Benjamin Charles Humphreys (17 August 1934 – 17 November 2019) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP) and served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1977 to 1996, representing the

Division of Griffith The Division of Griffith is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, electoral division for the Australian House of Representatives. The division covers the inner southern Suburb#Australia and New Zealand, suburbs of Brisbane, Qu ...

in Queensland. He was

Minister for Veterans' Affairs The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is an Australian Government position. In the Government of Australia, the minister oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowe ...

in the Hawke and

Keating Government The Keating government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Paul Keating of the Australian Labor Party from 1991 to 1996. The government followed on from the Hawke government after Paul Keating replaced Bob ...

s from 1987 to 1993.

Early life

Humphreys was born in Brisbane and worked as a mechanic before entering politics.

Politics

Humphreys was elected to federal parliament at the 1977 federal election. Humphreys served a six-year term as

in the ministries of

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the Australian Labor Party, leader of the La ...

and

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

. In May 1992, that ministry and Humphreys along with it was promoted to

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, and Humphreys also took over the duties of Minister assisting the Prime Minister for Northern Australia from Senator Bob Collins. Humphreys' elevation to Cabinet was because he was a Queenslander and there was a push to get at least one other Queenslander to Cabinet as Queensland in Cabinet prior to the May 1992 reshuffle was underrepresented. Despite this promotion to Cabinet, Humphreys was not reselected for a place in the ministry by the ALP caucus after the ALP's 1993 election victory ten months later. After 18 years in parliament, Humphreys intended to leave politics in 1994 but delayed his retirement for a year to ensure that his preferred successor was ready to stand for preselection. His successor,

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

, who would later to become leader of the ALP and Prime Minister of Australia, lost Griffith to Liberal candidate

Graeme McDougall Graeme Robert McDougall (born 21 November 1946) is an Australian former politician and businessman. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1996 to 1998, representing the Queensland seat of Griffith for the Liberal Party. He also se ...

in 1996 but exacted revenge by winning the seat in 1998. Humphreys would perhaps have retired from Parliament in 1995 after Kevin Rudd's preselection in Griffith but decided against it as that would have meant an unwanted by-election not long after the ALP's loss of the seat of Canberra in a by-election earlier that year.

Later life

Humphreys was known for his close contact with Australia's South Pacific neighbours, and in August 2001 he was part of a Commonwealth Observer Group sent to oversee the 2001 election in Fiji. He served on the board of the

Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame The Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame is a museum located in Longreach, Queensland, Australia, which pays tribute to pioneers of the Australian outback. The centre is also dedicated to Australian stockmen who have shown bravery and courage. ...

. Humphreys died on 17 November 2019, aged 85.

Honours

*26 January 2000:

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

for service to the Federal Parliament, particularly in the area of veterans' affairs. *1 January 2001:

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

for distinguished service to the Commonwealth Parliament and politicsIt's an Honour
Australian Government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, Ben 1934 births 2019 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Griffith Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Order of Australia Australian MPs 1977–1980 Australian MPs 1980–1983 Australian MPs 1983–1984 Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1990–1993 Australian MPs 1993–1996