Alexander John Gosse Downer is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995,Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007,and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2014 to 2018.
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June 2013 to September 2013. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Rudd has been the 23rd and current ambassador of Australia to the United States since 2023.
Julia Eileen Gillard is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP),having previously served as the 13th deputy prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010,under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. She is the first and only woman to hold either office in Australian history.
Anthony Norman Albanese is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parliament (MP) for the division of Grayndler since 1996. Albanese previously served as the 15th deputy prime minister under the second Rudd government in 2013. He held various ministerial positions from 2007 to 2013 in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.
Brendan Patrick O'Connor is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Skills and Training since 2022. 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.
Kelvin John Thomson is a former Australian politician. From March 1996 to May 2016,Thomson was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives,representing the Division of Wills in Victoria. In February 2013,Thomson was appointed the Parliamentary Secretary for Trade in the Second Gillard Ministry.
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.
The Pacific Solution is the name given to the government of Australia's policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean,rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially implemented from 2001 to 2007,it had bipartisan support from the Coalition and Labor opposition at the time. The Pacific Solution consisted of three central strategies:
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 Australian 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.
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.
The Howard government refers to the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard between 11 March 1996 and 3 December 2007. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition,which won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard government commenced following victory over the Keating government at the 1996 federal election. It concluded with its defeat at the 2007 federal election by the Australian Labor Party,whose leader Kevin Rudd then formed the first Rudd government. It was the second-longest government under a single prime minister,with the longest having been the second Menzies government (1949–1966).
The Australian government has a policy and practice of detaining in immigration detention facilities non-citizens not holding a valid visa,suspected of visa violations,illegal entry or unauthorised arrival,and those subject to deportation and removal in immigration detention until a decision is made by the immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community,or to repatriate them to their country of origin/passport. Persons in immigration detention may at any time opt to voluntarily leave Australia for their country of origin,or they may be deported or given a bridging or temporary visa. In 1992,Australia adopted a mandatory detention policy obliging the government to detain all persons entering or being in the country without a valid visa,while their claim to remain in Australia is processed and security and health checks undertaken. Also,at the same time,the law was changed to permit indefinite detention,from the previous limit of 273 days. The policy was instituted by the Keating government in 1992,and was varied by the subsequent Howard,Rudd,Gillard,Abbott,Turnbull,Morrison and Albanese Governments. The policy is regarded as controversial and has been criticised by a number of organisations. In 2004,the High Court of Australia confirmed the constitutionality of indefinite mandatory detention of non-citizens. However,this interpretation was overturned in a landmark decision,NZYQ v Minister for Immigration,in 2023,with the High Court concluding the practice was unlawful and unconstitutional.
The first Rudd government was the executive Government of Australia formed by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The Rudd government commenced on 3 December 2007,when Rudd was sworn in along with his ministry. This took place just nine days after the defeat of the Howard government,which was a Coalition of members of the Liberal and National parties,at the 2007 federal election. The Rudd government concluded on 24 June 2010 when Rudd,under pressure from an impending leadership caucus ballot,stepped down from the leadership of the ALP and was succeeded by his deputy,Julia Gillard. Rudd was re-elected leader of the Labor Party in 2013 and served a second term as prime minister.
A leadership spill occurred in the Australian Labor Party on 24 June 2010. Kevin Rudd,the prime minister of Australia,was challenged by Julia Gillard,the deputy prime minister of Australia,for the leadership of the Australian Labor Party. Gillard won the election unopposed after Rudd declined to contest,choosing instead to resign. Gillard was duly sworn in as prime minister by Quentin Bryce,the Governor-General,on 24 June 2010 at Government House,becoming Australia's first female prime minister.
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.
Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician and the current mayor of Hornsby Shire. He is a Vice Chair of the Global Panel Foundation Australasia.
The second Rudd government was the federal executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of the Australian Labor Party. It commenced on 27 June 2013 and ceased on 18 September 2013. Rudd had previously served a term as Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010 and been replaced by his deputy Julia Gillard,following an internal party spill. Rudd regained the Labor Party leadership by successfully re-challenging Gillard in a June 2013 party spill. On 5 August,Rudd called an election for 7 September 2013,which resulted in the defeat of his government by the Liberal/National Coalition led by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
Asylum in Australia has been granted to many refugees since 1945,when half a million Europeans displaced by World War II were given asylum. Since then,there have been periodic waves of asylum seekers from South East Asia and the Middle East,with government policy and public opinion changing over the years.
The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals,Warren Truss,served as Deputy Prime Minister. Following the 2013 Australian federal election held on 7 September,the Coalition defeated the second Rudd government,ending six years of Labor government. The Abbott government was sworn into office on 18 September 2013. Less than two years later on 14 September 2015,Malcolm Turnbull defeated Abbott in a leadership ballot,54 votes to 44 and the Turnbull government became the executive government of Australia.
