About John Button

"I wanted to be a writer. Other things happened. My life went in different directions, including a long spell in politics.''' John Button from 'As it Happened' Text Publishing 1998

Politics

John Button was a Senator for Victoria between 1974 and 1993. On the election of the Hawke Government in 1983 he became Industry Minister and Leader of the Government in the Senate, positions he held until 1993. As a Minister he oversaw substantial reform of Australian industry, enabling many industry sectors to succeed for the first time in the global marketplace. On his retirement in 1993 he held various posts with education institutions and on the boards of companies.

Books and Writing

John Button wrote a great deal of journalism and three books on politics after his retirement: Flying the Kite, On the Loose and a memoir, As It Happened.

His 2002 Quarterly Essay on the Labor Party, Beyond Belief, won the 2003 Alfred Deakin Prize, one of the Victorian Premiers' Literary Awards. In 1996 he became Chairman of the Melbourne Writers' Festival, a post he held for five years, and he was also a director of Australian Book Review.

Sport

A passionate Geelong fan, he was Chairman of the Geelong Cats Sports Foundation and watched Geelong win its first flag in 44 years in 2007.

John Button died in April, 2008.

Excerpts with appreciation Text Publishing.