Lindsay James Tanner (born 24 April 1956)
is a former Australian politician. A member of the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
(ALP), he represented the seat of
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 ...
in 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 1993 to 2010 and served as
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 the
Rudd
''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). Th ...
and
Gillard Governments from 2007 to 2010.
Background
Tanner was born in the East Gippsland town of
Orbost
Orbost is a historic early settlers town in the Shire of East Gippsland, Victoria, east of Melbourne and south of Canberra where the Princes Highway crosses the Snowy River. It is about from the surf and fishing seaside town of Marlo on th ...
.
He studied at the local state primary school before obtaining a scholarship to
Gippsland Grammar School
(The truth will set you free)
, established = 1924
, type = Independent, co-educational, day & boarding
, denomination = Anglican
, slogan =
, principal = Mic ...
in Sale, where he graduated as dux in 1973. He graduated from 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 ...
with a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours, and later a Master of Arts in History in 1981. While still at university, he co-wrote a book on environmental politics and worked as a casual layout and design artist. He was editor of ''
Farrago'' and a member of the ''
Melbourne University Law Review''.
Tanner began his career as an
articled clerk
Articled clerk is a title used in Commonwealth countries for one who is studying to be an accountant or a lawyer. In doing so, they are put under the supervision of someone already in the profession, now usually for two years, but previously three ...
and solicitor at Holding Redlich Lawyers in Melbourne. In 1985, he became an electorate assistant to Labor senator
Barney Cooney. He was Assistant State Secretary of the
Federated Clerks' Union
The Federated Clerks Union of Australia (FCU) was an Australian trade union representing clerical workers, in existence from 1911 to 1993, when it amalgamated with the Australian Services Union.
History
Between 1900 and 1907, attempts were made to ...
from 1987, then State Secretary from 1988 until 1993.
Parliamentary career
In March 1993 Tanner was elected to 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 ...
representing the
Division of Melbourne
The Division of Melbourne is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the states and territories of Australia, State of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, represented since the 2010 Australian feder ...
, and served one term as a government backbencher during
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...
's final term as Prime Minister.
The
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
under
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...
won the
March 1996 election, and Keating subsequently retired from politics. A major reshuffle by new leader
Kim Beazley
Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabine ...
resulted in Tanner's promotion to the Shadow Ministry and appointment as Shadow Minister for Transport. He remained a member of the Shadow Ministry, despite numerous changes of leadership, continuously until the election of the Rudd Labor government in November 2007.
In 1998, Tanner was moved to the portfolios of Finance and Consumer Affairs. In 1999, he wrote a book entitled ''Open Australia'', which explored how information technology could be used to enhance social justice and economic equality; and he also wrote a number of articles on targeted, "micro" ways of addressing globalisation and the decline of large-scale manufacturing, in which he suggested there was little substance to the notion put forward by
neoclassical economists of a "simulated free market" in East Asian economies that explains their "emergence" (see
1997 Asian Financial Crisis
The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...
). Following the 2001 election, he became Shadow Minister for Communications.
Tanner has been a prominent member of Labor's
left faction
The Left Faction ( he, סיעת שמאל, ''Siat Smol'') was a short-lived political party in Israel.
History
The Left Faction was formed on 20 February 1952 (during the second Knesset) as a breakaway from Mapam in the aftermath of the Prague T ...
and it was thought that he might contest the Labor leadership in 2002, when former leader
Kim Beazley
Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabine ...
first challenged
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 ...
. In the second leadership spill in December 2003, Tanner supported Beazley, who lost the party-room ballot to
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...
. The following month, Latham appointed Tanner to the new portfolio of Community Relationships, in addition to his existing responsibilities.
After the
October 2004 federal election, Tanner was thought to be a candidate for the position of Shadow Treasurer, which had been vacated by Simon Crean. However, once it became clear that Latham did not intend to offer him this position, Tanner announced that he would not stand for a position in the new shadow ministry. He subsequently released a brief statement, stating that he had "no complaint about how Mark Latham has dealt with
impersonally", but adding that he had "serious reservations about the emerging Labor response to our latest election defeat." In June 2005, Tanner was re-elected to the Opposition frontbench and was appointed Shadow Minister for Finance.
