Mike Kelly (Australian politician)

Before I left Australia I had my own views on capital punishment. I was leaning fairly heavily towards the negative side. But the death of Gutaale was far more than an execution following a criminal conviction, it was more an act of communal self defence. If I was moved in any way, it was seeing Gutaale's mother in the court. She was concerned and upset, but having sat through countless statements from people who had suffered from what he had done and not just killings, but cruel killings and senseless brutality I knew too much of what he had done, and what he was capable of. I couldn't, have any sympathy for him ... I have absolutely no personal regrets about Gutaale's execution ... I'll have to admit that even when I saw him wallowing in his own blood and excrement I felt no remorse or pity, only relief. There was no other way of stopping him.

— Colonel Mike Kelly, The Canberra Times , 10 October 2007.

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Kelly was also deployed during the Bosnian War, which occurred from 1992 to 1995. ^[9] In 1996, Kelly was part of a successful hostage recovery mission in Kenya. ^[1]

Following the Bosnian War, Kelly obtained a Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of New South Wales in 1997. The research work undertaken for his doctoral dissertation has subsequently formed the basis for two books: Peace Operations: Tackling the Military, Legal and Policy Challenges (1997) and Restoring and Maintaining Order in Complex Peace Operations: The Search for a Legal Framework (1999). ^[10]

Colonel Mike Kelly (right) during his deployment to Iraq in 2003.

East Timor

Kelly then served in the peacekeeping mission in East Timor from 1999 to 2000. He received the United Nations Force Commander's commendation in 2002 for his service there. ^[1]

Iraq

Kelly was among senior Australian personnel deployed in Iraq during the Iraq War. In June 2003, he inspected detention facilities in Iraq, including those at Abu Ghraib, and reported to the Australian Government on the treatment of detainees. ^[6] He was actively involved in the prosecution of Saddam Hussein.

Retirement

He finished his military career in 2007 with the rank of colonel as Director of Army Legal Services. ^[10]

Political career

Entry into politics

In the 2007 federal election, Kelly stood as the Labor candidate for the marginal New South Wales country electorate of Eden-Monaro, regarded as a "Bellwether seat".

He was criticised by his opponent, long-standing Liberal member Gary Nairn for not residing in the electorate before his nomination and for not facing a local preselection. ^[11] Nairn's chief of staff also publicly likened Kelly to a Belsen Nazi concentration camp guard for serving in the military in Iraq despite opposing the war itself. ^[12] The reference became a high-profile campaign issue, with claims that Nairn's office had subsequently promoted the claim using public rather than party funds. ^[13] The comment was subsequently withdrawn and an apology forwarded to media outlets and to Kelly. ^[14]

Rudd-Gillard governments

At the 2007 federal election on 24 November, Kelly won the seat with a 6.67% two-party-preferred swing, ^[15] and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support in the incoming Rudd Government.

In 2008, after a prolonged and acrimonious debate within Australian veteran and political circles, Kelly formally acknowledged the existence of the 2nd D&E Platoon, a platoon of infantrymen that had been involved in a most successful ambush at Thua Tich on 29 May 1969 under the leadership of Corporal James Riddle. All trace of the platoon had disappeared from the records of the Vietnam War and had compromised the service histories of the 39 men who had served in it. ^[16] In 2009, he was also appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Water.

After a redistribution changed the boundaries of Eden-Monaro, Kelly defeated Liberal candidate David Gazard in the 2010 federal election with a swing of 2%. As a result of the re-elected Labor Government's regional focus, Kelly was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in September 2010. In December 2011, he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Defence in a reshuffle of the Government. ^[17]

In a third reshuffle in early 2013, Kelly was promoted to the outer ministry and replaced Jason Clare as Minister for Defence Materiel. ^[18]

In November 2012, Kelly was sued by Lynton Crosby for alleging on Twitter that Crosby had used push polling. ^[19] The case was eventually discontinued in 2015 by Crosby Textor after Kelly issued an apology which explained that his tweet had concerned a poll from 1995 in which Textor was involved before Crosby Textor's business had commenced. ^[20]

2013 onwards

At the 2013 federal election, Kelly lost his seat to the Liberal Party candidate Peter Hendy.

Preselected as the Labor candidate for Eden-Monaro in May 2015, Kelly defeated Hendy and regained the seat at the 2016 federal election becoming the seat's first opposition member since 1972.

