John Faulkner | |
---|---|
Father of the Australian Senate | |
In office 1 July 2014 –6 February 2015 | |
Preceded by | Ron Boswell |
Succeeded by | Ian Macdonald |
Minister for Defence | |
In office 9 June 2009 –13 September 2010 | |
Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard |
Preceded by | Joel Fitzgibbon |
Succeeded by | Stephen Smith |
Vice-President of the Executive Council | |
In office 3 December 2007 –13 September 2010 | |
Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard |
Preceded by | Nick Minchin |
Succeeded by | Robert McClelland |
National President of the Labor Party | |
In office 10 January 2007 –27 February 2008 | |
Preceded by | Warren Mundine |
Succeeded by | Mike Rann |
Special Minister of State | |
In office 3 December 2007 –9 June 2009 | |
Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | Gary Nairn |
Succeeded by | Joe Ludwig |
Minister for the Environment | |
In office 25 March 1994 –11 March 1996 | |
Prime Minister | Paul Keating |
Preceded by | Graham Richardson |
Succeeded by | Robert Hill |
Minister for Defence Science and Personnel | |
In office 24 March 1993 –25 March 1994 | |
Prime Minister | Paul Keating |
Preceded by | Gordon Bilney |
Succeeded by | Gary Punch |
Minister for Veterans' Affairs | |
In office 24 March 1993 –25 March 1994 | |
Prime Minister | Paul Keating |
Preceded by | Ben Humphreys |
Succeeded by | Con Sciacca |
Senator for New South Wales | |
In office 4 April 1989 –6 February 2015 | |
Preceded by | Arthur Gietzelt |
Succeeded by | Jenny McAllister |
Personal details | |
Born | Leeton,Australia | 12 April 1954
Political party | Australian Labor Party |
Alma mater | Macquarie University |
John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating,Rudd and Gillard governments.
After his election to the Senate in 1989,Prime Minister Paul Keating appointed Faulkner as Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Science and Personnel in 1993. In 1994,Faulkner was moved to the position of Minister for the Environment,which he held until Labor's defeat in 1996. He later served as the Leader of the Labor Party in the Senate from 1996 to 2005,and returned to Cabinet upon Labor's election in 2007,after Kevin Rudd made him Vice-President of the Executive Council and Special Minister of State. He later served as Minister for Defence from 2009 to 2010,when he retired from frontline politics. [1] He became the Father of the Australian Senate in 2014,and retired from Parliament altogether a year later by way of resignation, [2] [3] and is considered by some as an elder statesman. [4] Faulkner has since been a member of the board of the Global Panel Foundation –Australasia –an NGO that works global in crisis areas. [5]
Faulkner was born in Leeton,New South Wales on 12 April 1954,attended Pennant Hills High School,and was educated at Macquarie University,Sydney,where he graduated in Arts and Education (BA,DipEd). Before entering politics he worked as a Special Education teacher in government schools from 1977 to 1979. In 1980 he was employed as a Research officer to the New South Wales Minister for Sport and Recreation,Ken Booth. Gaining prominence within the ALP,he was made Assistant General Secretary of the NSW party in 1980,serving for nine years and became a member of the ALP National Executive in 1989. [1]
A leading member of the Socialist Left faction of the ALP,Faulkner was appointed to the Senate in 1989 to succeed the former left-wing minister Arthur Gietzelt,who had resigned mid-term. In the Keating Labor government,Faulkner was Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Science and Personnel 1993–94,and Minister for the Environment,Sport and Territories,with a seat in the Cabinet,1994–96. [1]
After the defeat of the Keating government in 1996,Faulkner became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate,and was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1996–2004. He was at various times Shadow Minister for Social Security,Public Administration and Home Affairs. He was a key Labor strategist in the 1998,2001 and 2004 federal elections,and was a particularly close advisor to Mark Latham during the 2004 election. In the wake of Labor's defeat in that election,he resigned his positions. [6] Faulkner became the first Labor Senate leader who did not become Government Senate leader since Don Willesee. In October 2006 John Faulkner was elected as the National President of the Australian Labor Party until February 2008 and chaired the Labor's National Conference in 2007.
In the First Rudd Ministry,Faulkner served as the Vice-President of the Executive Council,Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary. In his role he introduced new rules for ministerial conduct and fundraising aimed at reducing the influence of lobbyists on government decisions. He also introduced new guidelines reducing the overt political control of government funded advertising. [7]
On 9 June 2009,Faulkner was sworn in the Minister for Defence,replacing Joel Fitzgibbon,who had stepped down on 4 June. [8] [9] He retained this portfolio in the First Gillard government until the 2010 federal election following an earlier announcement that he would step down as Defence Minister and return to the backbench. [10]
In 2014 Faulkner began a process of reforms that sought to stamp out perceived corruption and factional infighting within the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party. Faulkner proposed to include rank–and–file members in decisions such as the selection of candidates for Senate and Legislative Council vacancies and party tickets,and a vote in the direct election of the New South Wales parliamentary leaders. [11] However,Faulkner's reform proposals were mostly rejected at NSW Labor's 2014 conference. [12] The direct election of party leader gained support with effect from after the 2015 election. [13]
Faulkner announced on 30 April 2014 that he would not seek re-election and would be retiring at the end of his term on 30 June 2017. [14] On 11 December 2014,however,he announced that he would be resigning from the Senate in late January or early February 2015, [15] creating a casual vacancy. [16] Faulkner resigned on 6 February 2015. [17]
Faulkner has since been a member of the board of the Global Panel Foundation –Australasia –an NGO that works global in crisis areas. [5]
Faulkner was formerly married to fellow Labor politician Sandra Nori and they have two children. [18]
Simon Findlay Crean was an Australian politician and trade unionist. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 2001 to 2003. He represented the seat of Hotham in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 2013 and was a cabinet minister in the Hawke, Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments.
