Kim Beazley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Honourable Kim Beazley AC KStJ
33rd Governor of Western Australia
In office 1 May 2018 – 30 June 2022
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Premier	Mark McGowan
Preceded by	Kerry Sanderson
Succeeded by	Chris Dawson
20th Ambassador of Australia to the United States
In office 17 February 2010 – 22 January 2016
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Dennis Richardson
Succeeded by	Joe Hockey
Chancellor of Australian National University
In office 1 January 2009 – 1 January 2010
Preceded by	Allan Hawke
Succeeded by	Gareth Evans
9th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
In office 20 June 1995 – 11 March 1996
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Brian Howe
Succeeded by	Tim Fischer
Leader of the Opposition
In office 19 March 1996 – 22 November 2001
Prime Minister	John Howard
Deputy	Gareth Evans Simon Crean
Preceded by	John Howard
Succeeded by	Simon Crean
In office 28 January 2005 – 4 December 2006
Prime Minister	John Howard
Deputy	Jenny Macklin
Preceded by	Mark Latham
Succeeded by	Kevin Rudd
Leader of the Labor Party
In office 19 March 1996 – 22 November 2001
Deputy	Gareth Evans Simon Crean
Preceded by	Paul Keating
Succeeded by	Simon Crean
In office 28 January 2005 – 4 December 2006
Deputy	Jenny Macklin
Preceded by	Mark Latham
Succeeded by	Kevin Rudd
Member of the Australian Parliament for Swan
In office 18 October 1980 – 2 March 1996
Preceded by	John Martyr
Succeeded by	Don Randall
Member of the Australian Parliament for Brand
In office 2 March 1996 – 24 November 2007
Preceded by	Wendy Fatin
Succeeded by	Gary Gray
Minister for Finance
In office 23 December 1993 – 11 March 1996
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Ralph Willis
Succeeded by	John Fahey
Minister for Employment and Education
In office 27 December 1991 – 23 December 1993
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	John Dawkins
Succeeded by	Simon Crean
Minister for Transport and Communications
In office 4 April 1990 – 27 December 1991
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Ralph Willis
Succeeded by	Graham Richardson
Leader of the House
In office 15 February 1988 – 11 March 1996
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Mick Young
Succeeded by	Peter Reith
Minister for Defence
In office 13 December 1984 – 4 April 1990
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Gordon Scholes
Succeeded by	Robert Ray
Minister for Aviation
In office 11 March 1983 – 13 December 1984
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Wal Fife
Succeeded by	Peter Morris
Deputy Leader of the Labor Party
In office 20 June 1995 – 19 March 1996
Leader	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Brian Howe
Succeeded by	Gareth Evans
Personal details
Born	Kim Christian Beazley (1948-12-14) 14 December 1948 (age 74) Subiaco, Western Australia, Australia
Political party	Labor
Spouse(s)	Mary Ciccarelli ​ ​ (m. 1974; div. 1988)​ Susie Annus ​ ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	3, including Hannah
Parent(s)	Kim Beazley Sr. Betty Judge
Education	Hollywood Senior High School
Alma mater	University of Western Australia (BA, MA) Balliol College, Oxford (MPhil)
Profession	Academic, politician, diplomat

Kim Christian Beazley AC KStJ (born 14 December 1948) is a former Australian 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 minister in the Hawke and Keating governments. After leaving parliament he served as ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2016 and governor of Western Australia from 2018 to 2022.

Beazley was born in Perth, the son of politician Kim Beazley. He studied at the University of Western Australia and Balliol College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. After a period as a lecturer at Murdoch University, Beazley was elected to Parliament at the 1980 election, winning the Division of Swan. Prime Minister Bob Hawke appointed Beazley to the Cabinet following Labor's victory at the 1983 election, and Beazley served as a minister continuously through to the party's defeat at the 1996 election. His roles included Minister for Defence from 1984 to 1990, Leader of the House from 1988 to 1996, Minister for Finance from 1993 to 1996 and Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 1996.

After Labor's 1996 defeat, Beazley was elected unopposed as Labor Leader, replacing Paul Keating. Despite winning the popular vote at the 1998 election, Beazley could not win enough seats to form government, and after a second defeat in 2001, he resigned the leadership. He attempted twice to return to the leadership, doing so in 2005 after Labor lost the 2004 election, but was successfully challenged by Kevin Rudd in December 2006 following poor opinion polling. Beazley retired from Parliament at the 2007 election, which Labor won, and in 2010 was appointed Ambassador to the United States. He held this role until 2016, before being nominated as Governor of Western Australia by Premier Mark McGowan in 2018.

Early life and education

Beazley was born at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Subiaco, Western Australia. His father, Kim Beazley, was the Labor MP for Fremantle from 1945 to 1977 and served as Minister for Education in the Whitlam Government from 1972 to 1975. His mother, Betty Judge, was an Australian athletics champion and record-holder. Beazley's uncle, the Reverend Syd Beazley, was one of the more than 1,000 prisoners of war who died in the sinking of the SS Montevideo Maru in July 1942.

Beazley contracted polio at the age of six. He was educated at Hollywood Senior High School and later the University of Western Australia, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and subsequently a Master of Arts. He subsequently won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated with a Master of Philosophy. While at Oxford, he befriended Tony Blair, who would later become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Geoff Gallop, who would later become Premier of Western Australia. On his return to Australia, Beazley tutored and lectured in politics at Murdoch University in Perth. A Labor Party member since his youth, he joined the right-wing Labor Unity faction, alongside fellow future Cabinet Ministers Graham Richardson and John Ducker. He won selection for the seat of Division of Swan in 1979, and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 1980 election.