John Kennedy (Australian politician)

John Ormond Kennedy (born 16 November 1947) is an Australian politician and member of the Labor Party. He was elected as member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in November 2018, representing the seat of Hawthorn until 2022.

Kennedy succeeded incumbent Liberal MP John Pesutto in November 2018. He is only the second Labor member ever to win this traditional blue-ribbon Liberal seat, and the first in 63 years. Kennedy worked as a teacher before entering politics, and served as the Founding Principal of Loyola College for nearly thirty years (1979–2008). He stood in the 2013 federal election for the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Kooyong, losing to Liberal incumbent Josh Frydenberg.

Kennedy is a member of ABC Friends (previously Friends of the ABC), the Graduate Union of The University of Melbourne Inc, Labor for Refugees, and Labor for a Republic and a monthly contributor to Jesuit Social Services, Médecins Sans Frontières and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He is not a member of any Labor faction.

Kennedy has stated that his top policy priorities are education and public transport.

Career
Kennedy holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney, Bachelor of Education from the University of Melbourne, Bachelor of Theology from the United Faculty of Theology of the Melbourne College of Divinity and a Master of Educational Leadership from Australian Catholic University. He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators.

Kennedy began his career as a teacher at Holy Cross College, Ryde (1967) followed by St Pius X College, Chatswood (1968) and Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview from 1969 to 1975 whilst in part-time role as Assistant Housemaster at Sydney Church of England Grammar School (Hodges House, Shore School) from 1970 to 1975. From 1976 to 1979 he resided at St Mary's College (Melbourne University) in the part-time position as Dean of Studies whilst serving as Deputy Principal of St. Columba's College, Essendon.

Kennedy graduated from officer training as Pilot Officer at the Sydney University Squadron in 1970 and was appointed to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Reserve and Active Reserve upon promotion to Flight Lieutenant whilst serving in 21 – City of Melbourne – Squadron in Laverton (1978–1980).

Kennedy was the Founding Principal of Loyola College, Watsonia (Melbourne) from 1979 to 2008 and served a year (2008) as Interim Executive Principal of Trinity Anglican College in Albury–Wodonga.

John Kennedy, apart from 4 years in Victorian Parliament (2018–2022), has since 2009 undertaken consultancies in educational leadership, governance and management for non profit organisations and institutions.

Personal life
Kennedy was born in Sydney in 1947, attended Loreto Kirribilli (1953–5) and St Aloysius College (1956–65) and moved to Melbourne in 1976.

Kennedy lives in the eastern suburb of Hawthorn with his wife Bronwyn Lane, and has two children and two grandchildren.

At the time of his 2018 election victory, Kennedy resided in a retirement village and did not have a smartphone. Kennedy commutes on public transport, as he has never obtained his drivers’ licence.

In December 2021, Kennedy suffered a heart attack while walking with his wife on a Sydney holiday. After being assisted by a doctor and off-duty police officer who happened to be walking past at the time, Kennedy spent six days in hospital but returned to work on January 24.

At the 2022 Victorian state election, Kennedy recontested Hawthorn but eventually lost to predecessor John Pesutto who faced a strong challenge and received just 21.6 per cent of the primary vote.