Martin John Ferguson is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was the Member of the House of Representatives for Batman from 1996 to 2013. He served as Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism in the Rudd and Gillard governments from 2007 to 2013.
Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon is a retired Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives from 1996 to 2022, representing the New South Wales seat of Hunter. He served as Minister for Defence (2007–2009) in the first Rudd government and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (2013) in the second Rudd government. He was also Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives (2010–2013) in the Gillard government.
Stephen Francis Smith is the current High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom and formerly an Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives for Perth from 1993 to 2013, representing the Australian Labor Party. He served as a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments, including as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2007–2010), Minister for Trade (2010), and Minister for Defence (2010–2013).
Penelope Ying-Yen Wong is an Australian politician who is serving as the current minister for Foreign Affairs and leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), she has been a senator for South Australia since 2002. Wong previously served as minister for Climate Change and minister for Finance and Deregulation during the governments of Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 until 2013.
Kim John Carr is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for Victoria between 1993 and 2022. Representing the Labor Party, he was a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments.
Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Climate Change and Energy in the Albanese government since June 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was first elected to parliament at the 2004 federal election. He held ministerial office in the Rudd and Gillard governments from 2007 to 2013.
Anthony Stephen Burke is an Australian politician serving as Leader of the House, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for the Arts since 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and has served as member of parliament (MP) for Watson since 2004. He held cabinet positions in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 to 2013.
Christopher Vaughan Evans is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Western Australia from 1993 to 2013, representing the Australian Labor Party.
Gregory Ivan Combet is an Australian former politician and trade unionist. He was Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions between 1999 and 2007. He was elected member for the New South Wales Federal seat of Charlton for the Australian Labor Party at the 2007 election and was immediately appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement in the First Rudd Ministry on 3 December 2007. Combet was the Minister for Climate Change, Industry and Innovation in the Second Gillard Ministry before announcing his resignation from the ministry on 26 June 2013 following Julia Gillard's defeat in a leadership ballot. He previously served as Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change, when Penny Wong was the Minister.
Donald Edward Farrell is an Australian politician and former trade unionist. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been Minister for Trade and Tourism and Special Minister of State in the Albanese government since 2022. He has served as a Senator for South Australia since 2016, after a previous term from 2008 to 2014.
Jason Dean Clare is an Australian politician serving as Minister for Education since 1 June 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represented the Division of Blaxland in Western Sydney since 2007.
Mark Victor Arbib is an Australian former Labor Party politician and trade unionist, who was an Australian Senator for New South Wales from 2008 to 2012.
The first Rudd ministry (Labor) was the 64th ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 26th Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. The first Rudd ministry succeeded the Fourth Howard Ministry, which dissolved on 3 December 2007 following the federal election that took place on 24 November which saw Labor defeat John Howard's Liberal–National Coalition. The ministry was replaced by the First Gillard Ministry on 24 June 2010 following the resignation of Rudd as Prime Minister after a successful leadership challenge by Julia Gillard.
The Gillard government was the Government of Australia led by the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, of the Australian Labor Party. The Gillard government succeeded the first Rudd government by way of the Labor Party leadership spill, and began on 24 June 2010, with Gillard sworn in as Prime Minister by the Governor-General of Australia, Quentin Bryce. The Gillard government ended when Kevin Rudd won back the leadership of the Australian Labor Party on 26 June 2013 and commenced the second Rudd government.
The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of Australia and Coalition partner the National Party of Australia, led by Warren Truss, defeated the incumbent centre-left Labor Party government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a landslide. It was also the third time in history that a party won 90 or more seats at an Australian election. Labor had been in government for six years since being elected in the 2007 election. This election marked the end of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Labor government and the start of the 9 year long Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison Liberal-National Coalition government. Abbott was sworn in by the Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, as Australia's new Prime Minister on 18 September 2013, along with the Abbott Ministry. The 44th Parliament of Australia opened on 12 November 2013, with the members of the House of Representatives and territory senators sworn in. The state senators were sworn in by the next Governor-General Peter Cosgrove on 7 July 2014, with their six-year terms commencing on 1 July.
Matthew James Thistlethwaite is an Australian politician. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2013, representing the electorate of Kingsford Smith. He was formerly a member of the Australian Senate from 2011 to 2013. Since 1 June 2022, Thistlethwaite has served as Assistant Minister for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and the Republic in the ministry of Anthony Albanese.
Jennifer Ryll McAllister is an Australian politician. She has been a Senator for New South Wales since 2015 and previously served as the party's national president from 2011 to 2015. She is from the Socialist Left faction of the Labor Party. In August 2018 she was appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Families and Communities.
A leadership election was held in October 2013 to select Kevin Rudd's replacement as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition. Bill Shorten was elected party leader, and Tanya Plibersek was later confirmed as deputy leader.
The history of the Australian Labor Party has its origins in the Labour parties founded in the 1890s in the Australian colonies prior to federation. Labor tradition ascribes the founding of Queensland Labour to a meeting of striking pastoral workers under a ghost gum tree in Barcaldine, Queensland in 1891. The Balmain, New South Wales branch of the party claims to be the oldest in Australia. Labour as a parliamentary party dates from 1891 in New South Wales and South Australia, 1893 in Queensland, and later in the other colonies.