Jim Short (politician)

Short was born on 7 December 1936 in Shepparton, Victoria. He was the youngest of three children born to Elsie (née Hearn) and George Short. His father was a public servant who initially worked as a surveyor but was seconded to the Manpower Directorate on the outbreak of World War II. The family moved to Wangaratta and then in 1946 moved to Bendigo where his father ran the local Commonwealth Employment Service office. Short was educated at Wangaratta Primary School, Gravel Hill State School and Bendigo High School, where he was the head prefect and captained the school's cricket and tennis teams.[1]

After leaving high school Short took up a cadetship with the Commonwealth Public Service, studying part-time at the University of Melbourne while undergoing management training at the Postmaster-General's Department. He graduated Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce in 1961, subsequently joining the Tariff Board. He moved to Canberra in 1962 and the following year transferred to the Department of the Treasury. In 1964 Short became private secretary to the Treasurer, serving under Harold Holt (1964–1966) and William McMahon (1966). He then spent three years as a Treasury representative in London before returning to Australia and becoming assistant secretary of the overseas economic relations division. He was later seconded to the Australian Industry Development Corporation as deputy general manager before returning to the Treasury as assistant secretary of the foreign investment division.[1]

Short resigned from the Senate in 1997 to take up a $150,000-a-year (tax-free) position at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he remained until 2000. He served as Australian Special Envoy for Cyprus from 2000 to 2007.[4]