Richard Keane

For other people named Richard Keane, see Richard Keane (disambiguation).

The Honourable Richard Keane
Minister for Trade and Customs
In office 7 October 1941 – 26 April 1946
Prime Minister	John Curtin Frank Forde Ben Chifley
Preceded by	Eric Harrison
Succeeded by	John Dedman
Senator for Victoria
In office 1 July 1938 – 26 April 1946
Succeeded by	Alexander Fraser
Member of the Australian Parliament for Bendigo
In office 12 October 1929 – 19 December 1931
Preceded by	Geoffry Hurry
Succeeded by	Eric Harrison
Personal details
Born	(1881-02-14)14 February 1881 Beechworth, Victoria, Australia
Died	26 April 1946(1946-04-26) (aged 65) Washington, D.C., United States
Political party	Labor
Spouse(s)	1) Ruby Thorne 2) Millicent Dunn
Occupation	Railway clerk

Richard Valentine Keane (14 February 1881 – 26 April 1946) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), serving a term in the House of Representatives from 1929 to 1931 and then serving as a Senator for Victoria from 1938 until his death in 1946. He was Minister for Trade and Customs in the Curtin and Chifley Governments during the Second World War.

Early life

Keane was born in Beechworth, Victoria and, after his police constable father was transferred to Melbourne, was educated at Christian Brothers College, St Kilda. When he was 16 he took a position as a clerk in the Victorian Railways. In 1909 he married Ruby Thorne and they subsequently had a son and two daughters. From 1918 he was an office holder in the Victorian Railways Union, which became part of the Australian Railways Union (ARU) in 1920. He was General Secretary of the ARU from 1925 to 1929. His wife died in 1923 and he married Millicent Dunn in 1940.

Political career

Keane was vice-president of the executive of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party in 1928 and its president in 1930 and from 1937 to 1938. In 1925, he stood unsuccessfully for the Australian Senate and the Victorian Legislative Council. In the October 1929 election, he was elected as the member for Bendigo in the Australian House of Representatives, but lost it at the October 1931 election. He was narrowly defeated for Bendigo at the 1934 election, but was elected to the Senate at the 1937 election. He became leader of the government in the Senate in 1943.

In October 1941 Keane was appointed Minister for Trade and Customs and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the first Curtin Ministry and was responsible for administering wartime rationing and price controls. In 1946 he travelled to the United States to terminate Australia's Lend-Lease arrangements but died in Washington, D.C., survived by his wife, their daughter and the children of his first marriage.