Kim Beazley is a former Australian diplomat and politician who was the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1995 to 1996. He subsequently served as the Leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1996 to 2001, and again from 2005 to 2006.
Mr Beazley was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1980 to 2007. He was a minister in the governments of Prime Ministers Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, and was Keating's Deputy Prime Minister from 1995 to 1996. He then became the Leader of the Opposition and led the Labor Party through the federal elections in 1998 and 2001. He returned to the leadership in 2005, but then retired from Parliament at the 2007 election having lost the leadership of the Labor Party to Kevin Rudd after a 2006 challenge.
After his retirement from politics in 2007, Mr Beazley was appointed Winthrop Professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Western Australia. In July 2008 he was appointed Chancellor of the Australian National University, a position he held until December 2009. Mr Beazley became an Ambassador to the United States of America from February 2010 to January 2016, and Governor of Western Australia from May 2018 to June 2022.
Upon returning to Australia he has been appointed as President of the Australian Institute for International Affairs, Distinguished Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Senior Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre, board member of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue, and chair of the Australian War Memorial Council
In 2009, Mr Beazley was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for service to the Parliament of Australia through contributions to the development of government policies in relation to defence and international relations, and as an advocate for Indigenous people, and to the community.
Mr Beazley is a long-term supporter of the WA Women’s Hall of Fame, and a strong voice for the acknowledgment of women’s achievements and the conversation of gender equality. He was named a ‘Call for Nomination’ Champions in 2023.
Mr Beazley was born in Perth. He completed a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the University of Western Australia. He was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Western Australia in 1973 and completed a Masters of Philosophy at Oxford University. He has an honorary doctorate from the University of Notre Dame (Western Australia). He is married and has three daughters.
