Biography

Parliamentary service

• Elected to the House of Representatives for Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, 2010. Re-elected 2013. Elected to the House of Representatives for Fenner, Australian Capital Territory, 2016, following electoral redistribution. Re-elected 2019 and 2022.

Parliamentary positions

• Member of the Speaker's Panel from 7.2.2012 to 14.5.2013.

Ministerial appointments

• Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister from 25.3.2013 to 1.7.2013.
• Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury from 1.6.2022.
• Assistant Minister for Employment from 31.5.2023.

Committee service

• House of Representatives Standing: Publications served from 25.10.2010 to 14.5.2013; Economics served from 25.10.2010 to 14.5.2013; Economics served from 22.7.2019 to 24.7.2019; Economics served as Deputy Chair from 24.7.2019 to 11.4.2022
• Joint Standing: National Capital and External Territories served from 25.10.2010 to 14.5.2013
• Joint Statutory: Public Accounts and Audit served from 27.8.2020 to 25.2.2021

Parliamentary party positions

• Australian Labor Party. Served: 21.08.2010 to present
• Shadow Minister for Competition from 18.10.2013 to 23.7.2016.
• Shadow Assistant Treasurer from 18.10.2013 to 2.6.2019.
• Shadow Minister for Competition and Productivity from 23.7.2016 to 2.6.2019.
• Shadow Minister for Charities and Not-for-Profits from 23.7.2016 to 2.6.2019.
• Shadow Minister for Trade in Services from 23.7.2016 to 2.6.2019.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury from 2.6.2019 to 23.5.2022.
• Shadow Assistant Minister for Charities from 2.6.2019 to 23.5.2022.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party from 1991.

Personal

• Born: 3.8.1972, Sydney, Australia
• Gender: Male
• Marital Status: Married

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• PhD (Harvard University).
• BA(Hons) (University of Sydney).
• LLB(Hons) (University of Sydney).
• Fellow (Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia).
• MPA (Harvard University).
• Lawyer at Minter Ellison in Sydney and London from 1995 to 1997.
• High Court Associate to Justice Michael Kirby from 1997 to 1998.
• Senior Trade Adviser to Senator the Hon. P Cook from 1998 to 2000.
• Research Fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute, Washington DC, 2001.
• Professor of Economics at the Australian National University from 2004 to 2010.
• Principal Adviser at the Australian Treasury from 2008 to 2009.

Electorate

• Name: Fenner
• Location: The Division of Fenner covers an area in the north of the ACT consisting of the Districts of: Gungahlin, Hall, and part of Belconnen. The Division of Fenner also includes the Jervis Bay Territory.
• Area: 238 Sq km
• Electors enrolled: 96,017 (at 12.6.2019)
• Industries: Mainly residential with government, tourism, retail and some light industry at Mitchell.

Publications

• The prince's new clothes: why do Australians dislike their politicians? (co-editor with D Burchell), University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 2002.
• Imagining Australia: ideas for our future (with M Duncan, D Madden and P Tynan), Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2004.
• Disconnected, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney, 2010.
• Battlers and billionaires: the story of inequality in Australia, Black Inc., Melbourne, 2013.
• The economics of just about everything, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2014.
• The Luck of Politics: true tales of disaster and outrageous fortune, Black Inc., Melbourne, 2015.
• Choosing openness: why global engagement is best for Australia, Penguin Books, Sydney, 2017.
• Randomistas: how radical researchers are changing our world, Yale, New Haven, CT, 2018.
• Innovation + equality: how to create a future that is more Star Trek than Terminator (with J Gans), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019.
• Reconnected: A Community Builder's Handbook (with N Terrell), Black Inc., Melbourne, 2020.
• What's the worst that could happen?: Existential risk and extreme politics, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2021.
• Fair game: Lessons from sport for a fairer society and a stronger economy, Monash Publishing, Melbourne, 2022.
• Battlers and Billionaires: the updated story of inequality in Australia, Black Inc, Collingwood, Vic, 2024.