Kim Beazley Sr.

Kim Beazley Sr.   (politician)
Born	30 September 1917
Died	12 October 2007
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	Perth Modern School, Claremont Teachers College, University of Western Australia, Australian National University
Religion	Church of Christ
Children	Kim Beazley
Spouse	Betty Judge
Interests	Moral Rearmament
Party	Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party politician with very close ties to the intelligence services. Mentioned as part of Australia/VIPaedophile, where he allegedly ‘ran kids for ASIO’ as part of what appeared to be a ‘dirty tricks’ counter-intelligence operation.  Australia/Minister for Education In office 19 December 1972 - 11 November 1975  Member of the Australian Parliament for Fremantle In office 18 August 1945 - 10 November 1977

Kim Edward Beazley was an Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1945 to 1977, representing the Labor Party. He was Minister for Education in the Whitlam Government from 1972 to 1975.

Former Labor Party leader H.V. Evatt accused Beazley of working for the spy agency ASIO. In 2014, sex abuse victim Fiona Barnett told how her handler Leonas Petrauskas had informed her that Beazley ‘ran kids for ASIO’ as part of what appeared to be a ‘dirty tricks’ counter-intelligence operation.

Background

Beazley, the youngest of seven children, was born in Northam, Western Australia. He was the son of Alfred Beazley, a storeman and packer, and his wife Mary Wright.

Beazley grew up in Fremantle. He attended the academically selective Perth Modern School (1933–1935), where he topped the state in history and English. He went on to Claremont Teachers College, and first worked as a teacher at the Richmond State School East Fremantle, and then Arthur River, Midland Junction, and Claremont. Beazley later studied politics at the University of Western Australia (UWA), and tutored at Claremont Teachers College and at UWA. He was later to gain an MA from the Australian National University.

Career

Beazley was active in the Labor Party, and the elegance of his writings and the eloquence of his speeches marked him out as a rising star. He was vice president of the State School Teachers' Union and as a member of the State Executive of the Party.

On the death in office of Prime Minister John Curtin in 1945, the 27-year-old Beazley was preselected for, and won, Curtin's Federal Parliament seat of Fremantle. He was the youngest member of the federal parliament when elected, and was known as "the student prince". He held his seat until he retired in 1977.

A committed Christian (he was brought up and baptised in the Church of Christ), and member of Moral Rearmament (MRA), an organization with close ties to the CIA. Beazley Senior was heavily involved with MRA’s anti-communist operations in Australia and abroad, also in cooperation with ASIO.

Beazley was prominent on the right-wing of the Labor Party during the ideological battles of the 1950s and 1960s. He claimed a central role in the events leading to the Labor Party's fateful 1954 split (the splinter Democratic Labor Party kept Labor out of power for 20 years) and harboured lifelong regret that he failed to help avert the split when he felt it had been in his power to do so. During the leadership of Arthur Calwell (from 1960 to 1967) he was considered a possible future leader of the party, but his right-wing views, particularly his support for the U.S. Alliance, cost him credibility, and Gough Whitlam emerged as Calwell's successor.

Beazley Senior later became Vice-Chairman of the Joint Comitttee on Foreign Affairs (67-69), which dealt with matters of defence & intelligence, and he was previously on the Advisory Council of the research CSIRO while MKULTRA-Australia suspects, Casey & Huxley had strong influence over the organisation. He had another connection to Leonard Huxley, being on the council of the Australian National University while Huxley was Vice-Chancellor.

Beazley was the education minister in the Whitlam Government from 1972 to 1975. Though afflicted with severe illness for part of his tenure, he carried out important reforms in the education field, such as abolishing university fees and introducing needs-based funding for all schools through the Schools Commission.

Later life and death

After the defeat of the Whitlam Government in 1975, Beazley was elected to the Labor front bench, but resigned when it was revealed that Gough Whitlam and Bill Hartley, with the ALP national secretary, David Combe, had been seeking money from the Iraqi Ba'ath Party to pay for the party's election campaign. He retired from politics in 1977. At the time of his death he was the last parliamentary survivor of the Chifley government, as well as the earliest surviving member of the Commonwealth Parliament. He died in Perth on 12 October 2007, and was accorded a state funeral on 20 October.

His memoirs were published posthumously in February 2009 with a foreword by his son Kim Christian Beazley who himself had a distinguished career as a Labor politician and party leader. The Beazley Medal, annual awards to the top secondary students in WA, were named in his honour.

Personal life

Beazley married Betty Judge, a fellow teacher, union official and an athlete (she was Australian women's 880 yards champion), on 7 February 1948, at Claremont. They had two sons, including Rhodes Scholar, Deputy Prime Minister and Governor of Western Australia Kim Christian Beazley, and one daughter.

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References

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