Rob Kerin

Robert Gerard Kerin (born 4 January 1954) is a former South Australian politician who was the Premier of South Australia from 22 October 2001 to 5 March 2002, representing the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. He was also Deputy Premier of South Australia from 7 July 1998 until he became Premier and, after losing government, leader of the opposition until after the 2006 election.

The Honourable Rob Kerin
43rd Premier of South Australia
In office 22 October 2001 – 5 March 2002
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor	Sir Eric Neal Marjorie Jackson-Nelson
Deputy	Dean Brown
Preceded by	John Olsen
Succeeded by	Mike Rann
Deputy Premier of South Australia
In office 7 July 1998 – 22 October 2001
Premier	John Olsen
Preceded by	Graham Ingerson
Succeeded by	Dean Brown
Leader of the Opposition of South Australia
In office 5 March 2002 – 30 March 2006
Preceded by	Mike Rann
Succeeded by	Iain Evans
Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party
In office 22 October 2001 – 18 March 2006
Preceded by	John Olsen
Succeeded by	Iain Evans
Minister for Primary Industries
In office 9 December 1999 – 4 December 2001
Preceded by	Caroline Schaefer
Succeeded by	office abolished
In office 22 December 1995 – 20 October 1997
Preceded by	Dale Baker
Succeeded by	Caroline Schaefer
Minister for Tourism
In office 22 October 2001 – 4 December 2001
Preceded by	Joan Hall
Succeeded by	Martin Hamilton-Smith
Minister for Regional Development
In office 9 December 1999 – 5 March 2002
Preceded by	office established
Succeeded by	Terry Roberts
Minister for Minerals and Energy
In office 9 December 1999 – 14 February 2000
Preceded by	Dale Baker
Succeeded by	Wayne Matthew
Member of the South Australian Parliament for Frome
In office 11 December 1993 – 12 November 2008
Preceded by	seat created
Succeeded by	Geoff Brock
Personal details
Born	Robert Gerard Kerin 4 January 1954 Crystal Brook, South Australia, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia (SA)

Early life

Born to parents Maurice and Molly Kerin in Crystal Brook, Kerin attended the Adelaide Catholic secondary school, Sacred Heart College Senior.

Parliament

Kerin was elected to parliament in 1993 as the member for the mid-north rural electoral district of Frome. Between 1995 and 2001 he held various ministries in the Brown and Olsen governments: Primary Industries, Natural Resources and Regional Development, Minerals and Energy, State Development, Tourism and Multicultural Affairs. Following the resignation of Deputy Premier Graham Ingerson in 1998, Kerin succeeded him.

Premier

Olsen was forced to resign from the premiership after misleading parliament which would come to be known as the Motorola affair. Kerin narrowly defeated former premier Dean Brown to become Liberal leader and premier. Kerin named Brown as his deputy.

Kerin took office less than six months before the 2002 election. At that election, Labor took two seats off the Liberals, one seat short of victory. The result was another hung parliament. While Labor was now only one seat short of a majority as opposed to the Liberals now four seats short of a majority, the Liberals won 50.9 percent of the two-party vote. The balance of power rested with four conservative crossbenchers—one National and three independents. They were initially expected to support the Liberals, allowing Kerin to stay in office with a minority government.

However, in a surprise move, Peter Lewis, who had since been elected as an independent after being expelled from the Liberals in 2000, announced he would support Labor and their leader Mike Rann to form minority government in return for becoming Speaker of the House of Assembly. When Kerin learned this, he argued that the Liberals still had a mandate to govern since they had won a majority of the two-party vote. He intended to stay in office unless Rann demonstrated he had a working majority on the floor of the Assembly. On paper, Kerin was well within his rights to take this course of action; convention in the Westminster system gives the incumbent first minister the first opportunity to form a government when no party has a clear majority.

Three weeks of political limbo ended on 5 March. At Kerin's request, the House of Assembly was called into session earlier than is normally the case after an election. With Lewis in the speaker's chair, Kerin moved a confidence motion in his own government. The motion was defeated, leaving Kerin with no choice but to resign in favour of Rann.[1]

Opposition leader

Kerin remained Liberal leader, and hence became Leader of the Opposition. His approach to leadership and parliamentary tactics was more congenial than usual; this led to both praise from those who saw him as a 'nice guy' and criticism from those who believed his style was ineffective compared to the so-called "media savvy and aggressive" parliamentary tactics of the Rann Labor government.

At the 2006 election the Liberals were soundly defeated, suffering a statewide swing against them of about 7.7 percent. Following that loss, Kerin stood down as Liberal leader, but remained in parliament. He was succeeded as Liberal leader by Iain Evans.

To date, Kerin is the last former head of a main government in Australia to have served as leader of the opposition.

Parliamentary resignation

In 2007, Kerin announced he would not be seeking re-election at the 2010 election.[2] Kerin announced on 11 November 2008 that he would resign from parliament immediately rather than at the next election.[3] This triggered the 2009 Frome by-election. Independent Geoff Brock won the seat in a very close contest, with his presence to later deny the Liberals government at the 2014 election.

References

1. Barker, Ann: Premier crowned in Sth Australia, The 7.30 Report (ABC), 5 March 2002.
2. Kelton, Greg: Ex-premier Kerin to quit, The Advertiser, 18 April 2007.
3. Greg Kelton, "Kero calls it quits", The Advertiser, 11 November 2008

External links

• Parliamentary Profile: SA Parliament website