John Bannon

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For other uses, see John Bannon (disambiguation).

Leader of the South Australian
Labor Party
In office
2 October 1979 – 4 September 1992
DeputyJack Wright
Dr Don Hopgood
Preceded byDes Corcoran
Succeeded byLynn Arnold
Treasurer of South Australia
In office
10 November 1982 – 4 September 1992
PremierJohn Bannon
Preceded byDavid Tonkin
Succeeded byFrank Blevins
Member of the South Australian House of Assembly
for Ross Smith
In office
17 September 1977 – 10 December 1993
Preceded byJack Jennings
Succeeded byRalph Clarke
Personal details
Born
John Charles Bannon

(1943-05-07)7 May 1943
Australian Labor Party (SA)
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide (BA, LLB)
Flinders University (PhD)

John Charles Bannon

South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party from a single term in opposition back to government at the 1982 election
.

At the

Labor's longest-serving and South Australia's second longest-serving Premier. As a result of the State Bank collapse, he resigned as Premier in 1992, and from parliament at the 1993 election
landslide. He was also an academic and the Head of St Mark's College.

Early life

Bannon was born in

National Union of Australian University Students
in 1968. Following the completion of his studies, he was an advisor to various governments, including Whitlam's.

Political career

He was elected to

Liberal government oversaw the economy suffer through the early 1980s recession. After just one term, Bannon managed to return Labor to government at the 1982 election
with a 5.9 percent two-party swing but only a one-seat majority.

Bannon (left) receives cheque from Prime Minister Bob Hawke for bushfire relief

While there had been a stream of social reform during Don Dunstan's 1970-79 premiership, Bannon's priorities were oriented in economics. Bannon government achievements include the

Poker machines were introduced in South Australia, a decision Bannon would come to regret decades later.[2] Other measures were introduced such as action to prevent destruction of vegetation and urban renewal programmes to invigorate some of the declining inner suburbs in Adelaide.[3]

The economic situation, very difficult in the early 80s, improved substantially in 1983-84. Bannon's government was easily re-elected at the

single-member seats. It was only the second time that a Labor government in South Australia had been re-elected for a third term (the first time was when Dunstan won in 1977). In April 1988, Bannon was elected Federal President of the Labor Party.[4]
He held that position until June 1991.

State Bank and resignation

Bad lending decisions made by the State Bank of South Australia's board and managing director Tim Marcus Clark were exposed.[by whom?] As the bank's owner, the government was the guarantor of $3 billion worth of loans. Bannon remained as Premier during three inquiries, the last two of which cleared him of any deliberate wrongdoing.[1] Upon resigning as head of government, he announced that he would not contest his seat of Ross Smith in the coming election. Lynn Arnold replaced Bannon as Premier but was unable to stave off a landslide defeat at the 1993 election. Labor achieved just 39.1 percent of the two-party vote, and suffered a swing of 8.9 percent against it. As a result, it retained only 10 seats in a house of 47. Ross Smith was among the seats Labor retained despite suffering a 16% swing against it in its primary vote and an almost 11% swing against it in the two-party preferred vote.

Later life

In 1994, the

Officer of the Order of Australia.[5] He wrote Supreme Federalist: The political life of Sir John Downer
, which was released in 2009.

Personal life

Bannon's first wife was Supreme Court Justice Robyn Layton, with whom he had a daughter, Victoria. His second wife, Angela, is the mother of musician and television personality Dylan Lewis.[6] Bannon's younger brother Nicholas died in Wilpena Pound in 1959.[7]

Bannon was a good runner, completing the Adelaide Marathon 28 times, 11 of them in less than 3 hours.[8] His best performance was the 1983 Adelaide Marathon, which he ran in a time of 2:44:34.[9] He was premier at the time.

Death

The Dean of St Peter's Cathedral, the Very Reverend Frank Nelson, officiating at Bannon's state funeral.
Victoria Bannon eulogising her father at his state funeral.

Bannon died of cancer on 13 December 2015, aged 72, and was active right up until his death.[10][11] He was given a state funeral on 21 December 2015.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Words: Penelope Debelle (27 February 2009). "The best I could do was not good enough". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  2. ^ Not a pokie in sight: The Australian 8 December 2010
  3. ^ Ross McMullin, The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991
  4. ^ The Canberra Times, 7 April 1988
  5. ^ It's an Honour Archived 21 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine – Officer of the Order of Australia
  6. ^ Zwar, Adam (27 May 2001). "Dylan Lewis's Dog Day Afternoon". Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne). p. Z10.
  7. ^ Orr, Stephen (6 July 2018). "Little boy lost". The Advertiser. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  8. ^ "John Bannon: A quiet giant of politics". 14 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Festival City Marathon 1983 results".
  10. ^ Former South Australian premier John Bannon dies aged 72 - ABC 13 December 2015
  11. ^ John Bannon: man of pace and dedication - The Australian 15 December 2015
  12. ^ Former South Australian premier John Bannon to be farewelled in Adelaide - ABC 21 December 2015

References

External links

 

Political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition of South Australia
1979–1982 		Succeeded by
Premier of South Australia
1982–1992 		Succeeded by
Treasurer of South Australia
1982–1992 		Succeeded by
Parliament of South Australia
Preceded by Member for Ross Smith
1977–1993 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the
Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch)

1979–1992 		Succeeded by
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