Paul Keating

He married Annita van Iersel, a Dutch flight attendant in 1975 and had four children with her. The couple separated in 1998. His daughter Katherine Keating is a former adviser to New South Wales minister Craig Knowles.

He was born to Matthew Keating and his wife Minnie. His family was Irish Catholic. His father was a leading local Labor Party member and young Paul inherited his father’s political interests.

He was educated at De La Salle College from where he obtained his Intermediate Certificate in 1958. However, he did not receive any formal education after the age of 15 and started working as a clerk at Sydney’s electricity authority.

He joined Young Labor, a group of politically inclined young people who met and discussed the current political issues.

He joined the Australian Labor Party (ALP) as soon as he was eligible for membership. He became president of the ALP’s Youth Council in 1966.

He came in contact with a number of major politicians of those days and with their help he gained the Labor endorsement for the seat of Blaxland and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1969.

He became the Minister for Northern Australia in the Whitlam cabinet in 1975. Soon, he was promoted to the post of an opposition spokesman in 1976 and he gained a reputation for being an aggressive debater.

In 1981, he became the President of the New South Wales Labor Party.

He was appointed the Treasurer of Australia under the Prime Minister Bob Hawke in 1983, a position he held until 1991. He implemented several macro and microeconomic reforms including the deregulation of the financial sector, taxation reforms, and dismantling of several trade barriers.

As the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, Keating is credited to have developed better trade relations with neighboring countries; he is also credited to have brought about a higher standard of living in the country by implementing progressive training, employment, deregulation and taxation reforms.