Kim Beazley
Kim Christian Beazley (14 December 1948— ) is a former Australian politician and diplomat.
Born into a well-known Perth family - his father, Kim Beazley snr., had been a minister in the Whitlam government from 1972-75, while his mother Betty Judge was an Australian athletics record-holder - Beazley was educated in Western Australia, gaining a Master of Arts from the University of Western Australia and then travelling on a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford, where he gained a Doctorate of Philosophy (Harvey, 2014). A life-long Australian Labor Party member, he returned to Australia to take up a position lecturing in politics at Perth's Murdoch University; then, in 1980, was elected to the House of Representatives as the member for Swan (Parliament of Australia, n.d.).
Elected Leader of the Labor Party (and therefore Leader of the Opposition) in 1996, Beazley supported Kevin Andrews' bill to overturn the Northern Territory's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995. Beazley was reported to be personally opposed to euthanasia, but allowed ALP members a conscience vote (Cica, 1997); the Liberal Prime Minister John Howard and the Leader of the Nationals Tim Fischer adopted the same approach. The bill was passed 'with overwhelming support' (Grattan, 1996).
Beazley retired from Parliament at the end of 2006. From 2010-2016 he was Ambassador to the United States, and from 2018-2022 was Governor of Western Australia.
Cica, N. (1997). Euthanasia - the Australian Law in an International Context. Part 2: Active Voluntary Euthanasia. Research Paper 4 1996-1997. Parliament of Australia. https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/pubs/rp/rp9697/97rp4
Grattan, M. (December 10, 1996). Anti-euthanasia bill passed. Financial Review. https://www.afr.com/politics/anti-euthanasia-bill-passed-19961210-k79lp
Harvey, B. (2014, February). King of the Hill. The West Australian: West Business Insider. pp. 6-8.
Parliament of Australia. [n.d.]. Hon Kim Beazley MP. https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=PE4
