Ben Humphreys

Benjamin Charles Humphreys AM (17 August 1934 – 17 November 2019) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1996, representing the Division of Griffith in Queensland. He was Minister for Veterans' Affairs in the Hawke and Keating Governments from 1987 to 1993.

The Honourable Ben Humphreys AM
Minister for Veterans' Affairs
In office 24 July 1987 – 24 March 1993
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke Paul Keating
Preceded by	Arthur Gietzelt
Succeeded by	John Faulkner
Member of the Australian Parliament for Griffith
In office 10 December 1977 – 29 January 1996
Preceded by	Don Cameron
Succeeded by	Graeme McDougall
Personal details
Born	Benjamin Charles Humphreys 17 August 1934 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Died	17 November 2019 (aged 85) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Labor
Occupation	Mechanic

Early life

Humphreys was born in Brisbane and worked as a mechanic before entering politics.[1]

Politics

Humphreys was elected to federal parliament at the 1977 federal election.[1]

Humphreys served a six-year term as Minister for Veterans' Affairs in the ministries of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. In May 1992, that ministry and Humphreys along with it was promoted to Cabinet, 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. That man, Kevin Rudd, who would later to become leader of the ALP and Prime Minister of Australia, lost Griffith to Liberal candidate Graeme McDougall in 1996 but exacted revenge by winning the seat in 1998.[2]

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.[3] He served on the board of the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame.[1]

Humphreys died on 17 November 2019, aged 85.[4]

Honours

• 26 January 2000: Member of the Order of Australia for service to the Federal Parliament, particularly in the area of veterans' affairs.[5]
• 1 January 2001: Centenary Medal for distinguished service to the Commonwealth Parliament and politics[6]

References

1. Layt, Stuart (17 November 2019). "Ben Humphreys, former federal Labor MP for Griffith, dies aged 85". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
2. Gordon, Michael: "One determined bastard", The Age, 19 April 2003.
3. Media Release: Australia Welcomes Commencement of Fiji Elections Archived 12 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia), 24 August 2001.
4. Layt, Stuart (17 November 2019). "Ben Humphreys, former federal Labor MP for Griffith, dies aged 85". The Age. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
5. It's an Honour Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Australian Government.
6. It's an Honour, Australian Government.