Brendan O'Connor | |
---|---|
Minister for Skills and Training | |
Assumed office 1 June 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese |
Preceded by | Stuart Robert |
In office 1 July 2013 –18 September 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | Craig Emerson |
Succeeded by | Eric Abetz |
Minister for Employment | |
In office 1 July 2013 –18 September 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | Bill Shorten |
Succeeded by | Eric Abetz |
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship | |
In office 4 February 2013 –1 July 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Julia Gillard Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | Chris Bowen |
Succeeded by | Tony Burke |
Minister for Small Business | |
In office 5 March 2012 –4 February 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Julia Gillard |
Preceded by | Mark Arbib |
Succeeded by | Chris Bowen |
Minister for Housing | |
In office 5 March 2012 –27 June 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Julia Gillard |
Preceded by | Robert McClelland |
Succeeded by | Julie Collins |
Minister for Human Services | |
In office 14 December 2011 –5 March 2012 | |
Prime Minister | Julia Gillard |
Preceded by | Tanya Plibersek |
Succeeded by | Kim Carr |
Minister for Home Affairs | |
In office 9 June 2009 –14 December 2011 | |
Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard |
Preceded by | Bob Debus |
Succeeded by | Jason Clare |
Minister for Employment Participation | |
In office 3 December 2007 –9 June 2009 | |
Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | Sharman Stone |
Succeeded by | Mark Arbib |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Gorton | |
Assumed office 9 October 2004 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Burke | |
In office 10 November 2001 –9 October 2004 | |
Preceded by | Neil O'Keefe |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Brendan Patrick O'Connor 2 March 1962 London,England,United Kingdom |
Political party | Labor |
Spouse | Jodi Dack (d. 2018) |
Children | 1 daughter |
Alma mater | Monash University Harvard University |
Signature | |
Website | brendanoconnor |
Brendan Patrick O'Connor (born 2 March 1962) 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.
O'Connor was born on 2 March 1962 in London,England. [1] He is the son of Michael and Philomena O'Connor. [2] His parents were both born in Ireland,his mother in Thurles and his father in Tralee. O'Connor was born with both Irish and British citizenship,renouncing the latter in the early 1980s. He acquired Australian citizenship by naturalisation in 1995 and renounced his Irish citizenship in 2001 in order to stand for parliament. [3]
O'Connor arrived in Australia when he was six years old. [2] He attended Aquinas College,Melbourne, [4] and subsequently completed the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at Monash University. He also completed a diploma at Harvard University in the United States through the Harvard Trade Union Program. [1]
While at university,O'Connor worked as a researcher for the Municipal Employees Union. [5] He was the assistant national secretary of the Australian Services Union from 1993 to 2001. [1]
A member of Labor Left, [6] O'Connor is a member of the National Left faction of the Australian Labor Party and is a member of the Socialist Left faction of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party. At the time of his endorsement for Burke in 2001 he was aligned with the 'Independent Left',a breakaway group from the Socialist Left. This group included Julia Gillard. O'Connor has been a close ally of Julia Gillard since they were both involved in student politics during the 1980s along with Michael O'Connor. In 2015 the Independent Left rejoined the Socialist Left.
At the 2001 election,O'Connor was elected as the Member for Burke,When the division was abolished by the 2003 redistribution,O'Connor successfully contested the new electoral division of Gorton at the 2004 election.
In December 2005,he was elected to the position of Chair of the Federal Labor Industrial Relations Taskforce in a caucus ballot. The Taskforce investigated the adverse effects of the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation,a controversial package of industrial relations changes.
Shortly after the election of Kevin Rudd to the office of federal Labor leader and Leader of the Opposition on 4 December 2006,O'Connor was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations.
Following the Labor victory at the 2007 federal election,Prime Minister Rudd announced that O'Connor would serve as the Minister for Employment Participation from 29 November 2007. [7] As Minister he reformed the Job Network,replacing it with Job Services Australia. [8] This streamlined seven separate employment services programs into a 'one-stop-shop' to provide job seekers with a more personalised service.
