Brian Howe (politician)

The Reverend and Honourable Brian Howe AO
Howe in 1994
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
In office 3 June 1991 – 20 June 1995
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Paul Keating
Succeeded by	Kim Beazley
Deputy Leader of the Labor Party
In office 3 June 1991 – 20 June 1995
Leader	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Paul Keating
Succeeded by	Kim Beazley
Minister for Regional Development
In office 25 March 1994 – 11 March 1996
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Peter Cook
Succeeded by	John Sharp
Minister for Local Government
In office 24 March 1993 – 25 March 1994
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	David Simmons
Succeeded by	Warwick Smith
Minister for Housing
In office 7 May 1990 – 11 March 1996
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Peter Staples
Succeeded by	Tanya Plibersek (2007)
Minister for Community Services
In office 4 April 1990 – 25 March 1994
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Neal Blewett
Succeeded by	Carmen Lawrence
Minister for Health
In office 4 April 1990 – 24 March 1993
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Neal Blewett
Succeeded by	Graham Richardson
Minister for Social Security
In office 13 December 1984 – 4 April 1990
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Don Grimes
Succeeded by	Graham Richardson
Minister for Defence Support
In office 11 March 1983 – 13 December 1984
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Ian Viner
Member of the Australian Parliament for Batman
In office 10 December 1977 – 29 January 1996
Preceded by	Horrie Garrick
Succeeded by	Martin Ferguson
Personal details
Born	(1936-01-28) 28 January 1936 (age 85) Melbourne
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Labor
Spouse(s)	Renate Howe
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Occupation	Politician, Christian minister

Brian Leslie Howe AO (born 28 January 1936) is a retired Australian politician and Uniting Church minister. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and deputy leader of the Labor Party from 1991 to 1995, under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. He was a government minister continuously from 1983 to 1996, and a member of the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1996, representing the Division of Batman in Victoria.

Early life[]

Howe was born in Melbourne. He grew up in the suburb of Malvern and attended Melbourne High School, going on to complete a Bachelor of Arts and a diploma in criminology at the University of Melbourne. He later moved to the United States to study at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Howe was the minister at a Methodist church in Fitzroy from 1961 to 1969, while lecturing part-time in sociology.^[1]

Politics[]

Howe was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1977 federal election, representing the northern Melbourne metropolitan electoral Division of Batman. He defeated the incumbent Horrie Garrick for Labor preselection in a hard-fought preselection contest.^[2] It was reportedly the first occasion on which an incumbent Victorian Labor MP in a safe seat was defeated for preselection.^[3] A member of the Socialist Left faction of the Labor Party, Howe was Minister for Defence Support in the government of Bob Hawke from 1983. In 1984 he became Minister for Social Security and carried out various radical reforms to Australia's welfare system.^[4]

Howe appeared to face significant opposition within his electorate in 1988, when up to 60 members of the Greek Westgarth branch of the ALP defected to join the Australian Democrats. One of the defectors, tram-conductor George Gogas, contested Batman as a Democrat candidate in 1990, but polled only 12.9 per cent of the vote.^[5]

After the 1990 election Howe was appointed to the post of Minister for Community Services and Health. When Paul Keating resigned from the cabinet in 1991, Howe was elected deputy leader of the Labor Party in his place, defeating Graeme Campbell in a caucus ballot by 81 votes to 18.^[6] He was subsequently appointed Deputy Prime Minister. He became Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services in the Keating government in December 1991, dropping the health part of the portfolio in 1993. In June 1995 he resigned as Deputy Prime Minister and was succeeded by Kim Beazley. He remained in the House of Representatives until the 1996 election.

Howe's last months in the Deputy PM's role were marked by speculation that his successor would be, not Beazley, but Carmen Lawrence, the erstwhile Premier of Western Australia. At the time Lawrence enjoyed considerable popularity, and there were those in the ALP who hoped that with her as Deputy PM, the Keating government (then doing badly in the opinion polls) would benefit. This hope was dashed when Lawrence herself became the subject of a royal commission around the time Howe left the post, although she denied that the royal commission had been her reason for not seeking out the job. Kim Beazley was eventually elected as his successor.^[7]

Later life[]

Following Howe's departure from parliament, the ACTU commissioned him to chair their inquiry into insecure work. In this capacity he has spoken widely about the issue to the media and addressed the National Press Club.^[8] As well as being active concerning employment-related matters, Howe is a member of the Patrons Council of the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria.

Honours[]

Howe was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in January 2001,^[9] and promoted to Officer level (AO) in January 2008.^[10]

Notes[]