Arnold worked first in secondary education and with the Society of Friends before being elected to the South Australian Parliament in 1979 as the Labor member for Salisbury. Over the following decade, he held a range of ministerial portfolios in John Bannon's government, including Education, Technology, Employment, and Industry, contributing to the state's economic transition towards high-technology and industrial development. He succeeded Bannon as premier in September 1992 following the State Bank collapse, leading efforts to stabilise the state's finances and reform the public sector. But Labor was comprehensively defeated in the 1993 election, in power for eleven years. Arnold lost his Ramsay seat, to Mike Rann, but won the new Taylor seat. He returned to office briefly as Leader of the Opposition before retiring from politics in September 1994, when Rann became party leader.
On retiring from the parliament in 1994, Arnold pursued senior company administration studies at ESADE in Barcelona before pursuing a career in humanitarian and community service. He served as chief executive for Anglicare and World Vision, most recently as Regional Vice President, Asia-Pacific. Concurrently with his professional life, he earned a PhD in sociolinguistics in 2003 from the University of Adelaide. Arnold subsequently headed Anglicare SA from 2008 to 2012 and headed the Don Dunstan Foundation from 2010 to 2020. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2014 and worked concurrently with public life, hosting a weekly radio program and serving as a reader of public theology at St Barnabas Theological College. In 2022 he learned from a partial ASIO document that he had been spied on since his anti–Vietnam War activism, news that left him both reflective and upset.
Early life and activism
Lynn Maurice Ferguson Arnold was born on 27 January 1949 in Durban, Union of South Africa.[1][2] He developed an early interest in politics, recalling that at the age of six he aspired to become prime minister and, as a teenager, was fascinated by election nights, calculating results by hand before computers were in use.[3] By the age of twelve, he had attended eight primary schools and lived in four different countries, which required him and his sister to continually adjust to new surroundings.[4] Educated at Adelaide Boys' High School, Arnold became politically active during his final year in 1965, when he was involved in the emerging anti-Vietnam War movement.[3] Deeply influenced by nightly television reports of the conflict in Indochina, he regarded the war as morally wrong and strongly opposed Australia's participation, a view intensified by his disapproval of the government's introduction of conscription.[5]
Upon entering the University of Adelaide, after a brief delay due to his father's sabbatical, Arnold joined the campaign against the Vietnam War as an active and vocal activist. He quickly assumed a leadership role in coordinating demonstrations and campaigns, engaging in direct civil disobedience as a form of protest.[3] Viewing Australia's involvement in the war as politically driven alignment with the United States rather than an ideological necessity, drawing inspiration from earlier peace movements such as the Peace Pledge Union, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and the Save Our Sons movement.[5] He had planned to become a conscientious objector if called up, but his draft number was not displayed. After giving it some thought, he said he regretted signing up for the draft at all because many of his friends had not.[6] His activism led to four arrests, including a five-day detention in Adelaide Gaol for refusing to pay a fine imposed for distributing leaflets without a permit, a protest he regarded as a defence of free speech. Arnold later recalled the atmosphere of the marches as one of solidarity and shared commitment to peace.[3]
In 1970, Arnold joined an International Fellowship of Reconciliation peace mission to Vietnam, where he participated in a student demonstration at the University of Saigon that was dispersed with tear gas. He later recounted how local residents aided protesters by using lemons to ease the effects of the gas, and he returned to Australia with empty tear gas canisters as mementos of the event.[3] Arnold believed deeply in the principle of people power, the capacity of democratically engaged citizens to influence government policy, and applied this philosophy during the first Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam in South Australia in May 1970, which sought to mobilise public opinion against the war and conscription.[5] He later graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Arts in 1979.[7]
Political career
Bannon government (1979–1992)
Portrait of Arnold in his younger years
Arnold worked in secondary education and with the Society of Friends before entering the South Australian Parliament as an Australian Labor Party (ALP) member for Salisbury[1] on 15 September 1979,[8] at the age of 30. Due to his Christian convictions, he swore loyalty to the Crown rather than the customary Bible oath, declaring that his word was sufficient.[9] Arnold served as Minister of Education from 10 November 1982 to 18 December 1985, concurrently serving as Minister for Technology from 10 November 1982 to 28 August 1986 in John Bannon's government. He was appointed Minister of Children's Services from 6 June 1985 to 18 December 1985, Minister of Employment and Minister Assisting the Minister of State Development from 16 July 1985 to 18 December 1985. After the abolishment of his constituency later that year, on 6 December, he represented Ramsay on the following day.[8]
Arnold held several ministerial appointments, including Minister of Employment and Further Education from 18 December 1985 to 20 April 1989, Minister of State Development until 28 August 1986, and Minister of State Development and Technology until 14 December 1989. From 20 April 1989 to 1 October 1992, he served as Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Ethnic Affairs, and Minister of Fisheries, and from 14 December 1989 to 1 October 1992, he was also Minister of Industry, Trade and Technology.[8] During this period, he contributed to Bannon's economic strategy, supporting the state's transition from traditional manufacturing to computer-aided and high-technology industries, while remaining actively involved in industrial and technological development.[10] He also completed a Bachelor of Education at the University of Adelaide in 1990.[7]
Premiership (1992–1993)
