Lindsay Tanner
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Lindsay James Tanner (born 24 April 1956), Australian politician, has been a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Melbourne, Victoria. He was born in Orbost, Victoria, and was educated at Gippsland Grammar School and then the University of Melbourne.
Tanner began his career as an articled clerk and solicitor. In 1985, he became an electorate assistant to Labor senator Barney Cooney. He was Assistant State Secretary of the Federated Clerks' Union 1987-88, and State Secretary from 1988-93.
After the Keating government lost the 1996 election, Tanner was promoted to the Shadow Ministry and appointed Shadow Minister for Transport. He authored the book Open Australia (Pluto Press, 1996) that explored ways then emerging information technology could be used to enhance social justice and economic equality. In 1998, he was moved to the portfolios of Finance and Consumer Affairs. In the reshuffle after the party's 2001 election loss, Tanner was moved again, this time to Shadow Minister for Communications. In January, 2004, new leader Mark Latham appointed Tanner to the new portfolio of Community Relationships, in addition to his existing responsibilities.
Tanner has been a prominent member of the party's Socialist Left faction, and is often referred to in the media as the "social conscience" of the Labor Party. It was thought that he might contest the Labor leadership in 2002, when Kim Beazley first challenged Simon Crean. He was publicly urged to do so by a number of his colleagues, such as Dr Carmen Lawrence, but declined. In the second leadership spill in 2003, Tanner supported Beazley.
In October 2004, in the aftermath of Labor's loss in the federal election, Tanner was thought to be a candidate for the position of Shadow Treasurer, vacated by Simon Crean. However, once it became clear that Latham did not intend offering him this position, Tanner announced that he would not stand for a position in the new shadow ministry. He subsequently released a brief statement, stating that he had "no complaint about how Mark Latham has dealt with [him] personally", but adding that he had "serious reservations about the emerging Labor response to our latest election defeat."
In June 2005 Tanner was re-elected to the Opposition front bench and was appointed Shadow Minister for Finance.
