The Hon. David Kemp AC has had a long interest in Australian history since his student days at Melbourne University, where he won the H.G. Turner prize for the best essay in that subject, and graduated with first class honours in History and Political Science and a degree in Law.

After completing his Ph.D. in Political Science with distinction at Yale University, David Kemp taught Modern (Australian) Government at Melbourne University before becoming Professor of Politics at Monash University, teaching in Australian politics and the relationship between politics and markets from 1979-1990, writing books and many articles on Australian politics and liberalism.  In 1975-76 he was a Senior Adviser to Malcolm Fraser and in 1981 Director of the Prime Minister’s Office. 

In 1990 David was elected to Federal Parliament as member for Goldstein, being a Minister in the Howard Government from 1996 until 2004, when he retired from Parliament. He was President of the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) 2007-2011.

On becoming a Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne in 2007 David began a major project to tell the story of Australian liberalism, the first volume of which was published by Melbourne University Publishing as The Land of Dreams in October 2018. The book was launched in Melbourne by Geoffrey Blainey, and in Sydney by Australian Editor at large Paul Kelly.