeit as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kn ...

for most of that time. He became Treasurer after the 1972 election, but economic uncertainty and factional considerations meant he was replaced by

Jim Cairns James Ford Cairns (4 October 191412 October 2003) was an Australian politician who was prominent in the Labor movement through the 1960s and 1970s, and was briefly Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government. He is best re ...

after two years. He was instead appointed Minister for Overseas Trade. Crean held that position until the government's dismissal in 1975, and for its final six months was also deputy prime minister, replacing Cairns when he became embroiled in the Khemlani affair. He left politics at the 1977 election. His son,

Simon Crean Simon Findlay Crean (born 26 February 1949) is an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was the Member of Parliament for Hotham from 1990 to 2013, representing the Labor Party, and served as a Cabinet Minister in the Hawke, Keating, R ...

, was a Member of Parliament from 1990 to 2013.

Early life

Crean was born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, where his father was a bicycle-maker. Although his father was of Irish Catholic descent, Francis was raised in his mother's

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

faith. He was known as Francis in his early life, but later changed his name to the less Irish Catholic-sounding Frank. He graduated from the

with degrees in arts and commerce and a diploma in public administration, and became an accountant and tax consultant. In 1946, Crean married Mary Findlay, with whom he had three sons. One of these,

, was the federal Labor leader from 2001 to 2003. Another, Dr. David Crean, became a minister in the state Labor government in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. His third son,

Stephen Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

, became lost while skiing and died in a blizzard near Charlotte Pass in August 1985. A massive search failed to find him. His remains were found more than two years later.

Politics

In 1945 Crean was elected to the

, but was defeated in 1947. He was re-elected in 1949. He quit state politics in 1951, to stand for the safe Labor seat of

Melbourne Ports The Division of Melbourne Ports was an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was located to the south of Melbourne's central business district and covered an area of appro ...

in the

. In Canberra, Crean advanced rapidly, since he was one of the few Labor members with formal qualifications in economics. Elected to the Opposition front-bench in 1956, he became, in effect, shadow Treasurer (although Labor did not have a formal shadow ministry until 1969). This position he held for 16 years. During the 1960s Crean was sometimes considered as a possible party leader, but his rather plodding public image meant that he was overtaken by

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

, who became leader in 1967. When Whitlam finally led Labor to office at the 1972 election, Crean became

, although Whitlam had no real confidence in him. Crean's tenure coincided with the onset of high

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

and rising

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

. He did not trust the orthodox economic advice he was getting from the Treasury, but he lacked the authority to challenge it. The leader of the

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

, Dr Jim Cairns, attacked Crean's policies in the Cabinet, and in December 1974 Whitlam gave Cairns the Treasury and moved Crean to the

Trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

portfolio. In July 1975 Whitlam sacked Cairns over his involvement in the Loans Affair, and Crean was elected party Deputy Leader and

in his place, defeating

Kim Beazley Sr. Kim Edward Beazley (30 September 1917 – 12 October 2007) was an Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1945 to 1977, representing the Labor Party. He was Minister for Education in the Whitlam Go ...

47 votes to 31, with

Frank Stewart Francis Eugene "Frank" Stewart (20 February 192316 April 1979), Australian politician and rugby league footballer, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing Lang between 1953 and 1977 and subsequently Grayndler betw ...

receiving 11 and

Kep Enderby Keppel Earl Enderby (25 June 1926 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian politician and judge. Enderby was a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Australian Labor Party between 1970 and 1975 and became a senior cabinet minist ...

4. He held this position until the dismissal of the Whitlam government in November 1975. After the election he contested the leadership, polling 13 votes to

Lionel Bowen Lionel Frost Bowen, AC (28 December 1922 – 1 April 2012) was an Australian politician and senior Labor Party figure, serving in the ministries of Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 199 ...

's 14 and Whitlam's 36. He retired from parliament in 1977.

Later years

From 1978 to 2004, Crean was chairman of the New Hope Migrant and Refugee Centre. In July 2006 it was reported that he was too frail to travel interstate for Gough Whitlam's 90th birthday function. Crean died following a short illness on 2 December 2008, the 36th anniversary of the election of the Whitlam government in 1972.

References

Bibliography

*Frith, Marion (1995). "Family Politics--Like Father, Like Son." ''The Age''. 24 June. *Griffiths, Tony (2005). ''Beautiful Lies: Australia From Menzies to Howard''. Kent Town: Wakefield Press. *Smyth, Paul (1994). ''Australian Social Policy: The Keynesian Chapter''. Sydney: New South Wales University Press. *Stewart Ian (1974). "Inflation Troubles Australian Labor Party." ''The New York Times''. 8 October. *Trumbull, Robert (1973). "Problems Cloud Whitlam's Image." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. 4 February. {{DEFAULTSORT:Crean, Frank 1916 births 2008 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian people of Irish descent Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Melbourne Ports Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia Members of the Cabinet of Australia 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Treasurers of Australia Victoria (Australia) state politicians University of Melbourne alumni People educated at Melbourne High School Australian Presbyterians 20th-century Australian politicians People from Hamilton, Victoria Government ministers of Australia Australian Army personnel of World War II