Michael Field (politician)

Michael Walter Field AC (born 28 May 1948 in Latrobe, Tasmania), a former Australian politician, was the Premier of Tasmania between 1989 and 1992. Field is the current Chancellor of the University of Tasmania since January 2013. He was the leader of the Tasmanian Labor Party from 1988 until his retirement in 1996. Field is best known for operating in minority government with the support of the Tasmanian Greens with an agreement known as the Labor–Green Accord.

Biography

Field grew up on the North-West Coast of Tasmania, he attended Devonport High School where he was a sergeant in the army cadets and graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science in 1971, where he resided at St. John Fisher College. He was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly for Braddon in 1976. He was at various times a cabinet minister, premier and leader of the opposition over twenty years.

Field's government presided over painful fiscal reforms that, while unpopular at the time, helped rehabilitate the state's finances in the long run. The Greens terminated the accord in 1990, but Field was able to survive a confidence vote in 1991. However, at the 1992 state election, Labor was severely punished not only for its fiscal belt-tightening, but for dealing with the Greens. Its popular vote plummeted to 28.9 percent, while the Liberals won a solid majority. Despite this severe defeat, Field was not blamed for the debacle and stayed on as leader.

Field stayed on through a federal intervention in the state Labor Party, and led Labor into the 1996 state election. Field promised that he would only govern in majority. He also promised that if the Liberals were reduced to a minority government, he would not bring it down in its first year. At the election, Labor took three seats, four short of what it needed to make Field premier once again. Although Labor and the Greens had enough seats between them to form government, Field kept his word and did not attempt to topple Groom.

Since retiring from politics in 1997, Field began working as a management and leadership consultant. In 2003, Field was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for his service to the Parliament of Tasmania. He received a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the University of Tasmania in 2000 for his service to the state and the university.^[1]

Field has been chairman of the Tasmanian Innovations Advisory Board since it was established in May 1999.^[2]

On 3 July 2012, Field was announced as the Chancellor of the University of Tasmania, with effect from January 2013.^[3]

Field and his wife, Jan, reside on the Tasman Peninsula and they have three children: Emma, Claire and Tom.

Field's last election as ALP leader in 1996 saw the entrance to Parliament of popular union leader Jim Bacon who was touted as a potential ALP leader. When Field retired in 1997, Bacon did not hesitate in succeeding him as leader and Bacon became Premier when he led the party back to power a year later in 1998.

References

External links

• Parliamentary Library profile