Everything about Bob Carr totally explained
Robert John Carr (born
28 September 1947),
Australian politician, was
Premier of
New South Wales from
25 March 1995 to
3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as Premier of New South Wales. Only
Sir Henry Parkes has served longer, but he held the office on five separate occasions.
Early career
The son of
train driver Edward Carr and Phyllis Carr, he was born in the
Sydney suburb of
Matraville. He was educated at the local government-run
Matraville High School from which he graduated as dux in 1964. He was the first person in his family to finish high school, and became interested in a career in politics in his teenage years. While still a 15 year old student at school he joined the local branch of the
Australian Labor Party. He would go on to become the President of the New South Wales branch and then the national President of
Young Labor in 1970 and 1972 respectively. He completed his tertiary education at the
University of New South Wales, from which he graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts with honours in history.
After graduation Carr worked as a
journalist for the
ABC Radio's
AM and
PM current affair programs from 1969 to 1971. He was also a reporter on
industrial relations and politics for
The Bulletin magazine from 1978 to 1983. He later recalled that his work as a journalist provided good preparation for his political career. He also spent a period working as an education officer for the
Labor Council of New South Wales (1972-78).
In 1972, Carr met the
Malaysian
economics student, Anne Helena John on a vacation in
Tahiti, and they married on
24 February,
1973.
Helena Carr became a successful businesswoman; while she did provide strong personal support, Helena largely remained out of the political spotlight during her husband's career.
Entry into politics
Carr entered the
New South Wales Legislative Assembly at a
by-election in October 1983 as the member for
Maroubra, representing the
Australian Labor Party. In December 1984 he was appointed Minister for
Planning and the
Environment in the
Neville Wran government. In February 1986 he also took on the Consumer Affairs portfolio, which he held until he became Minister for Heritage in July 1986 when
Barrie Unsworth became premier.
Leader of the opposition
The
Barrie Unsworth Labor government was defeated in
a landslide in March 1988, amid revelations of corruption by the corrections minister
Rex Jackson. Carr was interested in
international relations, and his long-term ambition was to enter federal politics and become
Minister for Foreign Affairs. However following the election Carr was pressured by his own Right
faction to stand for the leadership. Further the party organisation didn't want
Laurie Brereton as leader; he'd go on to represent the seat of
Kingsford-Smith which Carr viewed as his path to federal politics. Thus Carr reluctantly agreed to become Leader of the Opposition. His diary entries from the time reveal his thoughts.
I spent today like a doomed man, taking phone calls and drafting a statement, still saying to the press I wasn't shifting. I feel a jolt in my stomach about what I'm getting myself in for. I'll destroy my career in four years. Everything's altered. It's my fate … So, for better or for worse, I become leader of the party next week.
Despite this misgivings, Carr's performance as Opposition Leader gained approval in the party as he approached his task seriously. He maintained a disciplined message, attacking
Nick Greiner's coalition government for waste and mismanagement while releasing his own costed policies to present Labor as an alternative government. Polling in the lead up to the
1991 election suggested another heavy defeat, yet Labor performed strongly and won back all but one of the seats lost at the previous election, and Greiner was forced to lead a
minority government with the support of independents.
In 1992 Greiner resigned following adverse findings against him from the
Independent Commission Against Corruption.
John Fahey replaced him as premier, but was hampered by his need to negotiate with independents. Carr ran a focused campaign in the
1995 election and won government with a majority of one seat.
Premier of New South Wales
In 1995 he became Premier at another close election and won comfortably again in 1999 and 2003.
His centrist, cautious government has been characterised by conservative financial management and the encouragement of market forces, and latterly pursued a "
tough on crime" policy. Carr occasionally ventured into national policy issues, particularly issues concerning the environment and population growth. A keen bushwalker, he created numerous national parks in NSW over his decade-long term as Premier.
A year after his appointment as Premier, Carr caused controversy when he recommended that the newly appointed
New South Wales Governor,
Gordon Samuels, not live at
Government House, which would become a museum open to the public; the Governor would instead "work from home" as essentially a part-time Governor. This decision was seen by monarchists as an attempt by Carr, a republican, to downgrade the importance of the office of Governor; to substantiate this they claimed that during the announcement of the move Carr stated: "That's one for
Jack Lang" - a former Premier who was
dismissed by the Governor for acting illegally. However, when Samuels ended his tenure as Governor, Carr praised him for his work, and it was mentioned that Samuels had no issue with abandoning Government House. Media reports suggested he'd be paid $500,000, and there was criticism over possible conflicts of interest given Macquarie's involvement in infrastructure projects in New South Wales.
Carr continued pursuing his literary interests, interviewing authors and lecturing regularly at the
Sydney Writers' Festival. He appeared as a guest reporter for the ABC television show
Foreign Correspondent, conducting an interview with long-time friend
Gore Vidal. Bob Carr is the Vice Chairman of Global Panel Australasia, a partner of the Berlin-based
Global Panel Foundation. In 2008 he attended the
Australia 2020 Summit as part of the economy panel, and raised the issues of an
Australian Republic and childhood obesity.
Further Information
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