1. John Charles Bannon was an Australian politician and academic.
17 Facts About John Bannon
2.
John Bannon was the 39th Premier of South Australia, leading the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party from a single term in opposition back to government at the 1982 election.
3.
In 1992 John Bannon became Labor's longest-serving and South Australia's second longest-serving Premier.
4.
John Bannon was an academic and the Head of St Mark's College.
5.
John Bannon attended East Adelaide Primary School and St Peter's College in Adelaide, where his father taught art, and was awarded the Tennyson Medal in 1961.
6.
John Bannon completed degrees in Arts and Law at the University of Adelaide.
7.
John Bannon was elected to Ross Smith in the South Australian House of Assembly at the 1977 election and promoted to cabinet within a year.
8.
Poker machines were introduced in South Australia, a decision John Bannon would come to regret decades later.
9.
John Bannon's government was easily re-elected at the 1985 election, achieving a 2.2 percent two-party swing towards them from the Liberal opposition and a four-seat majority.
10.
John Bannon remained as Premier during three inquiries, the last two of which cleared him of any deliberate wrongdoing.
11.
John Bannon later studied and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Australian political history at Flinders University, where he was a professor.
12.
John Bannon was an adjunct professor at the University of Adelaide Law School and in 2014 he received an honorary doctorate from the university.
13.
John Bannon was Master of St Mark's College in Adelaide, from 2000 to 2007.
14.
John Bannon wrote Supreme Federalist: The political life of Sir John Downer, which was released in 2009.
15.
John Bannon was a good runner, completing the Adelaide Marathon 28 times, 11 of them in less than 3 hours.
16.
John Bannon died of cancer on 13 December 2015, aged 72, and was active right up until his death.
17.
John Bannon was given a state funeral on 21 December 2015.