![PollMelb07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/PollMelb07.jpg)
The
2007 election saw Tanner's seat of
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 ...
face The Greens on the
two-party-preferred vote
In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP ...
, the first seat to do so at a federal election. Labor retained the seat on 54.7 percent of the two-party-preferred vote. After the successful election of the federal Labor Party,
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
retained Tanner as
Minister for Finance and Deregulation. The role had previously only been known as Minister for Finance and Administration.
On 24 June 2010, during
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...
's first question time as Prime Minister, Tanner announced his intention to not re-contest his seat at the next election, citing that he wanted to spend more time at home with his family and stressing he had already planned to do so before the change in leadership.
His tenure as Member for Melbourne ceased on 19 July 2010 when the House of Representatives was dissolved prior to the
2010 federal election. He remained as Minister for Finance throughout the election campaign.
Post-political career
Tanner has been appointed as a Vice Chancellor's Fellow and Adjunct Professor at
Victoria University, and a special adviser to financial firm
Lazard Australia. In 2011, the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) accorded him the rare distinction of a
Honorary Fellowship(FCIPS); the first to be bestowed outside of the UK.
Tanner was elected to the position of Chairman of the Essendon Football Club on 14 December 2015. Tanner is a long-standing supporter of the Bombers and was elected to the Board only 8 months earlier.
In 2016, Tanner joined the Investment Advisory Committee of Six Park, a
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 ...
-based automated investment company offering financial advice and management.
On 15 November 2017 it was announced that Tanner was to be appointed a Non-Executive Director of
Suncorp Group
Suncorp Group Limited is an Australian finance, insurance, and banking corporation based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is one of Australia's mid-size banks (by combined lending and deposits) and its largest general insurance group, fo ...
, effective 1 January 2017.
Personal life
He has been married three times, and has one son and three daughters.
[From ABC profile at: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/mp-profiles/melb.htm , accessed online 23-11-2008]
Publications
Tanner has been published extensively in newspapers and journals. His major works are detailed below:
* Russ, Peter; Tanner, Lindsay. (1978) ''The politics of pollution.'' Camberwell, VIC: Widescope. . (186 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (1984) "Working class politics and culture : a case study of Brunswick in the 1920s." Parkville, VIC: University of Melbourne (MA thesis).
PDF copy (161 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (1996) ''The last battle.'' Carlton, VIC: Kokkino Press. (216 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (1999)
Engaging with the world (12th Stan Kelly Memorial Lecture, 30 September 1999). Melbourne: Economic Society of Australia (Victorian Branch). (16 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (1999) ''Open Australia.'' Annandale, NSW: Pluto Press. (248 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (2003) ''Crowded lives.'' North Melbourne, VIC: Pluto Press. (124 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (2003)
Courage and compassion (Arthur Calwell Memorial Lecture, 19 September 2003). Melbourne. (24 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (2007)
Labor going global (Chifley Memorial Lecture, 14 March 2007). Melbourne: University of Melbourne. (16 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (2011)
Sideshow: Dumbing Down Democracy Scribe Publications. (256 pages)
* Tanner, Lindsay. (2012)
Politics with Purpose Scribe Publications. (350 pages)
Fiction
* Tanner, Lindsay. (2016) ''Comfort Zone'', Scribe Publications.
* Tanner, Lindsay. (2019) ''Comeback'', Scribe Publications.
See also
*
First Rudd Ministry
*
First Gillard Ministry
References
External links
Fairfax Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanner, Lindsay
1956 births
Living people
20th-century Australian politicians
21st-century Australian politicians
Australian agnostics
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Labor Left politicians
Melbourne Law School alumni
Meanjin people
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Melbourne
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Members of the Cabinet of Australia
People from Orbost
Victoria University, Melbourne faculty
Government ministers of Australia
21st-century Australian novelists
Essendon Football Club administrators