Kevin Owen Foley (born 25 September 1960) is a former South Australian politician who served as 11th

Deputy Premier of South Australia Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

and additionally Treasurer of South Australia in the Rann Government from 2002 to 2011 for the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party. He is the longest-serving deputy premier and the third longest-serving treasurer in South Australian history.

Early life

Foley was raised in Port Adelaide and educated at Royal Park High School. He left school at the age of 16 and began working for Cadbury-Schweppes. He later worked variously for the Australian Trade Commission,

Boral Boral Limited is Australia's largest building and construction materials supplier, with market-leading positions in quarries, cement, concrete and asphalt. Boral is actively pursuing a decarbonisation strategy through recycling of demolition ...

Limited and steel distribution company Australian National Industries. Immediately before entering Parliament, Foley worked as a senior advisor and chief of staff to then South Australian Premier

Lynn Arnold Lynn Maurice Ferguson Arnold, AO (born 27 January 1949) is an Anglican priest and a former Australian politician, who represented the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, serving as Premier of South Australia between 4 Septem ...

Political career

Foley unsuccessfully contested seat of

Semaphore Semaphore (; ) is the use of an apparatus to create a visual signal transmitted over distance. A semaphore can be performed with devices including: fire, lights, flags, sunlight, and moving arms. Semaphores can be used for telegraphy when arr ...

at the 1989 election against Independent Labor MP

Norm Peterson Hilary Norman Peterson is a regular fictional character on the American television show ''Cheers''. The character was portrayed by actor George Wendt and is named Hilary after his paternal grandfather. Norm appeared in all 275 episodes of '' ...

. However, he won the seat of Hart at the 1993 election before moving to the seat of

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

due to Hart's abolition at the 2002 election. Prior to the 2002 election, Foley did not serve in the position of Deputy Opposition Leader. However, as a result of previous Deputy Leader

Annette Hurley Annette Kay Hurley (born 23 March 1955) is a former Australian politician. Elected at the 2004 federal election, she was a Labor member of the Australian Senate from July 2005, representing the state of South Australia. She announced in July 2 ...

failing to win a seat in Parliament at the 2002 election Foley was elected deputy leader and treasurer by the Labor Caucus. As treasurer, Foley was responsible for rebuilding the state's finances, culminating in the attainment of a AAA credit rating. He also played a leading role in securing a series of significant defence contracts, negotiating the Olympic Dam mine expansion and supporting many of the state's largest infrastructure projects, such as the

Adelaide Oval Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the city centre and North Adelaide. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby l ...

redevelopment and the new

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary hea ...

. Whilst in Government, Foley served in a range of other cabinet positions, including Minister for Industry, Investment and Trade; Minister for Federal/State Relations; Minister Assisting the Premier in Economic Development; Minister for Police; Minister for Defence Industries; Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Motor Sport; and Minister Assisting the Premier with the Olympic Dam Expansion Project. Foley was a member of the

Defence SA Advisory Board The Defence SA Advisory Board provides high-level strategic and policy advice to the Government of South Australia "to promote the growth of Defence and defence industries in accordance with South Australia’s Strategic Plan." Air Chief Marshal S ...

from its establishment in 2007 until 2011. In 2011, Foley said that he thought Australia should embrace

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

. Foley announced his resignation from the roles of deputy premier and treasurer in February 2011, although he continued as a member of cabinet with the Defence, Police, Emergency Services and Motor Sports portfolios. In October 2011 he resigned from the cabinet, coinciding with

Mike Rann Michael David Rann, , (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and Australian am ...

's resignation as premier. Foley's parliamentary resignation took effect on 12 December 2011, creating a 2012 Port Adelaide by-election.

Post-parliamentary career

In February 2012, Foley established his own corporate advisory firm Foley Advisory, and has a "strategic alignment" with the lobbyists Bespoke Approach. Foley has since worked closely with Bespoke Approach's partners

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...

Nick Bolkus Nick Bolkus (born 17 July 1950) is a former Australian Labor Party politician. He was a member of the Senate from July 1981 to June 2005, representing the state of South Australia. Early career Bolkus was born in Adelaide and educated at Adela ...

and

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

. As of 2021, Sky City Casino is one of the companies he lobbies for in South Australia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Kevin 1960 births Living people Deputy Premiers of South Australia Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Treasurers of South Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of South Australia 21st-century Australian politicians