John Arthur Watkins is a former Deputy Premier of New South Wales, serving between 2005 until his resignation from Parliament in 2008. Watkins has been the Chief Executive Officer of Alzheimer's Australia since 2008; the Chairman of Calvary healthcare since 2011; and the eighth Chancellor of the University of New England, serving between 2013 and 2014. Watkins was an elected member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electorates of Gladesville and then Ryde for the Labor Party. During his parliamentary career, Watkins served in a range of ministerial portfolios including Fair Trading, Sport and Recreation, Police and Corrective Services, Transport, Finance, State Development, and Education and Training. Often touted as a possible Labor premier, Watkins was from the minority Labor Left faction.
Ministerial career
Watkins was the former Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Minister for Transport and Minister for Finance. Watkins was appointed Deputy Premier in August 2005, following the resignation of Andrew Refshauge and upon the appointment of Morris Iemma as Premier. Watkins held the cabinet position of Transport Minister from January 2005. He was appointed Minister for Finance on 30 March 2007 following the reelection of the Iemma Government. Watkins resigned from Cabinet and retired from Parliament in 2008, saying that he had been unable to balance work and family. His retirement triggered the unintentional downfall of Premier Morris Iemma. His resignation came at a bad time for the government; its polling numbers were in free fall only a year after winning reelection. In the ensuing by-election, Ryde was resoundingly lost to LiberalVictor Dominello on a swing of 23.7 percent; only a year earlier, Watkins had been reelected with 60 percent of the two-party vote. Prior ministerial posts included Minister for Police, Minister for Education and Minister for Fair Trading and Sports.
In 2008 Watkins was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Alzheimer's Australia ; after serving as a board member in 2011 he was appointed Chairman of Calvary ; and in April 2013, he was appointed to succeed Richard Torbay as the eighth Chancellor of the University of New England, until his resignation in June 2014. In 2017 he was approached to run as the ALP candidate for the federal Bennelong by-election, as Bennelong encompasses his old state seat of Ryde, but declined after former premier Kristina Keneally informed him that she wanted to run in the by-election. Keneally duly became the candidate but was not successful at the by-election.
