Duncan Kerr has announced his intention to leave Federal Parliament at the next election, expected before the end of next year.
Mr Kerr leaves Parliament on his own terms after more than twenty years of service to the nation, including stints as Minister for Justice, Attorney-General and Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs. He has been a leading light of the progressive movement for over twenty years and a public intellectual with few contemporaries.
Electorally, he has enjoyed huge success as a local MP. He was first elected into the Federal Parliament in 1987, defeating the incumbent Michael Hodgman, at a time when Denison was a genuinely marginal seat. Years of work as an excellent local representative grew Labor support in the electorate to the point where Denison is one of the safest Labor seats in the country.
His Ministerial career began in the Keating Government in 1993, when Kerr rose to the positions of Minister for Justice, and briefly, Attorney-General. Many of the landmark reforms introduced by the Keating Government’s Justice Statement remain in place—as do reforms of the Commonwealth Criminal Code and the Evidence Act.
The election of the Howard Government in 1996 did not slow Kerr’s contributions. He worked with the Australian delegation at the pivotal United Nations Convention on Climate Change conference held at Kyoto in 1997Kerr maintained a legal career and achieved the status Senior Counsel in 2004. He acted as counsel in the landmark High Court case Plaintiff S157/2002 v The Commonwealth (2003) 211 CLR 476; a case which has been described as one of the seven most far reaching and influential of the High Court’s decisions on constitutional matters in the past century. This decision guaranteed the rights of citizens to challenge unlawful or invalid decisions of government.
During this time, Kerr joined the ‘Parliamentary Book Club’: publishing Elect the Ambassador; Building Democracy in a Globalised World, which continues to be a source of ideas for those interested in expanding democratic rights around the globe. Kerr also travelled to the UN General Assembly as a Parliamentary Adviser in 2006.
Upon the election of the Rudd Government in 2007, he was elevated to the frontbench, serving as the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs. He is one of the few Parliamentarians who leave on their own terms and without regrets. Recognised as one of the nice guys of politics, he also leaves with very few enemies. The testimonies received from across the political divide, and across the community reflect his good nature and reputation. He has sat in Parliament under four different Prime Ministers and has seen seven Tasmanian Premiers during this time.
Mr Kerr has reaffirmed his commitment to seeing out his Parliamentary term, representing the people of Denison who have elected him on eight occasions.
Mr Kerr is a giant of the Australian Parliament, of the Tasmanian Labor Party, and of his community. His service to the Australian people will be sorely missed.
Ben McKay is an adviser to the Hon Duncan Kerr SC MP | Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs | Federal Member for Denison
