Peter Reith

Infobox Prime Minister
name =Peter Reith


order =48th Australian Defence Minister
term_start =2000
term_end = 2001
predecessor =John Moore
successor = Robert Hill
birth_date =Birth date and age|1950|7|15|df=y
birth_place =Melbourne, Victoria
death_date =
death_place =
spouse =
religion =
constituency =Flinders
party =Liberal Party of Australia
languagesspoken =English

Peter Keaston Reith, (born 15 July 1950), Australian former politician, was a senior Cabinet minister in the first two terms of the Howard government.

Early life

Reith was born in Melbourne and educated at Brighton Grammar School and Monash University where he graduated with degrees in law and economics. He practised as a solicitor in Cowes, a small town on Phillip Island, south east of Melbourne.

Political life

Reith joined the Liberal Party. In a by-election in December, 1982, caused by the resignation of Sir Phillip Lynch, he was elected to the House of Representatives to represent the seat of Flinders. He lost his seat at the March 1983 general election. He was elected again in December 1984 and remained the Member for Flinders until his retirement in 2001.

Reith was a shadow minister in various portfolios from 1987 until 1996 (except for a few months in 1993), including Shadow Attorney-General in 1988 (when he led the successful "no" campaign at the 1988 referendum) and Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Treasurer from 1990 to 1993. Along with John Hewson, he was one of the principal architects of the Liberal Party's "Fightback" policy, including the Goods and Services Tax. He resigned as shadow Treasurer after the loss of the 1993 election as well as losing the Deputy Leadership in the post-election ballot.

Following the election of the Howard government at the 1996 election, Reith became Minister for Workplace Relations, and was responsible for implementing the government's industrial relations policy, although he was frustrated in this by the government's lack of a majority in the Senate. His handling of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute, in which he openly supported Patrick Corporation in its efforts to defeat the Maritime Union of Australia, led to a great deal of criticism from [http://workers.labor.net.au/136/c_historicalfeature_medal.html unions] and the [http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/PARLMENT/hansArt.nsf/V3Key/LC19980430038 ALP] .

Reith was embroiled in an investigation over the improper use of a phone card in 2000, a bill totalling $50,000, some $1000 which he admitted had been attributed to his son having access to the PIN associated with the card. [cite news |first= Philip |last= Williams |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Just who will pay Peter Reith's $50,000 phone bill? |url= http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s197803.htm |work= PM (Radio National)|publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date= 10 October 2000 |accessdate= 2007-11-27]

Howard shifted Reith to the Defence portfolio in 2000.

After politics

In 2001 Reith announced his retirement from politics. He did not contest the 2001 election and was succeeded as Liberal MP for Flinders by Greg Hunt and as Minister of Defence by Senator Robert Hill. Somewhat controversially, [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/politics/2002/02/item20020204162356_1.htm ABC News Online, Tenix defends Reith appointment] , access date 30 January, 2007] Reith took up employment with Tenix, a major Australian Defence contractor shortly after leaving politics. On 27 February, 2002, Prime Minister John Howard issued a press release denying media reports that of links between a decision to supply five police runabout boats to Indonesia and any discussions with Reith on behalf of Tenix. [ [http://www.pm.gov.au/news/media_releases/2002/media_release1513.htm PM Howard Press Release, 17 February, 2002] , access date 30 January, 2007]

In 2003 Reith accepted an appointment as an executive director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development based in London representing Australia, the Republic of Korea, Egypt and New Zealand.

Personal life

Reith was married to Julie Reith, however they split in 2003. Reith has four sons - Paul, Simon, David and Robert.

References

Persondata
NAME=Reith, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Reith, Peter Keaston (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=15 July 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=