Neil Batt

The Honourable Neil Batt AO
National President of the Labor Party
In office 2 August 1978 – 8 September 1980
Preceded by	Bob Hawke
Succeeded by	Neville Wran
7thDeputy Premier of Tasmania
In office 1 December 1977 – 18 December 1979
Preceded by	Doug Lowe
In office 25 February 1980 – 29 August 1980
Succeeded by	Michael Barnard
Constituency	Denison
Personal details
Born	Neil Leonard Charles Batt (1937-06-14)14 June 1937 Hobart,Tasmania,Australia
Political party	Labor Party
Alma mater	University of Tasmania

Neil Leonard Charles BattAO(born 14 June 1937),Australianpolitician, is a formerTasmanian governmentminister,Deputy Premierand Member of theTasmanian House of Assembly.A member of theLabor Party,he was leader of the party in Tasmania, andLeader of the Oppositionfrom 1986 to 1988.

Early life and education

Batt was born inHobart,and educated at Hobart High School and theUniversity of Tasmania,from which he graduated with aBachelor of Arts.He worked as a secondary school teacher from 1960 to 1961, and from 1964 to 1966.

Political career

In 1966, Batt ran as theLabor candidateforDenisonin the1966 federal election,although he was unsuccessful, with the incumbentLiberalcandidate,Adrian Gibson,retaining the seat.

Batt was elected to theTasmanian House of Assemblyon 10 May 1969 at the1969 state election,representingDenisonfor theLabor Party.On 3 May 1972, Batt was appointedChief Secretaryand Minister for Transport inEric Reece's cabinet. On 17 April 1974, he was made Minister for Education, with Recreation, the Arts and Federal Affairs being added to his portfolio in 1976.

WhenDoug LowebecamePremier of Tasmaniaon 1 December 1977, Batt was appointedDeputy Premierand Treasurer. He was re-elected for Denison at the1979 state election,but the enforcement of a previously-ignored rule which capped campaign expenditure at $1,500 saw the election of three MHAs (Julian Amos, John Devine and John Green) declared invalid. As a result, aby-electionwas called for February 1980, and all Denison candidates were up for re-election, including Batt who stood down as Deputy Premier and Treasurer until the by-election was held. The ALP held a conference to endorse its candidates for the by-election, and the party's Left faction decided to produce a "how-to-vote"card, endorsing its preferred candidate John Green first, with Batt placed fourth. With the Left faction's perceived snub to Batt, the government sought to negate the effect of the how-to-vote ticket, and settled on the introduction of"Robson Rotation",a method of printing ballot papers in batches with candidates listed differently to combat the effect of the"donkey vote".

Batt resumed his role as Deputy Premier and Treasurer on 25 February, with responsibility for Finance and Forests. However, on 28 July, Batt announced his resignation from the House of Assembly and the Labor Party to take up a position with theUnited NationsinBangladesh.

Upon the end of his UN posting, Batt worked in private industry, but returned to politics in 1986, when he was re-elected to the House of Assembly for Denison on at thestate electionon 8 February. On 19 February, he became leader of the Labor Party in Tasmania, serving asLeader of the Oppositionuntil 14 December 1988. He retired from politics on 13 May 1989.

Honours

In 1991, he was made an Officer of theOrder of Australiafor in recognition of service to the Tasmanian Parliament, to politics and to the community.

External links

• Neil Batt's blog(Open Forum)