33 Facts About Simon Crean

Simon Findlay Crean was born on 26 February 1949 and is an Australian politician and trade unionist.

Simon Crean 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, Rudd and Gillard governments.

Simon Crean was the Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2001 to December 2003.

Simon Crean became Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions in 1981, and in 1985 was elected as ACTU President, succeeding Cliff Dolan.

Simon Crean stood down from this role upon his election to the Australian Parliament at the 1990 election, and immediately entered the Government as Minister for Science and Technology.

Simon Crean served in various roles until Labor was defeated at the 1996 election.

Simon Crean was later elected unopposed to succeed Kim Beazley as Leader of the Labor Party following further defeat at the 2001 election, becoming Leader of the Opposition.

Simon Crean supported Julia Gillard in her leadership challenge to Kevin Rudd in June 2010, and remained in the Cabinet after she was successful.

When Rudd eventually did return as Prime Minister at the leadership spill in June 2013, Simon Crean ran unsuccessfully to return to the role of Deputy Leader; he subsequently announced his decision to retire from politics at the 2013 election.

Simon Crean was born in Melbourne, the son of Frank Simon Crean, a federal Labor MP from 1951 to 1977, who was both Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government from 1972 to 1975.

One of his two brothers, David Simon Crean, was formerly a Member of the Tasmanian Parliament.

Simon Crean was educated at Melbourne High School, before going on to Monash University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws.

In 1977, his father, Frank Simon Crean, retired from Federal politics.

Simon Crean contested the Labor preselection for his father's comfortably safe seat of Melbourne Ports, but lost to former Victorian Labor Leader Clyde Holding, who went on to win the seat.

In 1979, Simon Crean was elected General Secretary of the SPU, which entitled him to a seat on the board of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

In 1981, Simon Crean was elected as ACTU Vice President, before in 1985 winning election as ACTU President.

Ahead of the 1990 election, Simon Crean was easily selected as the Labor candidate for the safe seat of Hotham; he was elected to Parliament on 24 March, and immediately entered the Cabinet as Minister for Science and Technology.

Simon Crean became Minister for Primary Industries and Energy in 1991, retaining this job when Paul Keating replaced Bob Hawke as Prime Minister in December 1991.

Simon Crean joined the Shadow Cabinet, and after Evans retired from politics following Labor's 1998 election defeat, Crean was easily elected to replace him, becoming Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Treasurer.

In November 2001, following Labor's third consecutive election defeat, Simon Crean was elected unopposed to replace Kim Beazley as Leader of the Labor Party, becoming Leader of the Opposition; Jenny Macklin was elected as his deputy, unopposed.

On 4 February 2003, Simon Crean led the Labor Party to condemn Prime Minister John Howard's decision to commit Australian troops to the Iraq War.

Simon Crean retained this position when Beazley returned to the leadership in January 2005.

However, in a reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet in June 2005, Simon Crean was demoted to Shadow Minister for Regional Development.

Simon Crean then faced a pre-selection challenge for his seat of Hotham from Martin Pakula, a member of his former union, the SPU, a move which Crean publicly blamed on Beazley, Hong Lim, and the Labor Right.

Simon Crean attended the APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade and the OECD Roundtable on Sustainable Development on behalf of the Australian Government.

Simon Crean co-chaired the 8th Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee with the Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc in Hanoi, leading to an improvement in the trading relationship between Australia and Vietnam.

On 21 March 2013, following significant leadership tensions arising from poor opinion polling, Simon Crean called for Gillard to spill the leadership, with the aim of encouraging Rudd to challenge for the position of Prime Minister.

Simon Crean said he would challenge Wayne Swan for the role of Deputy Leader, if Rudd ran for the leadership.

Simon Crean subsequently announced he would retire from politics at the 2013 election.

Simon Crean retired as the first person to serve as a Cabinet Minister under four different Labor Prime Ministers since Jack Beasley.

In October 2014, Simon Crean was elected chairman of the Australian Livestock Exporters Council.

Simon Crean was re-elected for a second term in 2016.

Simon Crean is a supporter and patron of the North Melbourne Football Club.