John Dyson Harrowfield (born 19 February 1953) is a former Australian politician. He was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to Roy Wilmott Harrowfield and Irene Mary Whitworth. He attended state schools and then

Melbourne University 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 ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

. He worked as an accountant and as an economics tutor at Melbourne University and the

Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...

and Chisholm Institutes of Technology. A member of the Labor Party, he was president of the Blackburn North branch from 1974 to 1979. In 1982 he 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 ...

as the member for

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ha ...

. He was promoted to the front bench as Minister for Small Business in 1991, becoming

Minister for Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in 1992, but he lost his seat in the election later that year. Since 1992 he has been a public policy researcher and consultant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrowfield, John 1953 births Living people Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria University of Melbourne alumni Politicians from Melbourne Ministers for Small Business (Victoria) Ministers for Finance (Victoria)