Kim Edward Beazley
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Kim Edward Beazley (30 September 1917 – 12 October 2007) 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 1945 to 1977, representing the Labor Party. He was Minister for Education in the Whitlam Government from 1972 to 1975.


Early life and education

Beazley, the youngest of seven children, was born in
Northam, Western Australia Northam () is a town in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated at the confluence of the Avon and Mortlock Rivers, about east-northeast of Perth in the Avon Valley. At the 2016 census, Northam had a population of 6,548. Northa ...
. He was the son of Alfred Beazley, a storeman and packer, and his wife Mary Wright. Beazley grew up in
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
. He attended the academically selective
Perth Modern School , motto_translation = Knowledge is Power , location = Subiaco, Perth, Western Australia , country = Australia , coordinates = , mapframe-stroke-colour = #C60C30 , mapframe-marker-co ...
(1933–1935), where he topped the state in history and English. He went on to
Claremont Teachers College Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on ...
, and first worked as a teacher at the Richmond State School
East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
, and then Arthur River,
Midland Junction Midland is a suburb in the Perth metropolitan region, as well as the regional centre for the City of Swan local government area that covers the Swan Valley and parts of the Darling Scarp to the east. It is situated at the intersection of Gr ...
, and Claremont. Beazley later studied politics at the
University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...
(UWA), and tutored at
Claremont Teachers College Claremont Teachers College was Western Australia’s first post-secondary teaching institution. It opened in 1902 and closed in 1981, when it became a College of Advanced Education and later a campus of Edith Cowan University. The building is on ...
and at UWA. He was later to gain an MA from the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...
.


Career

Beazley was active in the Labor Party, and the elegance of his writings and the eloquence of his speeches marked him out as a rising star. He served as vice president of the State School Teachers' Union and as a member of the State Executive of the Party. On the death in office of Prime Minister John Curtin in 1945, the 27-year-old Beazley was preselected for, and won, Curtin's Federal Parliament seat of
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
. He was the youngest member of the federal parliament when elected, and was known as "the student prince". He became the
Father of the House Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously ...
in 1975, and held his seat until he retired in 1977. A committed Christian (he was brought up and baptised in the
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...
),In Beazley K E ''Father of the House: The memoirs of Kim E Beazley''
Fremantle Press Fremantle Press (formerly known as Fremantle Arts Centre Press) is an independent publisher in Western Australia. Fremantle Press was established by the Fremantle Arts Centre in 1976. It focuses on publishing Western Australian writers and writi ...
, January 2009
and member of
Moral Rearmament Moral Re-Armament (MRA) was an international moral and spiritual movement that, in 1938, developed from American minister Frank Buchman's Oxford Group. Buchman headed MRA for 23 years until his death in 1961. In 2001, the movement was renamed Ini ...
, Beazley was prominent on the right-wing of the Labor Party during the ideological battles of the 1950s and 1960s. He claimed a central role in the events leading to the Labor Party's fateful 1954 split and harboured lifelong regret that he failed to help avert the split when he felt it had been in his power to do so. During the leadership of
Arthur Calwell Arthur Augustus Calwell (28 August 1896 – 8 July 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He led the party to three federal elections. Calwell grew up in Melbourne and attended St J ...
(from 1960 to 1967) he was considered a possible future leader of the party, but his right-wing views, particularly his support for the U.S. Alliance, cost him support, and
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 h ...
emerged as Calwell's successor. Beazley was the education minister in the Whitlam Government from 1972 to 1975. Though afflicted with severe illness for part of his tenure, he carried out important reforms in the education field, such as abolishing university fees and introducing needs-based funding for all schools through the Schools Commission.State funeral planned for Beazley Sr
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owne ...
, 14 October 2007.
During the 1970s Beazley worked for the United States of America in what a historian has called "a discreet relationship".


Later life and death

After the defeat of the Whitlam Government in 1975, Beazley was elected to the Labor front bench, but resigned when it was revealed that Gough Whitlam and Bill Hartley, with the ALP national secretary, David Combe, had been seeking money from the
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i
Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused ...
to pay for the party's election campaign. He retired from politics in 1977. At the time of his death he was the last parliamentary survivor of the Chifley government, as well as the earliest surviving member of the Commonwealth Parliament. He died in Perth on 12 October 2007, and was accorded a
state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of ...
on 20 October. His memoirs were published posthumously in February 2009 with a foreword by his son Kim Christian Beazley who himself had a distinguished career as a Labor politician and party leader. The
Beazley Medal The Beazley Medals are two annual awards awarded by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (and previously the Curriculum Council of Australia). The award is the highest profile and most prestigious academic award for secondary students ...
, annual awards to the top secondary students in WA, were named in his honour. Kim Edward Beazley's death came almost a year after the death of his other son, David.


Personal life

Beazley married
Betty Judge Betty Beazley (née Judge; 21 March 1921 – 13 September 2015), known as Betty Judge during her career, was an Australian athletics world record holder at 880 yards, 330 yards and 300 metres. She coached the Olympic champion Shirley Strickland ...
, a fellow teacher, union official and an athlete (she was Australian women's 880 yards champion), on 7 February 1948, at Claremont. They had two sons, including Rhodes Scholar, Deputy Prime Minister and
Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutiona ...
Kim Christian Beazley, and one daughter.


References


External links


Death Notice (''The Sydney Morning Herald'')
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beazley, Kim Edward 1917 births 2007 deaths 1975 Australian constitutional crisis Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Fremantle Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Cabinet of Australia People educated at Perth Modern School People from Northam, Western Australia University of Western Australia alumni 20th-century Australian politicians Australian memoirists 20th-century memoirists