Keith De Lacy

Keith De Lacy

Biography

Keith De Lacy was Queensland Minister for Regional Development 1989-90 and Queensland Treasurer 1989-96 in the Goss Government, after having serving as State Opposition Spokesman on Primary Industries 1986-88 and on Finance and Regional Development 1988-89.

Born 7 August 1940 in Cairns, he attended Townsville Grammar School, later gaining a Diploma in Agriculture in 1959 from the Queensland Agricultural College, now the Gatton Campus for the University of Queensland. He also has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland.

Keith De Lacy became a member of the Cairns branch of the Labor Party in 1970, and continued membership until 1990. From 1983-86 he was a member of a number of Shadow Ministerial Committees, including Northern Development and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs, Primary Industries, and Welfare Services, Youth and Ethnic Affairs.   

After an eclectic career including positions such as tobacco farmer, underground miner, agricultural college principal in Papua New Guinea and newsagent proprietor, Keith De Lacy became the State Opposition Spokesman on Primary Industries in 1986, moving to the same role for Finance and Regional Development in 1988. In 1989 the first Labor Party state government was elected in Queensland for over thirty years, with Wayne Goss as Premier. Keith De Lacy from the outset of the Goss Government was given two ministerial positions, as State Minister for Regional Development which he remained until 1990, and as State Treasurer until 1996.

Keith De Lacy’s time in the Goss Government heralded a number of reforms and legislative acts. These included the introduction of The Fair Trade Act in 1989, The Superannuation Act (Public Sector) in 1990, The Gaming Machine Act in 1991, Government Owned Corporations Act in 1993, and the WorkCover Act in 1996, amongst others.

In 1996 Keith De Lacy left state politics. In 2002 he published Blood Stains the Wattle, a novel that encapsulated many of the events, perspectives and emotions surrounding the Mount Isa mining deputes of the 1960s. Keith De Lacy also used his time since being in the political arena to gain influence in the corporate world on a national scale. He has either chaired, or been director or president of a wide range of corporate organisations with interests encompassing coal and other natural resources, cotton, energy, sugar and beef industries, as well as other business interests. Keith De Lacy has also chaired the Cairns Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal. He has been awarded two honorary doctorates, one from James Cook University, the other from Central Queensland University, and has been awarded the University of Queensland Gatton Gold Award in 2000, a Centenary Award in 2001 and has been awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2006.