Nick Greiner

The Honourable Nick Greiner AC
37th Premier of New South Wales Elections: 1988, 1991
In office 25 March 1988 – 24 June 1992
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Deputy	Wal Murray
Preceded by	Barrie Unsworth
Succeeded by	John Fahey
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Ku-ring-gai
In office 13 September 1980 – 24 June 1992
Preceded by	John Maddison
Succeeded by	Stephen O'Doherty
Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales Elections: 1984, 1988
In office 15 March 1983 – 24 March 1988
Deputy	Rosemary Foot Peter Collins
Preceded by	John Dowd
Succeeded by	Bob Carr
Personal details
Born	27 April 1947 (1947-04-27) (age 64) Budapest, Hungary
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s)	Kathryn Greiner AO

Nicholas "Nick" Frank Hugo Greiner AC, (born 27 April 1947) is an Australian businessman and former politician. He was the 37th Premier New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. He was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 to 1988.^[1] He is married to Kathryn Greiner AO, a former Councillor in the Sydney City Council. The couple have one son and one daughter.

Early life

Greiner was born in Budapest, Hungary.^[2] His parents subsequently moved to Vienna before arriving in Australia in the early 1950s. He was educated at a Sydney school, St Ignatius' College, Riverview, before successfully completing a Bachelor of Economics honours degree (B.Ec. (Hons)) at the University of Sydney. Later he attended Harvard Business School. After briefly working for an Idaho timber company, he returned to Australia, where he joined the timber company that his family owned. Greiner has also held the position of Australian chairman of British American Tobacco.^[3]

Political career

A member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Greiner unsuccessfully sought to enter the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the safe Liberal seat of Willoughby in 1978. Although defeated in his first bid to enter the legislature by local bus driver, Eddie Britt, Greiner achieved his goal of entering Parliament by successfully contesting a 1980 by-election for the electorate of Ku-ring-gai.

In 1981 Greiner unsuccessfully ran for the Liberal leadership but was narrowly defeated by John Dowd. Greiner subsequently succeeded Dowd as Opposition Leader in 1983. Highlighting allegations of corruption against the Australian Labor Party government of Premier Neville Wran during the 1984 election campaign, Greiner managed to reduce significantly the Wran government's previously overwhelming majority in the Legislative Assembly; and he placed his party within striking distance of winning the next state election. At this election (held in 1988), his Liberal–National Party Coalition achieved a landslide victory over the Labor incumbent, Barrie Unsworth. As a result, Greiner became Premier.

As Premier

In one of the first acts of his premiership, Greiner established the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) to investigate allegations of corruption and graft against the government and within the state. Some critics^[who?] have alleged that ICAC was established for an expressly political purpose, that Greiner was trying to embarrass the Labor Party by establishing a commission to investigate allegations of branch stacking and political corruption while they were in government. However the establishment of some form of independent corruption commission had been a longstanding policy of the Liberal Party while in opposition^{[citation needed]}.

The Greiner government pursued a number of social and economic reforms. Most notable of these was a series of reforms to the education system, including the closure of schools, that provoked much controversy and brought his government into conflict with teachers. A series of strikes on the part of teachers and the growing unpopularity of Education Minister Terry Metherell caused problems for the Greiner government during the latter stages of its first term. Metherell resigned from his position in 1990 but the disputes with teachers continued.

Regarded as a fiscal conservative, Greiner was still considered much further to the left than many of his fellow Liberals in terms of social policy. He criticised then Federal Opposition Leader John Howard's controversial comments on immigration policy during the late 1980s, and was widely respected within the ethnic community.

Buoyed by his government's strong performance in the polls, Greiner called a snap election for 25 May 1991. Despite widespread predictions by political and media commentators that Greiner would be easily re-elected to a second term, the outcome produced a hung Parliament. Thus, Greiner was forced to form a minority government with the support of four Independent MPs. His parliamentary majority was further eroded with the decision of Terry Metherell to become an Independent Member of the Legislative Assembly in late 1991, and with the loss of The Entrance in a 1992 by-election.

