Ralph Willis | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1974 | |
| Treasurer of Australia | |
| In office 23 December 1993 – 11 March 1996 | |
| Prime Minister | Paul Keating |
| Preceded by | John Dawkins |
| Succeeded by | Peter Costello |
| In office 9 December 1991 – 27 December 1991 | |
| Prime Minister | Bob Hawke Paul Keating |
| Preceded by | John Kerin |
| Succeeded by | John Dawkins |
| Minister for Finance | |
| In office 27 December 1991 – 23 December 1993 | |
| Prime Minister | Paul Keating |
| Preceded by | Kim Beazley |
| Succeeded by | Kim Beazley |
| In office 4 April 1990 – 9 December 1991 | |
| Prime Minister | Bob Hawke |
| Preceded by | Peter Walsh |
| Succeeded by | Kim Beazley |
| Vice-President of the Executive Council | |
| In office 27 May 1992 – 24 March 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Graham Richardson |
| Succeeded by | Frank Walker |
| Minister for Transport and Communications | |
| In office 2 September 1988 – 4 April 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Bob Hawke |
| Preceded by | Gareth Evans |
| Succeeded by | Kim Beazley |
| Minister for Industrial Relations | |
| In office 11 March 1983 – 2 September 1988 | |
| Prime Minister | Bob Hawke |
| Preceded by | Ian Macphee |
| Succeeded by | Peter Morris |
| Member of the Australian Parliament forGellibrand | |
| In office 2 December 1972 – 31 August 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Hector McIvor |
| Succeeded by | Nicola Roxon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1938-04-14)14 April 1938 (age 87) |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse | Carol Dawson |
| Alma mater | University of Melbourne |
| Occupation | Unionist |
Ralph WillisAO (born 14 April 1938) is an Australian former politician who served as a Cabinet Minister during the entirety of theHawke-Keating government from 1983 to 1996, most notably asTreasurer of Australia from 1993 to 1996 and briefly in 1991. He also served asMinister for Industrial Relations,Minister for Transport and Communications andMinister for Finance. He represented theVictorian seat ofGellibrand in theHouse of Representatives from1972 to1998.
Willis was born in Melbourne on 14 April 1938.[1] He is the son of Doris and Stan Willis; his father was aboilermaker who became a prominent trade unionist and served as federal president of theBoilermakers' Society of Australia andBoilermakers and Blacksmiths Society of Australia.[2]
Willis spent his early years inNorth Melbourne. The family moved toFootscray in Melbourne's western suburbs when he was two years old.[2] He attendedUniversity High School and went on to complete aBachelor of Commerce at theUniversity of Melbourne.[3] He initially intended to work as a teacher but subsequently joined theCommonwealth Public Service as a research assistant in theDepartment of Labour and National Service.[2]
In 1960, Willis resigned from the public service to work as a research assistant for future prime ministerBob Hawke, then working as research officer for theAustralian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). They worked closely together over a ten-year period, preparing and presenting national wage cases to theCommonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. In 1969, Willis replaced Hawke as research officer and advocate upon Hawke's election as ACTU president. He remained in the position until his election to parliament in 1972, with one of his last cases before the commission being a successful argument for gender equality inaward wages.[2]
In 1972, the year that theWhitlam government was elected, Willis was elected to theHouse of Representatives for the safe Labor seat ofGellibrand inMelbourne's western suburbs. After Labor's defeat at the1975 election, Willis was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet, serving initially as shadow minister for industrial relations, and from 1980 as shadow treasurer. In January 1983, however, he was replaced as shadow treasurer by Opposition LeaderBill Hayden, who gave the position toPaul Keating in an unsuccessful attempt to shore up his own position as party leader.[4]
As a former ACTU official, Willis was regarded as a protégé of Bob Hawke, and some expected Hawke to make him treasurer uponhis election as prime minister in March 1983. However Hawke decided to appoint Paul Keating to the role instead, making Willis theMinister for Employment Relations and giving him a major role in establishing and overseeing thePrices and Incomes Accord, one of the central policy reforms of theHawke government. Willis retained this role following the1984 and1987 elections, before being appointedMinister for Transport and Communications in 1988.
After the1990 election, Willis becameminister for finance. Following Keating's resignation as treasurer in June 1991 in anunsuccessful attempt to challenge Hawke for the leadership, there was media speculation that Willis would be given the role, but he was passed over a second time when Hawke ultimately decided to appointJohn Kerin. However, Kerin's period as treasurer was troubled, and after Hawke was forced to sack Kerin for making a public gaffe in December 1991, Willis was finally appointed to the role of treasurer in his place.
Willis's initial time as treasurer was brief as Paul Keating launched a second and this timesuccessful challenge to Hawke, just three weeks later. Keating had long promised to appoint his close political allyJohn Dawkins as treasurer, and so Keating moved Willis back to the role of finance minister in order to accommodate this. Willis retained the role after Labor unexpectedly won a fifth consecutive election in1993, and was expected to remain in the role until the sudden resignation of Dawkins in December 1993, who had grown frustrated with the role. Willis was duly appointed as treasurer for a second time by Keating, and was responsible for helping to roll-out the Government's major 'One Nation' economic package on which it had won the 1993 election, including a round of middle-income tax cuts and the establishment of a national infrastructure commission.
In late 1995, Willis was briefly acting prime minister when Prime Minister Paul Keating, Deputy Prime Minister Kim Beazley, Government Senate leader Gareth Evans (in his capacity as foreign minister) and Deputy Government Senate leader Robert Ray (in his capacity as defence minister) were all in Indonesia for the signing of a security agreement between Australia and Indonesia.[5]
Willis remained as treasurer until the1996 election, which Labor heavily lost; in the weeks before the election, Willis chose to unilaterally release a letter purportedly written byLiberalVictorian PremierJeff Kennett. Known as theRalph Willis letter, it suggested that aCoalition government led byJohn Howard would cut grants to the states. However, media examination quickly revealed the letter to be a forgery, allegedly foisted on Willis by Melbourne University Liberal Club students.[6] This successful ruse had a significantly adverse impact upon the last week of Labor's campaign.
After the 1996 election, Willis chose to move to the backbench and announced his retirement from Parliament prior to the1998 election. Willis was one of only three people to be a member of the Cabinet continuously during theHawke-Keating government between 1983 and 1996, the other two beingKim Beazley andGareth Evans. At the time of his retirement from Parliament, Willis was the last Labor MP from the time of theWhitlam government still serving. Following his retirement from politics, Willis has served on several boards of companies and charities.
Willis was awarded theCentenary Medal in 2001 for long service to the Commonwealth Parliament.[7] On 13 June 2011, he was named anOfficer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the Parliament of Australia, particularly in the areas of economic development and industrial relations, to the superannuation industry, and to the community.[8]
On 2 June 2009, Willis was conferred with the degree of doctor of the universityHonoris Causa from Victoria University for services to Australia and in particular the Western Suburbs of Melbourne.[9]
| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forGellibrand 1972–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Industrial Relations 1983–1988 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Transport and Communications 1988–1990 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Finance 1990–1991 | |
| Preceded by | Treasurer of Australia 1991 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Finance 1991–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Treasurer of Australia 1993–1996 | Succeeded by |
First Keating ministry (1991–93) | ||
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Prime Minister:Paul Keating | ||
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