Jim Bacon


Jim Bacon (Parliament of Tasmania)

James Alexander (Jim) Bacon (1950–2004), union official and politician, was born in Melbourne and educated at Scotch College. He worked as a union official for the Builders' Labourers Federation in Victoria and the Pilbara, before moving to Tasmania as state secretary of the Tasmanian branch, 1980–89. From 1989 to 1995, Bacon was secretary of the Tasmanian Trades and Labor Council.

Gaining a massive vote, in 1996 Bacon was elected to the House of Assembly. He took over from Michael Field as Labor leader in 1997, and led the Party to successive electoral victories in 1998 and 2002. In 2004 he was Premier and Minister for Tourism, Parks and Heritage as well as Minister for the Arts. Under Bacon, Tasmania experienced stable government and economic prosperity. He resigned in 2004 due to ill-health.

Further reading: Tasmanian Parliamentary Library, Biographical information file; Who's who in Australia 2003.

Wendy Rimon