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Mike Rann
44th Premier of South Australia Elections: 1997, 2002, 2006
Incumbent
Assumed office  6 March 2002
Preceded by	Rob Kerin
Constituency	Ramsay
Born	1953 Sidcup, Kent, United Kingdom
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse	Sasha Carruozzo
Profession	Journalist

Michael David Rann (born 1953), Australian politician, is the 44th Premier of South Australia. He is the parliamentary leader of the South Australian State Labor Party, the member for the seat of Ramsay and the Senior Vice President of the Federal Labor Party.

Rann was born in Sidcup, Kent, United Kingdom, to working-class parents who emigrated to New Zealand in 1962. He completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts (Political Studies) at the University of Auckland. While in New Zealand he was prominent in the campaign against French nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean.

Rann was a political journalist for the now defunct New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation until 1977 when he moved to Adelaide and became press secretary and speech writer for the then Premier, Don Dunstan. He later was press secretary to Premier John Bannon.

Rann was elected to Parliament as the Member for Briggs in 1985. In December 1989, he entered the ministry, becoming Minister for Employment and Further Education, Minister of Youth Affairs, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Minister assisting in Ethnic Affairs. After Bannon resigned as premier over the State Bank collapse, Rann became Minister for Business and Regional Development, Minister of Tourism and Minister of State Services in the Lynn Arnold cabinet from September 1992.

Former Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam with wife Margaret at the wedding of Mike Rann and Sasha Carruozzo in July 2006.

When Labor lost government in the landslide 1993 election, Rann was elected Deputy Leader of the Opposition, and subsequently became leader in September 1994 with the support of Labor powerbroker Don Farrell, who promised Rann two terms in the position. Rann surprisingly achieved a 9.4% swing to Labor in the 1997 election, narrowly failing to win government.

He remained Leader of the Opposition until the 2002 election, at which he won enough seats to form a government and become Premier on 6 March 2002 with the support of an independent MP, Peter Lewis. Lewis' decision was controversial, but Rann later secured the support of conservative independent Rory McEwen and the Nationals' Karlene Maywald by adding them to his cabinet.

Rann led Labor to its strongest win, from a two party preferred low of 39% in 1993 under Lynn Arnold, to 56.8% at the March 2006 state election leaving the opposition with 15 of 47 seats.

Rann was married to Jenny Russell until the late 1990s and had two children with her, David and Eleanor. On July 15, 2006, he married his second wife, actress and Greens member Sasha Carruozzo.

July 2006 saw Rann's appointment as chairman of a new Australian Federation Council, a council which aims to improve state-federal ties. In August 2006 ran for national ALP presidency, and made senior-vice presidency on 27% of the vote.

After the retirement of Peter Beattie as Premier of Queensland on 13 September 2007, Rann became the longest currently serving state Premier in Australia.

• Parliament profile
• Premier profile
• Premiers and Ministers profile
• ALP profile
• Poll Bludger electorate profile
• South Australia's Strategic Plan update released January 2007

Premiers of South Australia

Finniss | Baker | Torrens | Hanson | Reynolds | Waterhouse | Dutton | Ayers | Blyth | Hart | Boucaut | Strangways | Colton | Morgan | Bray | Downer | Playford II | Cockburn | Holder | Kingston | Solomon | Jenkins | Butler | Price | Peake | Verran | Vaughan | Barwell | Gunn | Hill | Butler | Richards | Playford IV | Walsh | Dunstan | Hall | Corcoran | Tonkin | Bannon | Arnold | Brown | Olsen | Kerin | Rann