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Former minister Peter Reith has died at the age of 72, his family say.
The Liberal politician from Victoria was in the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1983 and from 1984 to 2001.
“It is with deep sadness that we confirm that after a valiant battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Peter Reith passed away peacefully on the afternoon of November 8, 2022,” his family said in a tweet Tuesday evening.
He was deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1993 and served as a minister in the Howard administration, holding the portfolios of industrial relations, small business, employment and industrial relations and finally defense.
After leaving politics, Mr. Reith served as a company director and political commentator.
Former minister Peter Reith (pictured) has died at the age of 72, his family says
BORN TO PLOT
Peter Reith was a Liberal minister at the heart of two of the most controversial events of the Howard era – the battle for the waterfront and children overboard.
Reith was one of John Howard’s tough men, who thrived in the heat of battle and harbored leadership ambitions that were never fulfilled, though he did become deputy Liberal leader in the opposition.
Howard said he was a loyal but rude friend.
Paul Keating called him a Toltoy – “You knock them down and they bounce back up.”
According to Peter Costello’s memoir, Reith came out of a blood-curdling internal struggle, saying, “I was born to conspire.”
Peter Keaston Reith, who died Tuesday at age 72 after battling Alzheimer’s disease, was born on July 15, 1950. He studied law and economics at Monash University and practiced law on Phillip Island.
Peter Reith (right) has held many cabinet positions, including Secretary of Defense under John Howard (center). Alexander Downer in the photo on the left
He soon became deeply involved in the community. He helped set up an independent school and penguin research facility on the island and became chairman of the county council.
In 1971 he married Julie Treganowan. They had four sons.
Reith had the strangest acquaintance with the Federal Parliament.
In December 1982, against expectations, he held the Flinders seat for the Liberals in a by-election. This was the final blow to Bill Hayden’s Labor leadership and paved the way for Bob Hawke to take the helm.
But the uniqueness of Reith is that he was never sworn in. General elections were called before he could take his place and he did not survive the switch to Labour.
But he regained the seat in 1984.
Reith had several shadow portfolios from 1987. He was particularly notable when his aggressive campaign quashed the government-backed constitutional referendum in 1988.
After Andrew Peacock lost the 1990 election, Reith stood for leadership but was badly beaten by John Hewson.
Peter Beattie and Peter Reith present on stage at the 2015 ASTRA Awards at The Star on March 12, 2015 in Sydney, Australia
He became deputy Liberal leader and shadow treasurer, which meant doing much of the detailed work on Hewson’s ultimately doomed Fightback!
This was as high up as he got in the party structure. But he had two major portfolios, Workplace Relations and Defense, after Howard finally led the Liberals back to government in 1996.
Reith had already oversaw major changes in labor law after he proved a skilled negotiator with Australian Democrats in the Senate when he supported Patrick Corporation’s 1998 challenge to Australia’s powerful Maritime Union.
It involved a covert attempt to train a mangy workforce in Dubai, lockouts and pickets, heavyweights in balaclavas with snarling dogs, dubious financial maneuvering and legal challenges all the way to the Supreme Court.
Ultimately, Patrick and the government won major changes in working practices that made Australian stevedores much more competitive internationally, but failed to break the MUA’s stranglehold on waterfront cover.
Howard said in his memoir that Reith deserved tremendous praise.
Peter Reith was a Liberal minister at the heart of two of the most controversial events of the Howard era – the battle for the waterfront and children overboard
“Peter Reith was under tremendous pressure,” Howard said.
“He never lost his cool. He endured constant ridicule and criticism from many sections of the press. He and his family were threatened with physical violence and required a very strong AFP protection detail for months.
“He kept his sense of direction even when there were setbacks… Some of his older colleagues got a little quiet when the going got tough.”
In 2000, Reith was investigated for using his phone card, which was charged a total of $50,000. He admitted that there were about $1000 worth of phone calls because one of his sons had access to the phone’s PIN.
As Defense Secretary, Reith was deeply involved in the Children Overboard issue, which was widely seen on the eve of the 2001 elections as a cynical government ploy to demonize asylum seekers.
Reith, along with Howard and Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock, caused a stir by saying – on the advice of the Navy – that children had been thrown from a leaking boat, apparently to force HMAS Adelaide to take them on board.
It was not true, as some in the Navy soon realized and reported. But the government, especially Reith, made no attempt to correct the record until after the election a month later.
Reith was one of John Howard’s tough men, who thrived in the heat of battle and harbored leadership ambitions that were never fulfilled, though he did become deputy liberal leader in the opposition
A fierce political discussion ensued about who said what to whom and when.
Reith withdrew from politics in the 2001 elections.
Between 2003 and 2009, he held one of the great sinecures, a London-based director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In a later article, he described the bank as an inexplicable law enforcement officer.
After his return to Australia, Reith plunged back into politics as a commentator and lobbyist.
He lost by one vote in a 2010 challenge to Liberal Federal President Alan Stockdale with then-Liberal leader
Tony Abbott publicly voted for the incumbent.
In 2017, he challenged Victorian State President Michael Kroger but had to withdraw from the race after suffering a minor stroke.