Robert Gerard Kerin (born 4 January 1954) is a former South Australian politician who was the
Premier of South Australia
The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier is ...
from 22 October 2001 to 5 March 2002, representing the
South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. He was also
Deputy Premier of South Australia
Deputy or depute may refer to:
* Steward (office)
* Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy"
* Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including:
** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...
from 7 July 1998 until he became Premier and, after losing government, leader of the opposition until after the
2006 election.
Early life
Born to parents Maurice and Molly Kerin in
Crystal Brook, Kerin attended the Adelaide Catholic
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
,
Sacred Heart College Senior
, motto_translation = Courage Conquers All
, city = Somerton Park
, state = South Australia
, country = Australia
, coordinates =
, type = Ind ...
.
Parliament
Kerin was elected to parliament in 1993 as the member for the mid-north rural
electoral district of Frome
Frome is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is named after Edward Charles Frome, the third surveyor-general of South Australia. The electorate stretches north-eastwards from the Gawler River and Gul ...
. Between 1995 and 2001 he held various ministries in the
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...
and
Olsen Olsen or Ölsen may refer to:
* Olsen (surname), people with the surname ''Olsen''
* Fred. Olsen & Co., a large shipping company with worldwide headquarters in Oslo, Norway
* Ölsen, municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
* Olsen House, a h ...
governments: Primary Industries, Natural Resources and Regional Development, Minerals and Energy, State Development, Tourism and Multicultural Affairs. Following the resignation of
Deputy Premier
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
Graham Ingerson in 1998, Kerin succeeded him.
Premier
Olsen was forced to resign from the premiership after
misleading parliament which would come to be known as the
Motorola affair
The Motorola affair was an incident that resulted in the resignation of South Australian Premier John Olsen on 22 October 2001. Olsen's resignation came after the release of the Clayton Report, which stated that he had given "misleading, inaccurat ...
. Kerin narrowly defeated former premier
Dean Brown to become Liberal leader and premier. Brown was given the role of deputy premier.
Kerin took office less than six months before the 2002 election. At that election,
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
took two seats from the Liberals, one seat short of victory. The result was another
hung parliament
A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...
. While Labor was now only one seat short of a majority as opposed to the Liberals now four seats short of a majority, the Liberals won 50.9 percent of the
two-party vote. The balance of power rested with four conservative
crossbencher
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
s—one
National and three independents. They were initially expected to support the Liberals, allowing Kerin to stay in office with a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in t ...
.
However, in a surprise move,
Peter Lewis, who had since been elected as an independent after being expelled from the Liberals in 2000, announced that he and his fellow crossbenchers would support the ALP and its leader
Mike Rann to form minority government; in return, Lewis himself wanted to be made
Speaker of the House of Assembly. When Kerin learned this, he argued that the Liberals still had a mandate to govern since they had won a majority of the two-party vote. He intended to stay in office unless Rann demonstrated he had a working majority on the floor of the Assembly. On paper, Kerin was well within his rights to take this course of action; convention in the Westminster system gives the incumbent first minister the first opportunity to form a government when no party has a clear majority.
Three weeks of political limbo ended on 5 March. At Kerin's request, the House of Assembly was called into session earlier than is normally the case after an election. With Lewis in the speaker's chair, Kerin moved a confidence motion in his own government. The motion was defeated, leaving Kerin with no choice but to resign in favour of Rann.
Opposition leader
Kerin remained Liberal leader, and hence became
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. His approach to leadership and parliamentary tactics was more congenial than usual; this led to both praise from those who saw him as a 'nice guy' and criticism from those who believed his style was ineffective compared to the so-called "media savvy and aggressive" parliamentary tactics of the Rann Labor government.
At the
2006 election the Liberals were soundly defeated, suffering a statewide swing against them of about 7.7 percent. Following that loss, Kerin stood down as Liberal leader, but remained in parliament. He was succeeded as Liberal leader by
Iain Evans
Iain Frederick Evans (born 18 April 1959) is a former Australian politician. He was leader of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2006 to 2007.
Early life
Evans attended Heathfield Primary and subsequently He ...
.
To date, Kerin is the last former head of a main government in Australia to have served as leader of the opposition.
Parliamentary resignation
In 2007, Kerin announced he would not be seeking re-election at the
2010 election. Kerin announced on 11 November 2008 that he would resign from parliament immediately rather than at the next election.
[Greg Kelton]
"Kero calls it quits"
'' The Advertiser, 11 November 2008 This triggered the
2009 Frome by-election. Independent
Geoff Brock
Geoffrey Graeme Brock (born 1950) is an Australian politician. He is an Independent member in the South Australian House of Assembly, representing the seat of Stuart since the 2022 South Australian state election. Prior to this, he represent ...
won the seat in a very close contest, with his presence to later deny the Liberals government at the
2014 election.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerin, Rob
Premiers of South Australia
Members of the South Australian House of Assembly
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of South Australia
Deputy Premiers of South Australia
1954 births
Living people
Leaders of the Opposition in South Australia
21st-century Australian politicians
People educated at Sacred Heart College, Adelaide