Bob McMullan
Bob McMullan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Manager of Opposition Business | |
| In office 20 October 1998 – 25 November 2001 | |
| Leader | Kim Beazley |
| Preceded by | Simon Crean |
| Succeeded by | Wayne Swan |
| Minister for Trade | |
| In office 30 January 1994 – 11 March 1996 | |
| Prime Minister | Paul Keating |
| Preceded by | Peter Cook |
| Succeeded by | Tim Fischer |
| Minister for the Arts | |
| In office 24 March 1993 – 30 January 1994 | |
| Prime Minister | Paul Keating |
| Preceded by | Ros Kelly |
| Succeeded by | Michael Lee |
| Minister for Administrative Services | |
| In office 24 March 1993 – 25 March 1994 | |
| Prime Minister | Paul Keating |
| Preceded by | Nick Bolkus |
| Succeeded by | Frank Walker |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Fraser | |
| In office 3 October 1998 – 19 July 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Steve Dargavel |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Leigh |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Canberra | |
| In office 2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Brendan Smyth |
| Succeeded by | Annette Ellis |
| Senator for the Australian Capital Territory | |
| In office 16 February 1988 – 6 February 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Susan Ryan |
| Succeeded by | Kate Lundy |
| National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party | |
| In office 28 July 1981 – 7 April 1988 | |
| Preceded by | David Combe |
| Succeeded by | Bob Hogg |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 December 1947 Perth, Western Australia |
| Political party | Labor |
| Alma mater | University of Western Australia |
| Occupation | Politician |
Robert Francis McMullan (born 10 December 1947) is a former Australian politician. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was a cabinet minister in the Keating government as Minister for Arts and Administrative Services (1993–1994) and Minister for Trade (1994–1996). He was a member of federal parliament for over 22 years, initially as a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory from 1988 to 1996 and then as a member of the House of Representatives from 1996 to 2010. Prior to entering parliament he was state secretary of the ALP in Western Australia from 1975 to 1981 and national secretary from 1981 to 1988.
Early life
McMullan was born in Perth on 10 December 1947.[1] He attended Guildford Primary School and Governor Stirling Senior High School.[2] He was raised in a working-class family; his older brothers left school prematurely to support the family, but he was able to continue to Year 12 after receiving a state government bursary.[3]
McMullan graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and a Bachelor of Economics in industrial relations.[2] He was the first member of his family to attend university.[3] He was active in the movement against the Vietnam War and was conscripted for military service in 1968 but successfully argued in court that he was a conscientious objector.[4] After university he tutored in industrial relations and worked as a freelance industrial advocate from 1971 to 1973.[2]
Early political involvement
McMullan joined the Australian Labor Party in 1967 while at university. Active in student politics, he was elected to the ALP state executive the following year and in 1971 became the state president of Young Labor.[2]
McMullan was appointed state secretary of the Western Australian branch of the ALP in 1975. He was elected national secretary in 1981,[1] and moved to Canberra.[5] His tenure included the ALP's victory at the 1983, 1984 and 1987 federal elections. In December 1987 he announced he would seek ALP preselection to fill the casual vacancy caused by Susan Ryan's resignation from the Senate.[6]
Parliamentary career
On 16 February 1988,[7] McMullan was chosen by a joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate to fill a casual vacancy in the representation of the Australian Capital Territory in the Senate, caused by the resignation of Susan Ryan.[8] This was the second (and last) time that a territory senate vacancy was filled in this way.[9]
McMullan was Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer 1990–93, Minister for the Arts and Minister for Administrative Services 1993–94, Minister for Administrative Services 1994 and Minister for Trade 1994–96 in the government of Paul Keating.
As Arts Minister he was shadowed by Opposition leader John Hewson who had appointed himself as Shadow Arts Minister.[10]
On 6 February 1996 he resigned his Senate seat in order to contest the Division of Canberra in the House of Representatives at the March election; he was successful. He was the first person to represent the Australian Capital Territory in both houses of federal parliament. The Keating government having been defeated by John Howard, Labor went into opposition and McMullan was elected as a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry. In 1998, following a redistribution, McMullan moved to the neighbouring seat of Fraser. [citation needed]
McMullan became Manager of Opposition Business (opposite number to the Leader of the House) in 1998, and following Labor's 2001 electoral defeat he was made Shadow Treasurer. In July 2003 McMullan was replaced as Shadow Treasurer by Mark Latham and relegated to the post of Shadow Minister for Finance, taking on additional responsibility for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. McMullan then became Shadow Minister for Finance and Shadow Minister for Small Business. [citation needed]
In Question Time in Parliament, McMullan gained a reputation for repeatedly asking the same question in different words if he did not get a direct answer. After the 2004 election, McMullan did not stand for election to the Shadow Cabinet, in what was widely seen as an expression of lack of confidence in the leadership of Mark Latham.[citation needed]
Following the election of Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2006 as Opposition Leader in place of Kim Beazley, McMullan returned to the front bench in the junior role of Labor spokesperson on Federal-State Relations,[11] the reform of which was one of Rudd's declared priorities.[citation needed]
In the 2007 federal election McMullan held his seat of Fraser, albeit with a two-party preferred swing to Labor of less than 2%, one-third of the national average swing to Labor.[12]
When the First Rudd Ministry was sworn in on 3 December 2007, McMullan was given the junior post of Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance.[13] On 19 January 2010, McMullan announced he would not contest the next federal election.[14] He retired prior to the 2010 federal election.
External links
- Biographical and other Details on Official Labor Party Web Site; accessed 15 September 2008.
References
- ^ a b "Hon Bob McMullan". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Senator with a long Labor history". The Canberra Times. 22 March 1990.
- ^ a b "Bob McMullan AM". Our Alumni. Governor Stirling Senior High School. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- ^ Grattan, Michelle: Labor man for everyman, The Age, 25 March 1981.
- ^ "McMullan opposes ACT job cuts". The Canberra Times. 11 March 1993.
- ^ "McMullan spurns the factions". The Canberra Times. 31 December 1987.
- ^ Parliamentary Handbook: Historical Information on the Australian Parliament Archived 21 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "SavedQuery". Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
- ^ Footnote, p.3 Archived 16 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "ParlInfo - Search Results".
- ^ See Federalism in Australia and Federation of Australia
- ^ Increased majority for Labor in Canberra, Fraser – News – General – The Canberra Times Archived 22 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Rudd hands out portfolios, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 29 November 2007
- ^ McMullan to quit politics Archived 20 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, The Canberra Times, 19 January 2010.
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