Laurence John "Laurie" Brereton (born 29 May 1946) is a former Australian politician who was a state minister, a federal member of cabinet, and

kingmaker A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Origina ...

in the election of several

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 ...

leaders, including

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He was a Labor member of 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 ...

from March 1990 to October 2004, representing the

Division of Kingsford Smith The Division of Kingsford Smith is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History The division is named after Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, a pioneer aviator, and the first pilot to fly across the Pacific Ocean. Th ...

, New South Wales. He is credited with building Sydney's controversial

monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, ...

Early life

Brereton was born in the Sydney suburb of

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, and was educated at De La Salle Catholic College, Coogee, now defunct. He was apprenticed and worked as an electrical tradesman to the Sydney County Council, a former council-owned retailer of electricity in inner Sydney.

Political career

New South Wales politics

He survived the political controversy of the Botany Council affair in the mid-'70s when he was accused of attempting to influence ALP aldermen who were considering an application to rezone a block of land. He and

Geoffrey Cahill Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the ...

, then Labor's NSW general secretary (and son of former Premier

Joseph Cahill John Joseph Cahill (21 January 189122 October 1959), also known as Joe Cahill or J. J. Cahill, was a long-serving New South Wales politician, railway worker, trade unionist and Labor Party Premier of New South Wales from 1952 to his death in 1 ...

), appeared in court on bribery and conspiracy charges but after 17 days of hearings and evidence from high-powered witnesses, including

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

, all charges were thrown out. Brereton served in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

as member for Randwick 1970–71 and Heffron 1973–90. In the governments led by

Neville Wran Neville Kenneth Wran, (11 October 1926 – 20 April 2014) was an Australian politician who was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 to 1986. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1980 to 1986 and chairman of ...

and (from 1986)

Barrie Unsworth Barrie John Unsworth (born 16 April 1934) is a former Australian politician, representing the Labor Party in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1978 to 1991. He served as the 36th Premier from July 1986 to March 1988. Early years Unswo ...

, Brereton was Minister for Health 1981–84, Minister for Roads 1983–84 and 1984–87, Minister for Public Works 1984–87 and Minister for Employment 1984. He was instrumental in allowing the monorail in Sydney to be built, and opposed the development of a light rail project.

Federal politics

Upon switching to the federal Parliament, Brereton was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister 1991–93, Minister for Industrial Relations 1993–96,

Minister for Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

1993–96, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Public Service Matters 1993. In March 1996 the ALP government lost office to

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 s ...

. Brereton was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1996–2001 serving as Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. Assisted by his adviser, Dr Philip Dorling, Brereton was instrumental in revising Federal Labor policy to support self-determination and independence for

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

. Brereton was a vocal critic of Howard, who supported East Timor's continued integration in Indonesia. He was also strongly critical of the performance of past Labor Governments, in particular Prime Minister

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 acquiesced to Indonesia's intentions to invade East Timor in 1975. During 1998 and 1999 Brereton highlighted evidence of the Indonesian military's involvement in pro-integrationist violence in East Timor and was a strident advocate of

United Nations peacekeeping Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...

to support East Timor's independence ballot. Brereton was a member of the Australian Parliamentary observer mission that witnessed the conduct of the ballot. Brereton's break from previous Australian bipartisanship on East Timor policy was an important factor in the Howard Government's eventual decision to change Australian policy and intervene in East Timor in September 1999. According to historian and former Australian Army officer

Clinton Fernandes Clinton Fernandes (born 1971) is a professor of international studies, international and political scientist, political studies at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia, part of the Australian Defence Force Academy. His work ...

, "The ALP's change of policy – and the resulting pressure of the ustralianGovernment – was a critical factor in the independence of East Timor." Brereton's activism on the East Timor issue was strongly opposed by senior Labor political figures, notably Whitlam and former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans and found little support from Federal Labor 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 cabinet ...

. However Beazley was reluctant to challenge Brereton's handling of the issue and eventually accepted the change in Labor policy. Following controversy in 1999 over leaked Australian intelligence reports relating to East Timor and the Indonesian military,

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

and Defence Security agents raided Dr Dorling's home in September 2000, but no classified material was found. Taking into account his service in the New South Wales Parliament, Brereton had the longest period of parliamentary service of any member of the Parliament elected in 2001. In June 2004 he announced his retirement from politics at the 2004 federal election. He helped engineer the candidacy of the rock singer

Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett (born 16 April 1953) is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and former politician. In 1973, Garrett became the lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil. As a performer he is known for his sign ...

as his successor in the seat. His wife, Justice Tricia Kavanagh, sits on the

Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales The Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales conciliates and arbitrates industrial disputes, sets conditions of employment and fixes wages and salaries by making industrial awards, approves enterprise agreements and decides claims of u ...

. They have two sons. Brereton is the younger brother of

Deirdre Grusovin Deirdre Mary Grusovin (born 1 September 1938) was a Labor member of the New South Wales Parliament for over twenty five years. Grusovin was born Deirdre Mary Brereton in Sydney, and is the sister of influential former politician Laurie Brereto ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brereton, Laurie Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Kingsford Smith Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian electricians 1946 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Labor Right politicians 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Government ministers of Australia