Jim Cairns
James Ford "Jim" Cairns (born October 4, 1914 in Carlton , Victoria , † October 12, 2003 in Narre Warren East , Casey City , Melbourne ) was an Australian politician .
Life
Cairns began his federal political career in 1955 with the election to the representative of the House of Representatives , in which he represented the interests of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the constituency of Yarra and then from 1969 in the constituency of Lalor .
Within the ALP of the state of Victoria , he represented an anti-communist position as well as his Catholic faith and rose within the party, especially because of his position against the Vietnam War . While the ALP maintained through the early years of the Vietnam War, Cairns quickly began to denounce Australia's strong US support . This also resulted in him being the leader of major anti-war marches and also against the ALP's attitude towards conscription in Australia and the war itself. His massive opposition to the so-called White Australia Policy led to anger building up to an attack on him and his family in their home. After the attack, it took him several months to recover.
After Arthur Calwell's resignation as chairman of the ALP in 1967, he ran for his successor, but was defeated by the previous deputy party chairman Gough Whitlam . When Whitlam initially resigned from the party chairmanship in 1969 because of internal party difficulties, he ran again, but was again defeated by the re-running Whitlam as party chairman with only 6 votes difference.
When the ALP won the 1972 parliamentary elections with 67 seats and was ahead of the previous coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party with a total of 58 seats, he was appointed Minister for Trade and Secondary Industry by Prime Minister Whitlam in December 1972 . During his tenure, a trade agreement was concluded with the People's Republic of China and relations with the Middle East were intensified .
After the severe economic problems that weighed on the government, he became Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer in Whitlam's cabinet in December 1974. Between 1974 and 1975 he was also deputy chairman of the ALP. In June 1975 he was dismissed as Treasury Secretary for alleged false testimony to the House of Representatives because of his involvement in overseas credit transactions (Khemlani Loan Affair). However, within the ALP, his dismissal was viewed as punishment for having an extramarital relationship with his office manager, Juni Morosi. As part of the cabinet reshuffle, he was instead made Minister of the Environment and held this post until the end of Whitlam's tenure on December 5, 1975.
In 1977 he refused to run for the House of Representatives again and withdrew from political life.
Fonts
- The Eagle & the Lotus. Western Intervention in Vietnam, 1847–1971. Melbourne: Lansdowne, 1969.
literature
- Paul Strangio: Keeper of the Faith: A Biography of Jim Cairns . 4th edition. Melbourne University, 2002, ISBN 978-0-522-85002-4 ( online in Google Book Search).
Web links
- Cairns, Jim (rulers.org)
- Australian Biography
- "Jim Cairns, anti-war hero, laboratory icon, dead at 89"
- "James (Jim) Ford Cairns, PhD (1914-2003) - Antiwar and social change activist, parliamentarian, counter cultural theorist"
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cairns, Jim |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cairns, James Ford |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 4, 1914 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Carlton , Victoria |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 12, 2003 |
| Place of death | Fool Warren East , Casey City , Melbourne |