Jim Carlton

James Joseph Carlton AO (13 May 1935 – 24 December 2015) was an Australian businessman, politician, and humanitarian.

The Honourable Jim Carlton AO
Minister for Health
In office 7 May 1982 – 11 March 1983
Prime Minister	Malcolm Fraser
Preceded by	Peter Baume
Succeeded by	Neal Blewett
Member of the Australian Parliament for Mackellar
In office 10 December 1977 – 14 January 1994
Preceded by	Bill Wentworth
Succeeded by	Bronwyn Bishop
Personal details
Born	James Joseph Carlton (1935-05-13)13 May 1935
Died	24 December 2015(2015-12-24) (aged 80)
Political party	Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse	Diana Wilson ​ (m. 1964)​
Children	Rob Carlton
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupation	Business and industry consultant, politician, humanitarian

Early life

Carlton was born in Sydney and earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney.^[1]

Early career

Carlton’s political career began at the Sydney University Liberal Club, of which he later became president. He succeeded Sir John Carrick as General Secretary of the NSW Liberal Party during the McMahon – Snedden – Fraser periods.^[2]

Political career

Fraser Government (1977–83)

Carlton was elected to the Australian House of Representatives during the 1977 election for the seat of Mackellar and was Minister for Health from May 1982 to the defeat of the Fraser Government in March 1983.

Opposition (1983–94)

Carlton served on the Defence Sub-Committee of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, and held a number of Shadow Ministry positions in Opposition, including Shadow Treasurer from 1985 to 1987 and Shadow Minister for Defence from 1989 to 1990.

In 1985, he stood for the Liberal Party leadership. He lost easily to John Howard.

He resigned from Parliament in January 1994.^[1]

Post Politics

From 1994 to 2001, Carlton was Secretary General of the Australian Red Cross,^[3][4] receiving the Red Cross Movement's highest honour, the Henry Dunant Medal. As a founder of the Crossroads Group^[5] together with John Hyde and Peter Shack he was influential in establishing the free-market or 'dry' cause in the Parliamentary wing of the Australian Liberal Party.^[6] He served on the boards of the PNG Sustainable Development Program^[7] and the Australia New Zealand School of Government.^[8] Additionally he was a Professional Fellow at the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne, and a Senior Adviser with the Boston Consulting Group,^[9] and was a council member of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.^[10]

Honours

In January 2001, Carlton was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal;^[11] and in June that year, was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to Australian society.^[12]