John Dawkins

John Sydney "Jo" Dawkins, AO (born 2 March 1947), Australian politician, was Treasurer in the Keating Labor government from December 1991 to December 1993.

Dawkins was born in Perth, Western Australia, a member of Western Australia's wealthy landed elite. He was educated at private schools and the University of Western Australia, where he graduated in economics. At university during the Vietnam War, Dawkins became radicalised and was active in student politics, joining the Labor Party, where his great intelligence and ruthless ambition led to a rapid advance. In 1974, aged 27, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the marginal seat of Tangney, but he was defeated at the 1975 election which followed the dismissal of the Whitlam government.

In 1977 Dawkins returned to the House as member for the safe seat of Fremantle, succeeding Kim Beazley senior, and defeating his son, Kim Beazley, for the Labor preselection—this was the beginning of a long and hostile relationship. In 1980 Dawkins's formidable parliamentary skills earned him promotion to the Opposition front bench—he was one of the hardest-hitting debaters and most cunning parliamentary tacticians of modern times. He was Shadow Education Minister from 1980 to 1983.

Originally a supporter of Bill Hayden, Dawkins accommodated himself to Bob Hawke's leadership and became Minister for Finance following the election of the first Hawke government in 1983. In the second Hawke Ministry (1984–1987) he was Minister for Trade. From 1987 to 1991 he was Minister for Employment, Education and Training. It was in this position where he brought in a series of reforms of the higher education sector, which included expansion of Australian universities, the forced mergers of universities and colleges of advanced education, and the re-introduction of university fees (abolished by Kim Beazley senior in 1973) in the form of the HECS scheme. This later became known as the Dawkins Revolution and aroused bitter opposition among academics and university administrators.

A key supporter of Paul Keating, Dawkins became Treasurer following Keating's unseating of Hawke as ALP leader and Prime Minister, in his second and successful leadership challenge in December 1991. After Keating's unexpected victory in the 1993 federal election, Dawkins brought down a budget which contained a series of highly-unpopular revenue measures which were seen as an attack on Labor's traditional supporters.

The Cabinet, which had hitherto grudgingly accepted Keating's neo-liberal policies, rebelled against the Dawkins budget, and Dawkins's personal abrasiveness made matters worse. In December 1993 Dawkins, frustrated at what he saw as the lack of economic realism of his colleagues, suddenly announced his resignation, and quit politics altogether soon after. It was during his farewell speech that he suggested that the date of presenting the Budget be moved from August to May, a practice that would be started by his successor Ralph Willis in May 1994. He was succeeded in Fremantle by former West Australian Premier Dr Carmen Lawrence.