Simon Crean will leave parliament with a proud legacy of delivering for working people, the Australian Council of Trade Unions said today.
ACTU President Ged Kearney said Mr Crean had made a significant contribution during his long career in public life as ACTU President, a Labor minister across many portfolios and former leader of the parliamentary Labor Party.
“Simon played a key role in negotiating the terms of the Accord in the 1980s that saw unions, business and government work together to deliver much-needed reforms and develop a new framework for economic success, as well as important social infrastructure such as superannuation,” Ms Kearney said.
“During his time as a minister he never lost sight of the values of fairness he brought with him from the union movement.
“His many achievements as a minister include: promoting regional development, restructuring of the wool industry and putting in place drought relief systems in the early 1990s, implementing reforms to ensure the long-term unemployed were given training and support, and fighting for Australia’s interests in international trade.
“We thank Simon for his commitment to the values of the labour movement and his decades of hard work to make Australia a better place. We wish him well in his life after politics.”
Simon Crean was President of the ACTU from 1985 to 1990.
