He attempted twice to return to the leadership, doing so in 2005 after Labor lost the 2004 election, but was successfully challenged by Kevin Rudd in December 2006 following poor opinion polling.

[5] While at Oxford, he befriended Tony Blair, who would later become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Geoff Gallop, who would later become Premier of Western Australia.

Following a reshuffle after the 1984 election, Beazley was promoted to become Minister for Defence, a role he would hold until 1990, making him one of the longest-serving holders of that post.

[8] Beazley took a particularly active role as defence minister, appearing frequently in the press, and was responsible for establishing the Royal Australian Navy's submarine program, although this would be beset by technical problems.

[citation needed] In 1988, Hawke appointed Beazley to the additional role of Leader of the House, a position he would continue to hold until the end of the Labor government in 1996.

After the 1990 election, Beazley requested to be moved to the role of Minister for Transport and Communications in order to gain greater exposure to domestic political issues.

After Keating successfully challenged Hawke and became Prime Minister in December 1991, he moved Employment and Education, putting Beazley in charge of overseeing the creation of the government's welfare-to-work programs as part of the economic package 'One Nation'.

[citation needed] Beazley made a strong start in the role, quickly gaining a lead in opinion polls, particularly after Howard broke his previous commitment not to introduce a Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Beazley was Labor's lead representative at the Constitutional Convention in February 1998 which was called to discuss the issue of Australia becoming a republic.

[9] Subsequently, at the 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934.

The party spent much of the following three years well ahead in the opinion polls, and seemed set to win the next election, but in August 2001, following the Tampa affair when the Howard government refused to allow several hundred asylum seekers to disembark on Christmas Island, Beazley was judged to have failed in response.

Beazley immediately announced that he would contesting the leadership, but was narrowly defeated by Shadow Treasurer Mark Latham by 47 votes to 45.

Beazley's return to the front bench was generally seen as a move by Latham to reassure Australian public opinion that a Labor government would not put the United States–Australian alliance at risk.

[14] In the first half of 2006, Beazley focused much of the Labor Party's efforts on the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) scandal and the government's WorkChoices legislation; the former allegedly involved bribes and kickbacks with the then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein that breached UN sanctions.

This led to heavy media criticism for the Labor Party, although some acknowledged the need for the government to be held accountable for the AWB scandal.

"[19] It was subsequently revealed that Beazley's brother David had died of a heart attack at age 53 shortly before the vote took place; Prime Minister John Howard led tributes to Beazley, saying that he was a "thoroughly decent man" and expressed his "genuine sorrow" both for his political demise and for his family tragedy.

[20] Several figures later speculated that the removal of Beazley as leader in 2006 may have been a mistake in retrospect given the subsequent leadership chaos that engulfed the Labor government from 2010 to 2013.

[21] After her own fall as Prime Minister, Julia Gillard expressed regret in working with Rudd to roll Beazley as leader.

[26] Beazley was appointed a professorial fellow at the University of Western Australia, teaching politics, public policy and international relations.

[citation needed] In September 2009, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that he would appoint Beazley as Australian Ambassador to the United States.

[31] In February 2016, shortly after returning to Australia, Beazley was made president of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

[35] On 3 April 2018, McGowan confirmed that on his advice, Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia had approved Beazley to replace Sanderson.

He has strongly supported progress on the AUKUS security partnership, arguing that nuclear-powered submarines will be "worth the wait" and advocating for faster approvals for the export of nuclear materials.

[40] Beazley has expressed concern that successive Australian governments had “dropped the ball” on defence spending since the end of the Cold War.