Bacon, having abandoned Communism and joined the Australian Labor Party, was elected as a Member of the House of Assembly in 1996, became leader of the Labor Party in 1997 and won two elections in 1998 and 2002 - the second being a huge landslide victory for his party.

His time in office was said to have been hugely successful, for the state economy as a whole, for his popularity with the people of the state, and also for tourism with the introduction of two more Bass Strait ferries.

On February 23, 2004 Bacon announced he was standing aside as Premier after revealing that he had been diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer on February 13, 2004 and wanted to spend the rest of his time with his family and friends. His Deputy Premier Paul Lennon became acting Premier.

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