Laurie Brereton
Laurence John "Laurie" Brereton (born 29 May 1946), Australian politician, was a state minister, a federal member of cabinet, and kingmaker in the election of several Australian Labor Party leaders, including Paul Keating and Mark Latham. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1990 to October 2004, representing the Division of Kingsford Smith, New South Wales. He was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and was an electrical tradesman before entering politics.
Brereton served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1970-71 and 1973-90. He was Minister for Health 1981-84, Minister for Roads 1983-84 and 1984-87, Minister for Public Works 1984-87 and Minister for Employment 1984.
In the federal Parliament, Brereton was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister 1991-93, Minister for Industrial Relations 1993-96, Minister for Transport 1993-96, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Public Service Matters 1993.
Brereton was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1996-2001. Taking into account his service in the New South Wales Parliament, Brereton had the longest period of parliamentary service of any member of the Parliament elected in 2001. In June 2004 he announced his retirement from politics at the 2004 federal election. He helped engineer the candidacy of the rock singer Peter Garrett as his successor in the seat.
He survived the political controversy of the Botany Council affair in the mid-'70s when he was accused of attempting to influence ALP aldermen who were considering an application to rezone a block of land. He and Geoffrey Cahill, then Labor's NSW general secretary, appeared in court on bribery and conspiracy charges but after 17 days of hearings and evidence from high-powered witnesses, including Rupert Murdoch, all charges were thrown out (see [1]).
His wife, Justice Tricia Kavanagh, sits on the Industrial Commission. They have two sons.
He is the younger brother of Deirdre Grusovin, whose political career he helped build.
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