Steve Bracks

He is a Lebanese Australian; his paternal grandfather came to Australia as a child from Zahlé in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon in the 1890s.

His family were Melkite Catholic before migrating and became Roman Catholic.

Bracks was educated in Ballarat at St Patrick's College and the Ballarat College of Advanced Education (now Federation University), where he graduated in business studies and education.

He became a keen follower of Australian rules football, supporting the Geelong Football Club.

Bracks became the first Catholic Labor Premier of Victoria since 1932.

Former leader Brumby, appointed Treasurer, was regarded as a major part of the government's success.

Stephen Phillip Bracks (born 15 October 1954) is a former Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Victoria.

From 1976 to 1981 Bracks was a school commerce teacher at Sacred Heart College, Ballarat.

During the 1980s he worked in local government in Ballarat and then as Executive Director of the Ballarat Education Centre.

While in these positions he twice (1985 and 1988) contested the seat of Ballarat North in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Labor Party.

Here he witnessed from the inside the collapse of the Labor government following the economic and budgetary crisis which began in 1988.

This experience gave Bracks a very conservative and cautious view of economic management in government.

In 1989 Bracks was appointed statewide manager of Victorian state government employment programs, under the Labor government of John Cain Jr.

He then became an adviser to both Cain and Cain's successor as Premier, Joan Kirner.

Following the defeat of the Kirner government by the Liberal leader Jeff Kennett in late 1992, Bracks became Executive Director of the Victorian Printing Industry Training Board.

He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Labor Party and was party leader and premier from 1999 to 2007.

Kirner resigned from parliament in 1994, and Bracks was elected to Kirner's seat of Williamstown in the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Bracks and his wife Terry lived in Williamstown.

They have three children, one of whom is model Nick Bracks.

Bracks was immediately elected to Labor's front bench, as Shadow Minister for Employment, Industrial Relations and Tourism.

In 1996, after Labor under John Brumby was again defeated, he became Shadow Treasurer.

Bracks led Labor in Victoria to minority government at the 1999 election, defeating the incumbent Jeff Kennett Liberal and National coalition government.

In March 1999, when it became apparent that Labor was headed for another defeat under Brumby's leadership, Brumby resigned and Bracks was elected Opposition Leader.

Political observers were almost unanimous that Bracks had no chance of defeating Liberal premier Jeff Kennett at the September 1999 election: polls gave Kennett a 60% popularity rating.

Bracks and his senior colleagues (particularly Brumby, who comes from Bendigo) campaigned heavily in regional areas, accusing Kennett of ignoring regional communities.

In response, voters in regional areas deserted the Kennett government.

On election night, much to its own surprise, Labor increased its seat count from 29 to 41, with the Liberals and their National Party allies retaining 43, and three falling to rural independents.

With the Coalition one seat short of government, the election was to be decided in Frankston East, when the death of incumbent Peter McLellan forced a supplementary election.

That supplementary election was won by Labor on a large swing, resulting in a hung parliament.

The independents then threw their support to Labor, allowing Bracks to form government by one seat.

The Coalition briefly considered forcing Bracks to demonstrate that he had support on the floor of the Assembly.

However, two of the independents, Russell Savage and Susan Davies, felt Kennett had given them short shrift in the previous legislature, and would not have even considered supporting him.

In any event, this gambit was brought undone when Kennett announced his retirement from politics on 20 October.

Bracks then advised the Governor, Sir James Gobbo, that he could form a government, which was duly sworn in later that day.

Labor was returned with a majority government after a landslide win at the 2002 election.

Labor was elected for a third term at the 2006 election with a substantial but reduced majority.

The treasurer, John Brumby, became Labor leader and premier in 2007 when Bracks retired from politics.

Bracks is the third-longest-serving Labor premier in Victorian history, surpassed only by John Cain Jr. and Daniel Andrews.

Bracks has served as the 6th Chancellor of Victoria University since 2021.

Steve Bracks was born in Ballarat, where his family owns a fashion business.