Christopher John Hurford was born in India on 30 July 1931 and spent his early life in England, India and Australia. He was educated at St Louis School, Perth, Western Australia (1940-1945), the Oratory School near Reading, England (1945-1949) and later at the London School of Economics where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in the field of Economics.
He began his working life in 1949 as a clerk in a chartered accountants office in Perth. Between 1952 and 1957 he was employed by the New Broken Hill Consolidated and Zinc Corporation Limited in Broken Hill and London. He served as an accountant with the firm of Marks and Spencer Limited, UK from 1955 to 1957 and from 1957 to 1958 attended the London School of Economics. From 1958 to 1962 he worked with firms of chartered accountants in London, Sydney and Adelaide, setting up his own tax consultancy practice in Adelaide in 1962.
Hurford was elected to the House of Representatives in 1969 as the Australian Labor Party Member for Adelaide, South Australia. During his early parliamentary career he served on several committees. He was Deputy Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Accounts from 1969 to 1973, becoming its Chairman in 1973; the foundation Chairman of the Joint Committee on Prices from 1973-1975; during 1975 and again from 1980 to 1983 he was a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Standing Orders; and from 1976 to 1977 he was a member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Expenditure. He also served on the Advisory Council for Inter-Government Relations and attended several international parliamentary conferences.
Hurford held several positions within the shadow ministry. From 1976 to 1977 he was Shadow Treasurer and from 1977 to 1983 he was Spokesman on Industry and Commerce, including small business, Industries Assistance Commission, Prices Justification Tribunal and Trade Practices Commission, and Consumer Affairs. He was also the Opposition spokesman on Education during 1983. From 11 February to 7 November 1980 he was the Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Representatives.
When the Australian Labor Party gained office in March 1983 Hurford was appointed Minister for Housing and Construction in the first Hawke Ministry. In December 1984 he became Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, a position which he held until February 1987. During the period from March 1983 to February 1987 he also served as Minister assisting the Treasurer. In February 1987 Mr Hurford became Minister for Community Services. Hurford stepped down from his ministerial position following the federal election in July 1987. On 31 December 1987 he resigned from Parliament to take up the position of Consul-General of Australia in New York from March 1988, until his retirement in 1991.
Mr Hurford has travelled extensively overseas attending several international conferences. In January 1971 he visited France, Turkey and Yugoslavia as a member of the Commonwealth Delegation to the Development Assistance Committee of the Council of Europe. He attended the 62nd Conference of the International Parliamentary Union held in London, September 1975 and was the Australian representative to the Council of Europe at Strasbourg in October 1975. In April 1983, he was a member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Delegation to the Australian Constitutional Convention held in Adelaide. He represented the Australian Labor Party at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Mexican governing party, the Institutional
Revolutionary Party in Mexico, March 1979, and attended the OECD debate of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, October 1979. He also attended the 28th conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held in the Bahamas in 1982. He attended a meeting of the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines in May 1983 and made an official visit to China in October 1984 while leading a trade mission to Asia.
Hurford has also been involved with a large number of committees, boards and associations, many in South Australia. From approximately 1966 to 1969 he was a Trustee of the Savings Bank of South Australia, a member of the Board of the Municipal Tramways Trust (Adelaide) and the South Australian Social Welfare Advisory Committee. He also served on the Board of Elderly Citizens Homes of South Australia from 1965 to 1969. From 1966 to 1970 he was a member of the National Executive of the Australian Association of Adult Education and from 1967 to 1968 was Chairman of the Workers' Education Association, South Australia. He was a member of the South Australian Council of the Taxation Institute of Australia from 1965 to 1970 and was South Australian Appeal Chairman for Austcare from 1970 to 1972. He was foundation treasurer of the South Australian Council of Civil Liberties and the South Australian Aboriginal Education Foundation. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Australian Society of Accountants and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries.
Sources
1. Who's Who in Australia 1983, p 440; 1988, p 459
2. Australian Parliamentary Handbook, 1986, p 125-126
3. Joan Rydon, A Biographical Register of the Commonwealth
Parliament, 1901-1972. Canberra: Australian National University,
1975, p 111-112
4. The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 February 1987, p 1
5. Prime Minister, Press Release, 22 July 1987
6. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, No S184, 24 July 1987
7. The Canberra Times, 1 January 1988, p 3
Agency associated with person unregistered
1964-1982: Australian Labor Party State Executive, South Australia -
Member
Apr 1983 : Australian Constitutional Convention, Adelaide - Member
of Commonwealth Parliamentary Delegation