Michael Rueben Egan (21 February 1948 – 31 January 2024) was an Australian union official and politician, who served as

Treasurer of New South Wales The treasurer of New South Wales, known from 1856 to 1959 as the colonial treasurer of New South Wales, is the Minister of the Crown, minister in the Government of New South Wales responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising an ...

between 1995 and 2005. Egan served as the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

from 2008 until 2019 and sat on a number of government and non-government advisory boards.

Early years and background

Born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Egan was educated at

St Patrick's Catholic College St Patrick's Catholic College is a coeducational secondary school located in Thornaby-on-Tees in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, England. Previously a voluntary aided school administered by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and the Roman Cathol ...

, and obtained his Bachelor of Arts from

The University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He worked in the

Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (also known as the Meatworkers Union) is an Australian trade union representing workers in the meat industry including in abattoirs, butchers, and smallgoods manufacturers. Structure The AMIEU ha ...

as a Federal Research Officer (19691973) and was an Advisor to Les Johnson as Federal Minister for Housing and Construction and Federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs (19731975). Egan served as an Officer of the NSW State Pollution Control Commission (19761978). Subsequently, he was employed as a Senior Policy Advisor to

Barrie Unsworth Barrie John Unsworth (born 16 April 1934) is an Australian former politician, representing the Labor Party in the Parliament of New South Wales from 1978 to 1991. He served as the 36th Premier from July 1986 to March 1988. Since the death o ...

, initially when the latter was Minister for Transport and Minister for Health, and then when Unsworth was Premier of NSW (19841986). Egan died on 31 January 2024, at the age of 75.

Political career

Egan was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

on 7 October 1978, representing the seat of

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central ...

. Although re-elected on 19 August 1981, he was defeated in the election held on 5 March 1984. He successfully ran for election to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

on 24 September 1986. It was not until the

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the A ...

-led Labor Party took power on 3 April 1995 that he became State Treasurer, Minister for Energy, and Minister for State Development. In a Ministerial reshuffle in November 1997,

Bob Debus Robert John Debus (born 16 September 1943) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the Labor Party. Debus has been a minist ...

took over the Energy portfolio. Egan was also Minister for Gaming and Racing for one month during 2003 replacing

Richard Face Jack Richard Face (2 December 1942 – 1 August 2023) was an Australian politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly between 1972 and 2003. Biography Jack Richard Face was born in the Newcastle suburb of Merewether ...

and succeeded by Grant McBride. Egan was eventually to become the longest serving Treasurer in New South Wales. In the few years before he became Treasurer when Labor was in Opposition, Egan had been the Shadow Finance Minister. Even though then Opposition Leader Bob Carr was Shadow Treasurer, Egan became the informal Opposition counterpart to Liberal Treasurer Peter Collins when Collins was appointed Treasurer in 1993. It was Egan, not Carr, who debated Collins on economic matters in media appearances. Egan in effect, if not in name, acted as the real Shadow Treasurer. It was because of Egan's solid performance against Treasurer Collins that Carr, upon becoming Premier in 1995 with the ALP's victory at the State election, broke with convention in not appointing the Shadow Treasurer just prior to the election (which was Carr himself) as Treasurer and appointed Egan instead. Another break in convention with Egan's appointment as Treasurer is that he was a member of the Upper House, the New South Wales Legislative Council as previous Treasurers had been from the Lower House, the Legislative Assembly. However, since all money bills had to be introduced first in the Lower House, the Legislative Assembly, Egan delivered the State Budgets of 1995 to 2004 in the Legislative Assembly despite not being a member of that house of Parliament. Announcing his resignation on 18 January 2005, Egan stated that, "after 35 years of political combat, I think it's time for me to move on." He retired just months short of what would have been his tenth anniversary as Treasurer.

Career after politics

Appointed a member of the Council of

in 2006, Egan was appointed Chancellor in February 2008 and held this position until February 2019. Other community roles include Chairman of the

Australia Day Council The National Australia Day Council (NADC) is a non-profit social enterprise owned by the Australian Government and is the national coordinating body for the Australian of the Year awards and Australia Day. It was established in 1979 and inco ...

of New South Wales since 2006, Chairman of the Centenary Institute of Cancer Medicine and Cell Biology since 2005, a Governor of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research since 2005, and a Director of the Maritime Services Board of New South Wales between 1984 and 1986. In May 2008 Egan was appointed Chairman of Terria, and in 2009, he was appointed the Chair of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority Commission. During the

2015 New South Wales state election The 2015 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 28 March 2015. Members were elected to all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly using optional preferential voting. Members were also elected to 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative ...

Egan supported the privatisation stance of the Liberal government and slammed the Labor Party on its anti privatisation position.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Egan, Michael Rueben 1948 births 2024 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Treasurers of New South Wales Officers of the Order of Australia People from the Sutherland Shire Chancellors of Macquarie University Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians Ministers for energy (New South Wales)