Winthrop Professor Kim Beazley

Phone: + 61 8 6488 2082
Fax: + 61 8 6488 1060
Email: kim.beazley@uwa.edu.au

Professor Beazley obtained his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts at the University of Western Australia, where he was President of the Guild of Undergraduates in 1970. He was a member of the Senate and was appointed as the student member on the planning board of the new university, Murdoch. He was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship for Western Australia in 1973, and completed an M. Phil at Oxford University in 1976.

Returning to Australia in 1976, Professor Beazley taught at Murdoch University in the School of Social Inquiry from 1976 to 1980.

Professor Beazley was elected to the Federal Parliament to represent the seat of Swan in 1980. He was a member of Parliament from 1980 to 2007, representing the Swan and Brand electorates. He was a Minister from 1983 to 1996 in the Hawke and Keating Labor governments, holding at various times the portfolios of Defence, Finance, Transport and Communications, Employment Education and Training, Aviation and Special Minister of State.

He was Deputy Prime Minister, 1995-1996, under Prime Minister Paul Keating. He was elected Leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition, 1996-2001 and 2005-2006. Whilst in parliament, he served on a number of parliamentary committees, including Joint Intelligence and Joint Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. He was also a member of the Speaker's Panel. He retired from Parliament in 2007.

Since his departure from Parliament, Professor Beazley has been appointed Winthrop Professor in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Western Australia. He has taught occasional classes in undergraduate and honours international relations courses, and is an occasional lecturer around the university. (See UWA Open Day Obama Lecture). From 2010, he will teach the 'Problems in International Security' unit in the Masters of International Relations.

Professor Beazley holds a variety of offices outside the University of Western Australia, including Chancellor of the Australian National University, member of the Council of the Australian War Memorial, Joint Chair of the international advisory board of the Australian American Leadership Dialogue, and membership of the advisory boards of DefenceSA and the Australian Army Journal.

In 2009, Professor 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, as an advocate for Indigenous people, and service to the community.

Research interests

Professor Beazley's research interests include international relations and geopolitics, defence and strategic policy, Australian foreign policy, the ANZUS alliance, and Australian politics.

Representative Publications

• 'National Self-Reliance and Industrial Achievement', in Dissent, No 27, Spring 2008, pp 40-43.
• 'Operation Sandglass: Old History, Contemporary Lessons', Security Challenges, Vol 4, No 3, Spring 2008, pp 23-43.
• 'Thinking Security: Influencing National Strategy from the Academy; an Australian Experience', Coral Bell Lecture 2008, Lowy Institute for International Policy.
• 'China, the United States, and National Missile Defence: an Australian Perspective' in Controlling Arms and Terror in the Asia Pacific, M. Vicziany (ed), Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 2007
• 'The Hawke Years: Foreign Affairs and Defence', in The Hawke Government: a Critical Retrospective, (Ryan and Bramston eds) Pluto Press, Melbourne, 2003
• 'Federal Labor and the Vietnam Commitment,' in Australia's Vietnam, P. King (ed), Allen and Unwin, 1983
• 'The October War: The 1973-74 Arab Oil Embargo, and US Policy on the Indian Ocean', in The Indian Ocean in Global Politics (Bowman and Clarke eds), Westview Press, 1981
• 'Federal Labor and the American Installations: Prelude to Government', Australian Outlook, Vol 33, No 2, 1979
• (with I. Clark) The Politics of Intrusion: The Superpowers in the Indian Ocean, Apcol, Sydney, 1979