Following Bannon's resignation as premier in September 1992, prompted by political pressure over the A$3.2 billion State Bank collapse, Lynn Arnold was appointed premier of South Australia on 4 September.[1] He initially held the portfolio of Minister of State Development until 1 October 1992 and then served concurrently as Minister of Economic Development and Minister of Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs until 14 December 1993.[8] Leading a minority and politically unstable government, Arnold called an early state election in November 1993 amid the ongoing fallout from the State Bank crisis and internal party tensions.[11] Despite being recognised as an honest parliamentarian and skilled orator by Tony Zappia,[12] his party lost 14 seats and received only 39% of the vote, ending eleven years of Labor rule.[13] Following the election, he lost his seat of Ramsay on 11 December 1993,[8] which was subsequently won by Mike Rann,[14] but Arnold was elected to the newly created seat of Taylor the same day.[8]Dean Brown of the Liberal Party succeeded him as premier on 14 December.[15]
As premier, Arnold set about a series of reforms to stabilise the state's budget and promote economic development. He chaired the State Planning Review, attempting to balance reasonable constraints with minimal regulation, though he had little engagement with local government, partly for political reasons such as the candidacy of Steve Condous for the state seat of Colton.[16] His administration, in October 1993, released the first rolling annual economic plan alongside a social development strategy. In a response to the recommendations of the Arthur D. Little Report, Arnold established a Public Sector Reform portfolio in Chris Sumner's name and, in his interim economic statement, Meeting the Challenge, declared a reorganisation of the public sector including the removal of 3,000 government full-time equivalents.[17] He also encouraged industrial development, opening an Air International factory at Golden Grove and patronising projects like the high-technology, labour-intensive solar optical plant in the southern suburbs.[18] A ministerial statement he made on 9 September 1993 later also formed the basis of a proposed Select Committee in the South Australian Legislative Council.[19]
Leader of the Opposition (1993–1994)
Following the election, Arnold served as Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Economic Development and Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs from 14 December 1993.[8] On 11 May 1994 and 3 August 1994, a motion was moved in the Legislative Council to establish a Select Committee based on proposals from Arnold's September 1993 ministerial statement, but it was never voted on and lapsed after his retirement.[19] Arnold resigned from politics on 20 September 1994, officially relinquishing his seat of Taylor on 21 September 1994.[8] Rann succeeded him as Opposition Leader,[20] and the subsequent by-election for Taylor was held the next day, with Trish White retaining the seat for Labor.[21]
Later life
Anglicare (1994–2012)
After leaving parliament in 1994, Arnold graduated from ESADE in Barcelona, Spain, with a diploma in senior company administration.[22] Later that year, in September, Arnold pursued a career in the humanitarian and community sectors. He worked with Anglicare and World Vision,[1] serving as chief executive of World Vision Australia from 1997 to 2003, before being appointed Regional Vice President of World Vision International for the Asia-Pacific region in 2003.[23] In parallel with his professional work, Arnold completed a PhD in sociolinguistics at the University of Adelaide in August 2003, with a thesis on Perceptions of Language and Identity in Asturias and their Implications for Language Policy and Development, recognising his contributions to multicultural education and focusing on Spanish language policies, particularly Bable in Asturias.[22][24]
In October 2006, Arnold became senior director for Board Development and Peer Review at World Vision International, overseeing governance support and peer review programs for World Vision boards and partnerships.[3] On 8 December 2007, the Anglican Archbishop of AdelaideJeffrey Driver, announced Arnold's appointment as chief executive of Anglicare SA,[25] a role he held from 18 March 2008[26] to 30 June 2012 before stepping down to pursue ordination in the Anglican priesthood;[27] he was succeeded by Peter Sandeman.[28] He also chaired the Advisory Board of the Research Centre for Languages and Culture at the University of South Australia from 2009 to 2017.[29] In April 2010, he succeeded Greg Crafter as chair of the Don Dunstan Foundation, overseeing a strategic plan focused on youth homelessness, Aboriginal employment, and sex discrimination.[30] Arnold has been an Australia Day Ambassador since 2011.[29]
Priesthood (2013–present)
Arnold (standing behind) as Frank Nelson officiates Bannon’s funeral, 2015
Arnold was ordained as a deacon in Adelaide in November 2013[31] and as an Anglican priest at St Peter's Cathedral on 6 December 2014 by the Archbishop of Adelaide. As one of seven deacons elevated to the Order of Priests, he became authorised to perform baptisms, preside over Holy Communion, pronounce Absolution, and give blessings. Arnold described his calling as helping the church articulate Christ's message by serving the hungry, homeless, sick, prisoners, and strangers.[32] From 2014 to 2024, Arnold hosted a weekly radio program on 1079 Life titled Sunday Night with Lynn Arnold.[29] He gave a prayer during Bannon's state funeral at St Peter's Cathedral on 21 December 2015.[33][34] Arnold also chaired the Crawford Fund's Food for a More Secure World from 2018 to 2024.[29]
Arnold served as chair of the Don Dunstan Foundation until June 2020, when Jane Lomax-Smith succeeded him,[35] and he continues to serve on the board as director and patron.[36] Additionally, Arnold held the post of reader in public theology at St Barnabas Theological College until 2022.[29] On 2 August 2022, he received a partial ASIO file revealing that he had been monitored for decades since his anti-Vietnam War activism. The 150-page file contained meeting summaries, newspaper clippings, and rally photographs, with some sections redacted or destroyed. ASIO had monitored him to determine whether he was a communist and ultimately concluded he was not. Arnold expressed surprise that some close friends had reported on him and suspected surveillance continued during his premiership. He described feeling both understanding of national security needs and dismayed by the breaches of trust.[37]
Personal life
Arnold was raised within a Christian home which shaped his early interest in social justice. At university, and through his parents' influence, he was drawn to Quakerism by pacifism, silent worship, and living out the faith from day to day. He then returned to Anglicanism but was still grateful for the spirituality of different Christian traditions and the discipline of private prayer.[9] Arnold is married to Elaine and has five children and eight grandchildren.[29]
Honours
Arnold received the Centenary Medal in 2001 for his contributions to the Australian community.[38] In 2004, he was appointed an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours, recognising his service as premier of South Australia, legislator, and his work in development and humanitarian organisations.[7]
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