Hon Jeff Kennett AC entered the Victorian State Parliament in 1977. He served in the Liberal Government in the early 1980’s as Minister for Housing, Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs and Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and was elected Leader of the Opposition in October 1982.
Under his leadership, the Liberal-National Party coalition was elected to government in 1992, with two-to-one majorities in both Houses of Parliament – a position unparalleled in almost 140 years of State Government in Victoria. The coalition was returned to office at the 1996 election with a net gain in representation across both Houses of Parliament.
Mr Kennett continued as Premier during the coalition’s second term, as well as serving as Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for the Arts. He headed the Government’s peak industry organisations – the Ministerial Industry Council, the Premier’s Business Round Table, the Victorian Communications and Multimedia Task Force and Food Victoria, and chaired the Science Engineering and Technology Task Force.
Under Mr Kennett’s premiership, Victoria earned the reputation of being Australia’s most reformist state. His government implemented reforms to the Victorian public service, led Australia in the privatisation of public utilities, reduced the State’s deficit from $33bn to $5.5bn, reinvigorated the economy and reinstated confidence amongst the Victorian community. As Premier, Mr Kennett took Victoria to the world and in doing so, developed a wide network of international business and political contacts. As Victoria grew in confidence, Mr Kennett’s national popularity soared, to the extent that he was widely regarded as Australia’s strongest leader during this period.
In November 1999, Mr Kennett resigned from the Victorian Parliament after 23 1/2 years service to pursue opportunities in the corporate sector. He was also president of the Hawthorn Football Club for six years
Mr Kennett is currently Chairman of ‘beyondblue’ – the National Depression Initiative. He is a member of the Singapore Tourism Board’s ‘International Advisory Council for Tourism’ and Chairman of the Enterprize Ship Trust (replica of the founding ship of Melbourne). Mr Kennett is also a Director of Jumbuck Entertainment Ltd, Q Limited (a printing company) and Australian Seniors Finance.