Greiner was the first head of government in Australia at either federal or state level, born outside the Commonwealth of Nations (apart from Chris Watson).^{[citation needed]}

ICAC investigation and resignation

Greiner and Environment Minister Tim Moore decided to offer Terry Metherell an executive position in the Environmental Protection Authority. Metherell's decision to accept the position would create the need for him to resign his parliamentary seat, which the Liberal Party was confident of winning in a by-election. While Metherell initially agreed to the position, it sparked widespread controversy, and led to an investigation by the ICAC. In 1992 the ICAC ruled against Greiner and found that the job offer had been an act of corruption. Although Greiner was inclined to contest the rulings, the four Independent MPs whom he relied upon to form a government made it clear that they would no longer support the government if he continued in office. Accordingly, Greiner resigned, and was succeeded by John Fahey.^{[citation needed]}

Greiner successfully appealed against the finding in the NSW Supreme Court, Court of Appeal.^[4] The court found that ICAC had "exceeded its jurisdiction"^[5] and granted "declaratory relief that the Commission's report was wrong in law".^[6]

Subsequent career

In 1994 Nick Greiner was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday honours list "For service to public sector reform and management and to the community".^[7]

He went on to hold directorships with many of Australia's leading companies. In 2011, he was Chairman of Bradken, Citigroup Australia, The Nuance Group, QBE Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance, Blue Star Print Group and Playup; and Deputy Chairman of CHAMP Private Equity.^[8] After Barry O'Farrell was elected Premier in that year he appointed Greiner chairman of Infrastructure NSW.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/common.nsf/key/ResourcesFactsopplead Parliament of NSW - Facts and Figures - Leaders of the Opposition in the NSW Legislative Assembly
2. ^ "Mr (Nick) Nicholas Frank Hugo GREINER [Former Member"]. Department of Parliamentary Services, Parliament of New South Wales. http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/members.nsf/0/c9ce194389ec1f6bca256cb7007fb14d?OpenDocument. Retrieved 2 January 2011. 
3. ^ http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO6Q5HLP?opendocument&SKN=1
4. ^ Brown, Kevin (22 August 1992). "Former NSW premier cleared". The Financial Times (London: The Financial Times Limited): pp. 3. 
5. ^ Michael, Sexton (30 August 2006). "ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: THE NEW SOUTH WALES LANDSCAPE". Australian Institute of Administrative Law. pp. 33. http://law.anu.edu.au/aial/Publications/webdocuments/Forums/SeriesThree2006.pdf#page=29. 
6. ^ Greiner v ICAC, 10 NSW 7 Australian Current Law Reporter (Supreme Court, NSW, Court of Appeal 21 Aug 1992).
7. ^ "GREINER, Nicholas Frank". It's an Honour: AC. Australian Government. http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=884486&search_type=quick&showInd=true. Retrieved 23 February 2009. 
8. ^ The Hon Nick Greiner AC

• Gleeson, Michael; Allan, Toni, Wilkins, Michael (1992) An Act of Corruption?: Nick Greiner's Years In Power and His Unorthodox Demise (Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Corporation) ISBN 0-7333-0263-7

External links

• Nick Greiner's parliamentary biography

Parliament of New South Wales
Preceded by John Maddison	Member for Ku-ring-gai 1980 – 1992	Succeeded by Stephen O'Doherty
Political offices
Preceded by John Dowd	Leader of the Opposition of New South Wales 1983 – 1988	Succeeded by Bob Carr
Preceded by Barrie Unsworth	Premier of New South Wales 1988 – 1992	Succeeded by John Fahey
Preceded by Ken Booth	Treasurer of New South Wales 1988 – 1992
Party political offices
Preceded by John Dowd	Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party 1983 – 1992	Succeeded by John Fahey

Persondata
Name	Greiner, Nick
Alternative names
Short description	Australian politician
Date of birth	27 April 1947
Place of birth	Budapest, Hungary
Date of death	Living person
Place of death