Kelly supports same-sex marriage. ^{[21] [22]}

In September 2018, Kelly was the target of two anti-Semitic attacks. The first attack was when a neo-Nazi sticker with the words "Antipodean Resistance" was placed on his Bega electorate office window. The second incident was when pig's blood and pork was thrown at his Queanbeyan electorate office. Kelly is a supporter of Israel and his wife and son are Jewish. ^[23]

Retirement from politics

On 30 April 2020, Kelly announced his resignation from Parliament and retirement from politics due to personal health issues. He also said he wanted to support his wife as she went through her own health issues. Ten days later, he announced he had taken a position at Palantir Technologies. He said that his role would allow him to "work within [his] physical limitations but still be in a position to make a difference in relation to the issues that matter to [him]". ^[4]

Personal life

Kelly is married to Rachelle and has one son. ^[10] In October 2019 Kelly collapsed and was taken to hospital for emergency surgery. He had renal failure which he attributes to severe dehydration during his overseas military service. ^[24] Kelly underwent 10 medical procedures in 6 months. His health issues, and also his wife having health problems, led to him announcing his retirement from politics. ^[3]

Honours, decorations and awards

Colonel The Honourable Mike Kelly AM
Kelly at the Wagga RAAF Museum in 2008
Member of the Australian Parliament for Eden-Monaro
In office 2 July 2016 –30 April 2020

Clasp	Award	Clasp/Notes	Date awarded	Reference
	Member of the Order of Australia (AM)		13 June 1994	[7]
	Australian Active Service Medal	with 3 Clasps, Somalia, Timor Leste and Iraq		[25]
	Iraq Medal			[25]
	Australian Service Medal	with 1 Clasp, Balkans		[25]
	Defence Long Service Medal	with one Rosette for 20–24 years service		[25]
	Australian Defence Medal			[25]
	United Nations Medal	for United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT)		[25]

See also

• First Rudd Ministry
• Second Rudd Ministry

References

1. "Eden-Monaro Votes: Meet Your Candidates". Bega District News. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
2. Hayne, Jordan (2 July 2016). "Labor claims victory in bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro". ABC News. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
3. "Eden-Monaro MP Mike Kelly resigns, prompting by-election". ABC News. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
4. Greene, Andrew (10 May 2020). "Data company that 'helped locate Osama Bin Laden' recruits former Labor MP Mike Kelly". ABC News. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
5. Findlay, Tracey (5 May 2010). "Asquith Boys High School set to celebrate its 50th". The Hornsby and Upper North Shore Advocate. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
6. Grimm, Nick (22 May 2007). "'Incompetent leadership' drives military lawyer to politics". The 7.30 Report. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
7. "Member of the Order of Australia (AM)". It's an Honour. Commonwealth of Australia. 13 June 1994. Citation: For exceptional service and devotion to duty with the Australian Army, particularly as a Legal Officer with Headquarters 1st Division and on Operations in Somalia.
8. "Somalia to Eden-Monaro: How Mike Kelly fought a murderous warlord all the way to the firing squad". The Canberra Times . 10 October 2007. Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
9. "About". Mike Kelly MP. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
10. Biography Archived 20 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine , Australian Dept of Defence. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
11. Coorey, Phillip (1 May 2007). "Army man parachuted into bellwether seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
12. Bradford, Gillian (19 September 2007). "Nairn under fire after staffer's Iraq comments". P.M. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
13. Marris, Sid (19 September 2007). "Staffer under fire over Nazi slur". The Australian. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
14. O'Malley, Sandra (19 September 2007). "Minister's staffer withdraws Nazi slur". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 7 July 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
15. "House of Representatives NSW Division – Eden-Monaro". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
16. "'Ghost platoon' laid to rest". ABC News. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
17. "Transcript 18309 | PM Transcripts". Archived from the original on 9 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
18. "Defence Ministers » Mike Kelly Biography". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
19. Boffey, Daniel (12 May 2013). "David Cameron's head of strategy sues Australian minister for libel". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
20. Inman, Michael (1 July 2015). "Mike Kelly defamation case ends with apology to Lynton Crosby and Mark Textor". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
21. Shanahan, Dennis (15 August 2015). "Key marginal-seat Liberals oppose same-sex marriage changes". The Australian. Canberra. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
22. Knowlton, Cassidy (17 August 2015). "Which labor MPs have changed their minds on same-sex marriage". Crikey. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
23. Foden, Blake (13 September 2018). "MP Mike Kelly condemns anti-Semitic attack after pork thrown at office". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
24. Travers, Jamie; Mason, Brett; Stayner, Tom (27 February 2020). "Labor MP Mike Kelly opens up on the life-threatening health scare that almost forced him to quit". SBS News. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
25. "Biography for KELLY, the Hon. Dr Michael (Mike) Joseph, AM". Current members. Parliament of Australia . Retrieved 2 July 2017.

External links

• Media related to Mike Kelly (politician) at Wikimedia Commons
• ALP homepage
• Personal page, Australian Parliament website
• Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support
• Parliamentary Secretary for Water
• Division of Eden-Monaro
• News article about Mike Kelly

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Gary Nairn	Member for Eden-Monaro 2007–2013	Succeeded by Peter Hendy
Preceded by Peter Hendy	Member for Eden-Monaro 2016–2020	Succeeded by Kristy McBain
Political offices
Preceded by Jason Clare	Minister for Defence Materiel 2013	Succeeded by None