Mark Butler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minister for Health and Aged Care | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 1 June 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Greg Hunt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy Leader of the House | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 1 June 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leader | Tony Burke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | David Gillespie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National President of the Labor Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 17 June 2015 –18 June 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Jenny McAllister | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Wayne Swan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of the Australian Parliament for Hindmarsh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Assumed office 18 May 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Steve Georganas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of the Australian Parliament for Port Adelaide | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 24 November 2007 –18 May 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Rod Sawford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Division abolished | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Mark Christopher Butler 8 July 1970 Canberra,Australian Capital Territory,Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Australian Labor Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | University of Adelaide Deakin University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation | Trade unionist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mark Christopher Butler (born 8 July 1970) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2007. He was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd governments and also served as national president of the ALP from 2015 to 2018.
Butler studied arts and law at the University of Adelaide and international relations at Deakin University. Prior to entering parliament he was the South Australian secretary of the Liquor,Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU). He was elected to the seat of Port Adelaide at the 2007 federal election,later switching to Hindmarsh in 2019. Butler was made a parliamentary secretary in 2009,becoming a minister after the 2010 election and winning promotion to cabinet the following year. He subsequently held the portfolios of Minister for Mental Health and Ageing (2010–2013),Social Inclusion (2011–2013),Housing and Homelessness (2013),Environment and Water (2013),and Climate Change (2013).
After the ALP's defeat at the 2013 election,Butler was a member of shadow cabinet under opposition leaders Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese. He is a senior member of the Labor Left faction and was elected to a three-year term as national president in 2015.
After the ALP's win at the 2022 Australian federal election,Butler has held the portfolio of Minister for Health and Aged Care and is the Deputy Leader of the House. [1]
Butler was born in Canberra on 8 July 1970, [1] the son of Lindsay Nicholson and David Butler. His mother was a peace and anti-nuclear activist and campaigned to elect the Hawke and Keating governments. [2] His father,a public servant and Vietnam conscript,was the grandson of conservative South Australian premier Richard Layton Butler,but was not politically active himself. [3]
Butler's parents divorced when he was five years old,after which he and his brother moved to Adelaide with their mother. [2] He attended Unley High School,taking a gap year in Italy before enrolling at the University of Adelaide. [2] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws with first class honours. [2] [4] While at university he worked as a paralegal at Duncan Basheer Hannon (DBH). [2] He was short-listed for a Rhodes Scholarship, [2] and later completed a Master of International Relations degree at Deakin University. [5]
Butler was active in student politics while at university. [6] He was a housemate of future state MP Patrick Conlon and developed friendships with future premier Jay Weatherill and future federal minister Penny Wong;he and Weatherill were best man at each other's weddings. [2]
In 1992,Butler joined the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union (LHMU) as a legal officer through his connections with Conlon. He made appearances before industrial tribunals,"pushing for cleaners and hospital workers to get better pay". [2] In 1996 he was elected state secretary of the LHMU, [7] winning by a single vote. [2]
Butler developed a close working relationship with his NSW counterpart Anthony Albanese. [7] He would later be Albanese's campaign manager in the October 2013 election for the Federal ALP Leadership. [8] He was also noted for his constructive relationship with the Labor Right faction in South Australia,particularly then-secretary of the Shop,Distributive and Allied Employees Association,Don Farrell. [7]
Butler joined the ALP at a young age and became a delegate to state conference in South Australia in 1993. [1] At the age of 23,he was a candidate for ALP preselection in the seat of Ross Smith prior to the 1993 South Australian state election. [9] He subsequently was preselected for the seat of Hanson prior to the 1997 state election,but resigned to become state secretary of the LHMU. [2] Butler served as state president of the Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) from 1997 to 1998, [1] the youngest president in the party's history. [10] He was elected as a delegate to national conference in 1998 and elected to the national executive in 2000, [1] representing the Left faction. [7]
Butler was elected as the Labor member for the electoral division of Port Adelaide at the 2007 federal election. [1]
In a 2009 First Rudd Ministry reshuffle,Butler was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Health. On 14 September 2010,he was sworn in as Minister for Mental Health and Ageing in the Second Gillard Ministry. On 12 September 2011 he was given the additional responsibility of Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Mental Health Reform. On 14 December 2011,Butler's ministry was renamed Mental Health and Aged Care,and he became a member of Cabinet. [11]
After the 2013 election,Bill Shorten named Butler as the Shadow Minister for the Environment.