On 6 June 2009,O'Connor was announced as the Minister for Home Affairs in the First Rudd ministry,replacing Bob Debus who retired at the 2010 election. [9] Following Labor's narrow victory,Prime Minister Julia Gillard allocated increased responsibilities to O'Connor. He became Minister for Home Affairs,Minister for Justice and Minister for Privacy and Freedom of Information. In this portfolio,O'Connor enacted several key policy reforms including:new and tougher laws to protect children from being procured and groomed online, [10] achieving consensus for an R18+ video game classification after 10 years of debate at Standing Committee of Attorney-General; [11] and introducing significant reforms of the anti-dumping regime in 20 years. [12]
In December 2011,O'Connor became the Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting for School Education. [13]
On 5 March 2012,O'Connor was sworn in as Minister for Small Business,Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness. He was also promoted to Cabinet for the first time, [14] becoming the first small business minister in Cabinet for more than a decade. [15] In this role O'Connor introduced the first Australian Small Business Commissioner,on 2 January 2013. [16] On 30 August 2012,O'Connor and the Council of Australian Governments released the Housing Supply and Affordability Reform report,proposing reforms to increase housing affordability in Australia.
On 4 February 2013,O'Connor was sworn in as Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. [17] Following the June 2013 Labor leadership spill,O'Connor was appointed Minister for Employment and Minister for Skills and Training in the Second Rudd ministry. [18]
After the ALP's defeat at the 2013 federal election,O'Connor was included in Bill Shorten's shadow cabinet. He was retained in shadow cabinet when Anthony Albanese succeeded Shorten as opposition leader after the 2019 election. O'Connor has held the portfolios of employment and workplace relations (2013–2019),special minister of state (2016),employment and industry (2019–2021),science (2019–2021),and small and family business (2019–2021). [1] He succeeded Richard Marles as shadow minister for defence following a reshuffle in January 2021. [19]
Following the 2022 federal election,O'Connor was appointed Minister for Skills and Training in the Albanese ministry. [1]
O'Connor was married to Jodi Dack until her death from breast cancer in August 2018;she had first been diagnosed in 2012. The couple had one daughter together. [20]
O’Connor lives in Keilor.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Wayne Maxwell Swan is an Australian politician serving as the 25th and current National President of the Labor Party since 2018,previously serving as the 14th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Deputy Leader of the Labor Party from 2010 to 2013,and the Treasurer of Australia from 2007 to 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.
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 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.
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.
Gary Gray,Australian former politician and Australia's Ambassador to Ireland,was the Australian Labor Party (ALP) representative for the Division of Brand in Western Australia in the Australian House of Representatives from 2007 to 2016. On 25 March 2013,Gray was appointed to the Australian Cabinet as the Minister for Resources and Energy,the Minister for Tourism and the Minister for Small Business. From 2010 until 2013,Gray served as the Special Minister of State for the Public Service and Integrity.
Mark Christopher Butler 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.
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 Housing and Homelessness and Minister for Small Business in the Albanese ministry.
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 Second Gillard ministry (Labor) was the 66th ministry of the Australian Government,led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. It succeeded the first Gillard ministry upon its swearing in by Governor-General Quentin Bryce on 14 September 2010 after the 2010 election.
A leadership spill in the Australian Labor Party,the party then forming the Government of Australia,took place on 26 June 2013 at 7:00pm AEST. Prime Minister Julia Gillard called a ballot for Leader and Deputy Leader of the Labor Party live on Sky News Australia at 4:00pm,following persistent leadership tensions. She stated that she would retire from politics if she lost the vote,while calling on any would-be challengers to pledge to do the same if they lost. In a press conference held shortly after Gillard's announcement,backbencher and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that he would challenge Gillard,whilst also pledging to step down if he did not win the vote. At the ALP caucus meeting,Rudd was elected Leader of the Labor Party,with the caucus voting 57–45 in his favour.
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.