Philip Haddon-Cave
Sir Philip Haddon-Cave Murray MacLehose | |
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Preceded by | John Cowperthwaite |
Succeeded by | John Henry Bremridge |
Personal details | |
Born | Hobart, Tasmania, Australia | 6 July 1925
Died | 27 September 1999 Oxford, England | (aged 74)
Spouse |
Elizabeth Alice Simpson
(m. 1948) |
Children | 3, including Charles Haddon-Cave |
Alma mater | University of Tasmania King's College, Cambridge |
Occupation | Colonial administrator |
Philip Haddon-Cave | |||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 夏鼎基 | ||||||||
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Sir Charles Philip Haddon-Cave,
Early life and government career
Haddon-Cave was born in
Financial Secretary of Hong Kong
He became the
In 1972, the
During his tenure of Financial Secretary, Haddon-Cave was concerned about the massive growth of government spending under MacLehose administration. The government projected a three years substantial government deficits, in which Haddon-Cave described as "clearly quite unacceptable".[5] He proposed several tax reforms to increase the government income and change the lack of progressivity in the system. In his 1973 Budget Speech, Haddon-Cave announced his intention to "restore" the profits tax as he deemed that "Court decisions have shown that a business Hong Kong doing exactly what it was set up to do in Hong Kong and nowhere else can have business income derived from outside Hong Kong, coming from no conduct of business outside Hong Kong, and escaping charge." He repeated his intention in the 1974 and 1975 Budget Speeches although no policies were implemented, which was thought to face the opposition from the business interests.[6]
Haddon-Cave also proposed tax on dividends, following Cowperthwaite had proposed a decade earlier. A Third Inland Revenue Ordinance Review Committee was set up to investigate over the matter in 1976. Although Haddon-Cave endorsed the Report to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, the Committee's proposal to tax dividends was eventually abandoned, due to the opposition of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council. Only the recommendation of increased rate of profits tax for corporations was adopted, which left the geographical scope of profits tax remained narrow.[7]
For his services, he was awarded Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1973 and knighted with the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 1980.
Chief Secretary of Hong Kong
Haddon-Cave was appointed
Personal life
He retired from public service in 1985. After leaving Hong Kong, he spent his retirement quietly in England. He died of heart attack while in a taxi near his retirement home in Oxford, England on 27 September 1999. He married Elizabeth Alice Simpson in 1948, who designed many of Hong Kong's commemorative coins, including the reverses of the "Return to China" set of 1997. The couple had two sons and one daughter. His youngest son Sir Charles Anthony was appointed to the High Court in 2011. Many of Haddon-Cave's family and relatives still live in Hong Kong, including younger son Francis who was called to the bar in 1999. He was also the grandfather of actress Jessie Cave, Sydney-based artist and property investor Ismay Haddon-Cave and television producer, Ali Haddon-Cave.,[8][9][10]
Despite his long years of service in Hong Kong, Haddon-Cave was famous for his dislike of Chinese food, and at Chinese banquets, Haddon-Cave frequently insisted upon ordering steak.[11]
Legacy
Economist Milton Friedman hailed Haddon-Cave's "positive non-interventionism" as a fairly comprehensive implementation of laissez-faire policy. In his obituary, Haddon-Cave was regarded as "one of the architects of the stability and prosperity that the [Hong Kong] people enjoy now as an autonomous region of China." Although he attempted to reform the tax system, he was praised for "his disciplined intellectual approach to the task of balance of balancing the economy...by keeping tax levels and public expenditure low."[12]
See also
- Profits tax in Hong Kong
References
- ^ People of Today, Debrett's Ltd, 1995, p. 835
- ^ Scott, Ian (1989). Political Change and the Crisis of Legitimacy in Hong Kong. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 255=7.
- ^ Schenk, C. (2008). Hong Kong SAR Monetary and Exchange Rate Challenges: Historical Perspectives. Springer. pp. 67–71.
- ^ Schenk, C. (2008). Hong Kong SAR Monetary and Exchange Rate Challenges: Historical Perspectives. Springer. p. 87.
- ^ Tiley, John (2004). Studies in the History of Tax Law, Volume 1. Hart Publishing. p. 395.
- ^ Tiley, John (2004). Studies in the History of Tax Law, Volume 1. Hart Publishing. pp. 391–2.
- ^ Tiley, John (2004). Studies in the History of Tax Law, Volume 1. Hart Publishing. pp. 404, 395.
- ^ Chic geek: Jessie Cave and her quirky fashion label, Evening Standard, 23 November 2011
- ^ IMDB: Ali Haddon-Cave
- ^ "Ismay Haddon-Cave". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
- ^ Dealing With the Dragon: A Year in the New Hong Kong, Jonathan Fenby, Arcade Publishing, 2001, page 26
- ^ "An Obituary". The Times. 23 November 1999.