On 17 June 2015,Butler was elected National President of the Australian Labor Party and was succeeded by Wayne Swan on 18 June 2018,becoming senior vice-president to Swan. [12] [13] [14]
In a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on 28 January 2021,Butler was moved from shadow Climate Change spokesperson to shadow spokesperson for Health. [15]
At the 21 May 2022 election,Butler was elected for Labor in the expanded seat of Hindmarsh,which included most of the area of the former seat of Port Adelaide,which had been abolished as part of the 2018 boundary redistribution. [16]
In the incoming Albanese ministry Butler was appointed as Minister for Health and Aged Care. [1]
In May 2023 the Department for Health and Aged Care proposed a wide-ranging ban on e-cigarettes ("vapes");Butler said "I want vaping to return to the purpose that we were told it was invented for,that is a therapeutic product to help long-term smokers quit." [17]
Butler has two children from a previous marriage and one from his second marriage. [18] In 2021,he married former SBS,BBC World News and ABC journalist Daniela Ritorto. [19] Butler lives in Grange in South Australia. [20] Butler supports the Port Adelaide Football Club. [21] Butler is a pescetarian. [22]
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.
Jennifer Louise Macklin is an Australian former politician. She was elected to federal parliament at the 1996 federal election and served as the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2001 to 2006,under opposition leaders Simon Crean,Mark Latham and Kim Beazley. After the ALP won government at the 2007 election,she held ministerial office under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard,serving as Minister for Families,Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (2007–2013) and Minister for Disability Reform (2011–2013). She retired from parliament at the 2019 election.
Catherine Fiona King is an Australian politician serving as the Minister for Infrastructure,Transport,Regional Development and Local Government since 2022 and as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ballarat since 2001. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and briefly served as a minister in the Gillard and Rudd governments in 2013. She served as Shadow Minister of Health from 2013 to 2019 and as Shadow Minister for Infrastructure,Transport and Regional Development from 2019 to 2022.
Brendan Patrick O'Connor is an Australian politician who served as Minister for Skills and Training from 2022 to 2024 in the Albanese ministry after having served in the same portfolio in 2013 in the Second Rudd ministry. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2001. He held ministerial office in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 to 2013,including as a member of cabinet from 2012 to 2013. He was a member of the shadow cabinet from 2013 to 2022.
Tanya Joan Plibersek is an Australian politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Labor Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2013 to 2019. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sydney since 1998. A member of the Labor Party,Plibersek served as a Cabinet Minister in the Rudd,Gillard and Albanese governments. She is currently the Minister for the Environment and Water in the Albanese ministry since 2022,having previously served as the Shadow Minister for Education and Shadow Minister for Women between 2019 and 2022.
Stephen Francis Smith is an Australian former politician and diplomat serving as the 26th and current high commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom since 2023. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP),he was the federal member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Perth from 1993 to 2013,serving in the Rudd and Gillard governments as minister for Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2010,minister for Trade in 2010 and minister for Defence from 2010 to 2013.
Penelope Ying-Yen Wong is an Australian politician who is serving as the 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.
William Richard Shorten is an Australian politician and former trade unionist serving as the current Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. Previously,Shorten was leader of the opposition and leader of the Labor Party (ALP) from 2013 to 2019. A member of parliament (MP) for the division of Maribyrnong since 2007,Shorten also held several ministerial portfolios in the Gillard and Rudd governments from 2010 to 2013.
Carol Louise Brown is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been a Senator for Tasmania since 2005. She was an assistant minister in the Albanese government from 2022 to 2024.
Gregory Ivan Combet is the chairman of Australia’s sovereign wealth fund,the Future Fund. Prior to this he served as chair of the Australian Government Net Zero Economy Agency,overseeing the economic transformation from fossil fuels to renewable energy and net zero emissions.
Mark Alfred Dreyfus is an Australian politician and lawyer who has been attorney-general of Australia and cabinet secretary since June 2022,having held both roles previously in 2013 and from 2010 to 2013 respectively. Dreyfus is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP),and has been the MP for Isaacs since the 2007 election.
Richard Donald Marles is an Australian politician and lawyer serving as the 19th and current deputy prime minister of Australia and the Minister for Defence since May 2022. He has been the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019,having served as the member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Corio since 2007.
Amanda Louise Rishworth is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been Minister for Social Services in the Albanese government since 2022. She has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2007 federal election,representing the South Australian seat of Kingston.
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.
Julie Maree Collins is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has represented the Tasmanian seat of Franklin since the 2007 federal election. She held ministerial positions in the Gillard and Rudd governments,and is Minister for Agriculture,Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Small Business in the Albanese ministry.
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. From 1 June 2022 to 29 July 2024,Thistlethwaite served as Assistant Minister for Defence,Veterans' Affairs and the Republic in the ministry of Anthony Albanese. Since 29 July 2024,Thistlethwaite has served as the Assistant Minister for Immigration.
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.