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Cain was born in Melbourne, the son of John Cain , leader of the Labor Party in Victoria from 1937 to 1957 and three times Premier. He was educated at state and private schools and at the University of Melbourne, where he graduated in law. He practised law in suburban Melbourne, and was Chairman of the Victorian Law Institute in 1971- 1972. He was also a member of the Law Council of Australia and a member of the Australian Law Reform Commission.

Cain was 26 at the time of the 1955 split in the Labor Party that brought down his father's last government. Although a member of the party since his youth, he stayed out of politics until relatively late. He was a supporter of the group led by Bob HawkeRobert James Lee Hawke (born December 9 1929), Australian trade union leader and politician, was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia. After a decade as leader of the Australian union movement, he entered politics and was Prime Minister within three years and others that in 1971 took over the Victorian Labor Party from the left-wingers who had run it for many years. He became Vice-Chairman of the Victorian Labor Party in 1973Events January events January 1 United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community now known as the European Union January 3 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led, and in 19761976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is s he was elected to the Victorian Legislative AssemblyThe Legislative Assembly or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of Victoria in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne. The Assembly has 88 members, each coming fro as MP for Bundoora.

By 19761976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is s Labor had been in opposition for 21 years, and Cain became determined to lead the party back into government. He became shadow Attorney-General under the leadership of Frank Wilkes , but when Wilkes lost the 1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings. election to the LiberalThis article concerns the modern Australian political party. For the Australian Liberal party active from 1909 to 1916, see Commonwealth Liberal Party. Liberal Party of Australia Current Leader John Howard Founded 1945 Headquarters Cnr Blackall and Macqua premier, Dick HamerSir Rupert James Hamer ( 29 July, 1916 23 March, 2004), generally known until he was knighted in 1982 as Dick Hamer Australian politician, was Liberal Premier of the state of Victoria from 1972 to 1981. Hamer was born in Melbourne and educated at private, Cain challenged him for the leadership, becoming leader in September 1981. In March 1982 Cain defeated the Liberals and formed the first Labor government in Victoria for 27 years.

During the first six years of his Premiership, Cain remained very popular with the Victorian electorate, and was easily elected to a second term in 1985. His government carried out many reforms to Victorian government, particularly in the areas of education, environment, law reform and public administration. Cain was a Keynesian economist, opposed to the doctrines of economic rationalism, and he increased government spending in the hope of stimulating growth and investment, particularly through the Victorian Economic Development Corporation. This worked so long as the national economy remained buoyant.

During his second term, however, Cain's government began to run into difficulties with the state budget. The stock market crash of 1987 created a crisis which forced the government to cut spending, alienating its trade union supporters. The deregulation of the financial system by the Hawke federal Labor government encouraged the banks and building societies to lend money freely, creating the potential for a financial crisis. The State Bank of Victoria, in particular its merchant banking arm Tricontinental, ran up a huge portfolion of bad loans, without adequate government supervision.

The Cain government was narrowly re-elected to a third term in 1988, but immediately after the election a huge shortfall in the government's workers' compensation scheme, WorkCare, was revealed. This was followed by a budgetary crisis that the government was unable to deal with, partly because of the unwillingness of the unions and the factions within the Labor Party to allow Cain to respond flexibly to the situation. The problems were made worse by Cain's poor relations with Hawke and his Treasurer, Paul Keating, who blamed the crisis on Cain's overspending and refused to bail Victoria out of its difficulties.

In February 1990 it was rumoured that a private building society, Pyramid, was in difficulties. Although the society was not under government control, ministers reassured investors that it was sound. When it failed, causing thousands of investors to lose their money, the government was blamed. This was followed shortly after by the collapse of Tricontinental, which threatened to bankrupt the State Bank, Victoria's largest financial institutions. The bank eventually had to be sold to the Commonwealth Bank, which was shortly after privatised by the federal government. These disasters permanently ruined Cain's reputation for financial management.

By this time Cain was becoming frustrated and bitter at the refusal of his party and the unions to allow his government to cut government spending to bring the budget under control. He issued an ultimatum at the Labor Party Conference to "back me or sack me." When the undermining of his position continued, he resigned in August 1990. He retired from Parliament in 1992, at the election at which his successor, Joan Kirner, led Labor to a massive defeat. Since leaving politics Cain has avoided publicity and made few political comments.