Bill Shorten
William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) 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.
Bill Shorten
12 May 1967
Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
1
Michael Bryce (father-in-law)
Quentin Bryce (mother-in-law)
Australia
1985–1986
Born in Melbourne, Shorten studied law at Monash University. He worked in politics and in law before becoming an organiser with the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) in 1994. He was elected state secretary of the Victorian Branch of the AWU in 1998 before becoming AWU national secretary in 2001. In this role, Shorten played a prominent role as a negotiator following the Beaconsfield Mine collapse in 2006, which first brought him to national prominence.
Shorten was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2007 federal election, winning the seat of Maribyrnong, before being immediately appointed a Parliamentary Secretary. Following the 2010 election, he was promoted to the cabinet, serving first as Assistant Treasurer, then as Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation and Minister for Workplace Relations in Julia Gillard's government. After Kevin Rudd replaced Gillard as prime minister in June 2013, Shorten was briefly Minister for Education until the Labor Party's defeat at the 2013 election.
After Rudd retired from politics, Shorten won a leadership election in October 2013 against Anthony Albanese, and became leader of the Labor Party. He led Labor to a narrow loss at the 2016 election and then led Labor to an unexpected defeat at the 2019 election, after which he announced his resignation as leader, with Albanese being elected unopposed to replace him.[1][2] Following Labor's victory at the 2022 election, Shorten was appointed as the Minister for Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Shorten is a senior figure within the Labor Right.[3]
Early life[edit]
Birth and family background[edit]
Shorten was born on 12 May 1967 at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, the son of Ann Rosemary (née McGrath) and William Robert Shorten.[4][5] He has a twin brother, Robert. According to a statement given during the 2017–18 dual citizenship scandal, Shorten held British citizenship by descent until 2006, when he renounced it in order to run for parliament.[6][7]
Shorten's mother was a university academic and lawyer who completed a doctorate at Monash University and ended her career there as a senior lecturer in education. She completed a law degree later in life and practised as a barrister for six years.[8] She was originally from Ballarat, descended from "a long line of Irish Australians" who arrived during the Victorian gold rush.[9] Shorten's father was a marine engineer born in Tyneside, England. After settling in Australia he worked as a manager at the Duke and Orr Dry Docks on Melbourne's Yarra River, where he was frequently in contact with union leaders.[10] Shorten's parents divorced in 1988 and his father remarried a few years later. He subsequently became estranged from his father, who died in 2000.[11]
Childhood[edit]
Shorten grew up in Melbourne's south-east, living in Hughesdale.[note 1] He attended St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Malvern East.[15] He and his brother were offered scholarships to De La Salle College, but their mother instead chose to send them to Xavier College, Kew. They began attending Kostka Hall, the college's junior campus, in 1977. Shorten was chosen for the state debating team in 1984, his final year at the school.[16] He excelled at fencing and was the state under-15 champion in the sabre division.[17]
University[edit]
In 1985, Shorten began studying at Monash University,[18] graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1992.[19] He was active in student politics, both in the university's ALP Club and in Young Labor. He helped establish Network, a Labor Right-aligned faction of Young Labor; in 1986 it "took control of Young Labor from the Left for the first time".[20] Shorten briefly worked in a butcher's shop during his first years at university,[21] and was also a member of the Australian Army Reserve from 1985 to 1986, holding the rank of private.[22] He volunteered in Senator Gareth Evans' office,[21] and then after the 1988 Victorian state election was employed as a youth affairs adviser to Neil Pope, a Victorian government minister. He took a gap year in 1990, travelling overseas for the first time and backpacking through Central Europe. He was subsequently involved in Network's abortive attempt to take over the state branch of the Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association.[23][24]
Labour movement[edit]
After graduating, Shorten worked for twenty months as a lawyer for Maurice Blackburn Cashman.[25] In 1994, he began his union career as a trainee organiser under the ACTU's Organising Works program at the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), before being elected Victorian state secretary in 1998.[26] His time as secretary was marked by a reform of the union's structures.
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 2007. He was an active member of the Labor Party and was a member of the party's national executive until 2011, as well as the administrative committee of the Victorian branch. He was also 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.[27] Until early 2006, he was a board member of GetUp.org.au.[28]
During his time as AWU national secretary, Shorten was the interim chief executive of the Australian Netball Players Association (ANPA), following an alliance between the AWU and ANPA in 2005.[29] Shorten also served on the advisory board of the Australian Cricketers' Association.[30]