Bill Shorten
Bill Shorten | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Maribyrnong | |
| Assumed office 3 December 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Sercombe |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 May 1967 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Spouse | Debbie Beale |
| Residence(s) | Moonee Ponds, Victoria |
| Alma mater | Monash University |
| Profession | Lawyer, Trade unionist |
| Website | www.billshorten.com.au |
William Richard "Bill" Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician, the Member for Maribyrnong in the Australian Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary for Disability and Children's Services. He is a former Victorian State President of the Australian Labor Party, a long time member of the right wing Labor Unity faction, and a former Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU).
Early career
Bill Shorten was born in Melbourne, where his father was a waterside worker and union official. His mother was a lawyer and university academic. He was educated at Xavier College (a leading Roman Catholic school) and Monash University, where he graduated in arts and law. During his time at Monash, Shorten was a founding member of Young Labor Network, a right wing Labor youth caucus, which subsequently became a dominant force in Victorian Young Labor. He also holds an MBA from the Melbourne Business School, an unusual qualification for a trade union official.
Shorten began working in the labour movement while still a student, working part-time for federal Labor Minister Gareth Evans and later Neil Pope, a minister in the Labor state government of John Cain. After graduating he worked for 18 months as a lawyer for the firm of Maurice Blackburn Cashman, a firm which generates a large portion of its income representing trade unions.
Union official and leader
In 1994 Shorten began his career as an employee of the AWU, before being elected Victorian State Secretary in 1998. Before taking this post, Shorten had decided to enter Victorian state politics, and was elected unopposed as the Labor candidate for the state seat of Melton for the 1999 state election, but gave this up to pursue his career with the union. Shorten was responsible for reforming the union's structure and halting the long-term decline in its membership.
Shorten was elected as the AWU's National Secretary in 2001, and was re-elected in 2005. He resigned as Victorian State Secretary of the AWU in August 2006. As a trade union official with a tertiary education, he reflects the changing composition of the AWU's membership, and of the trade union movement.
Shorten is an active member of the Labor Party; he is a member of the party's National Executive and of the Administrative Committee of the Victorian Branch. He is a former director of the Superannuation Trust of Australia (now Australian Super), and the Victorian Funds Management Corporation. From December 2005 until May 2008 he was the Victorian State President of the Labor Party. He was also a member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Executive. Until early 2006, he was a board member of GetUp.org.au
Shorten resigned as AWU National Secretary and his other board positions on 26 November 2007 in order to take his seat in federal parliament.
Australian Netball
Prior to his election to federal parliament, Shorten was also the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Netball Players Association ("ANPA").
Shorten established an alliance between the ANPA and the AWU to improve the incomes and health and safety conditions of netball players.
The alliance brought the top 120 players in Australia's eight national league netball teams - including the stars of the Australian netball team - into the AWU, which represents the players in partnership with the ANPA.[1]
Entering federal politics
During 2005 there was increasing speculation that Shorten intended entering federal politics at the next election. In February 2006 he announced that he would seek endorsement for the safe Labor seat of Maribyrnong, where the sitting Labor member, Robert Sercombe, was supported by the Left faction. The AWU is a pillar of the right-wing Labor Unity faction of the party, which has a majority in the Victorian Branch of the party.
The political correspondent of The Age, Misha Schubert, wrote, "The ascendancy of the articulate, clever and impressively connected challenger, routinely touted as a future prime minister, seems all but assured." She pointed out that, as well as his base in the right-wing unions, Shorten would be supported by some unions normally associated with the left, such as the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union.[2]
Justifying his challenge to a sitting member and serving shadow minister, Shorten said: "We haven't won a federal election since 1993. When your footy team loses four consecutive grand finals, you renew the team."[2] On 28 February Sercombe withdrew his candidacy, a few days before the local vote of ALP members in which Shorten was expected to poll very strongly. As a result Shorten was pre-selected unopposed.
During the Beaconsfield mine collapse, Shorten, in his role as National Secretary of the AWU, the union representing the miners, played a prominent role as negotiator and commentator on developments in the immediate aftermath and the ensuing rescue operations. The mine rescue operations drew mass national media coverage, and raised Shorten's political profile ahead of the 2007 election.[3][4]
At the election on 24 November 2007, Bill Shorten was elected to the House of Representatives as the Labor member for Maribyrnong. It was speculated that with Shorten's high public profile and general popularity within the Labor Party, he may be given a front-bench portfolio; however, when asked about the possibility, Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd said that he believed parliamentary experience was essential when designating front-bench portfolios. On 29 November Rudd announced that Shorten would become the Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services.[5]
On 3 December 2007 Bill Shorten was sworn in as the member for Maribyrnong and as Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services.[6]
Personal
Bill Shorten is married to Debbie Beale, daughter of Liberal Party politician Julian Beale and granddaughter of politician and Ambassador to the United States Sir Howard Beale. It has been reported that he has separated from his wife and now is seeing Chloe Bryce, the daughter of the Governor-General of Australia Quentin Bryce[7]
References
- ^ Netballers join union for a better shot at fair pay, Sydney Morning Herald.
- ^ a b Misha Schubert (2006-02-04). "I'm in: Shorten declares on safe seat". The Age. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ^ Doherty, Ben (4 May 2006). "Shorten plays more than mere union man". The Age.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Coorey, Phillip (6 May 2006). "Voice of the miners is just the union ticket". Sydney Morning Herald.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Rudd hands out portfolios". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2007-11-29. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ Parliamentary Handbook, Commonwealth of Australia.
- ^ Bill Shorten dumps wife for G-G Quenten Bryce's girl Sydney Daily Telegraph
- Fitting the Bill (Age profile, November 2005)
- Labor wants Bill as Leader - Daily Telegraph, 16 May 2006.