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Bob McMullan

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Bob McMullan
Manager of Opposition Business
In office
20 October 1998 – 25 November 2001
LeaderKim Beazley
Preceded bySimon Crean
Succeeded byWayne Swan
Minister for Trade
In office
30 January 1994 – 11 March 1996
Prime MinisterPaul Keating
Preceded byPeter Cook
Succeeded byTim Fischer
Minister for the Arts
In office
24 March 1993 – 30 January 1994
Prime MinisterPaul Keating
Preceded byRos Kelly
Succeeded byMichael Lee
Minister for Administrative Services
In office
24 March 1993 – 25 March 1994
Prime MinisterPaul Keating
Preceded byNick Bolkus
Succeeded byFrank Walker
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Fraser
In office
3 October 1998 – 19 July 2010
Preceded bySteve Dargavel
Succeeded byAndrew Leigh
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Canberra
In office
2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998
Preceded byBrendan Smyth
Succeeded byAnnette Ellis
Senator for the Australian Capital Territory
In office
16 February 1988 – 6 February 1996
Preceded bySusan Ryan
Succeeded byKate Lundy
National Secretary of the
Australian Labor Party
In office
28 July 1981 – 7 April 1988
Preceded byDavid Combe
Succeeded byBob Hogg
Personal details
Born (1947-12-10) 10 December 1947 (age 76)
Perth, Western Australia
Political partyLabor
Alma materUniversity of Western Australia
OccupationPolitician

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

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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

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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

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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.

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Hon Bob McMullan". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Senator with a long Labor history". The Canberra Times. 22 March 1990.
  3. ^ a b "Bob McMullan AM". Our Alumni. Governor Stirling Senior High School. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  4. ^ Grattan, Michelle: Labor man for everyman, The Age, 25 March 1981.
  5. ^ "McMullan opposes ACT job cuts". The Canberra Times. 11 March 1993.
  6. ^ "McMullan spurns the factions". The Canberra Times. 31 December 1987.
  7. ^ Parliamentary Handbook: Historical Information on the Australian Parliament Archived 21 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "SavedQuery". Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
  9. ^ Footnote, p.3 Archived 16 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "ParlInfo - Search Results".
  11. ^ See Federalism in Australia and Federation of Australia
  12. ^ Increased majority for Labor in Canberra, Fraser – News – General – The Canberra Times Archived 22 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Rudd hands out portfolios, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 29 November 2007
  14. ^ McMullan to quit politics Archived 20 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, The Canberra Times, 19 January 2010.

 

Political offices
Preceded by Minister for the Arts
1993–1994
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Administrative Services
1994
Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Trade
1994–1996
Succeeded by
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Senator for the Australian Capital Territory
1988–1996
Served alongside: Margaret Reid
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member for Canberra
1996–1998
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member for Fraser
1998–2010
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party
1981-1988
Succeeded by