Biography

Parliamentary service

• Elected to the House of Representatives for Kingsford Smith, New South Wales, 2004. Re-elected 2007 and 2010. Retired prior to general elections 2013.

Ministerial appointments

• Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts from 3.12.2007 to 8.3.2010.
• Cabinet Minister from 3.12.2007 to 1.7.2013.
• Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts from 8.3.2010 to 14.9.2010.
• Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth from 14.9.2010 to 1.7.2013.

Committee service

• House of Representatives Standing: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs served from 2.12.2004 to 17.10.2007; Communications, Information Technology and the Arts served from 7.12.2004 to 17.10.2007

Conferences, delegations and visits

• Attended official meetings in Indonesia, December 2007.
• Attended official meetings in Papua New Guinea, April 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia, the UK, France, Belgium and Germany from April to May 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Chile and the USA from June to July 2008.
• Attended official meetings in New Zealand, September 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Papua New Guinea, March 2009.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, April 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia, May 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Portugal and France, June 2009.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, September 2009.
• Attended official meetings in the Solomon Islands, November 2009.
• Attended official meetings in New Zealand, January 2010.
• Attended official meetings in Morocco, June 2010.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, France and Belgium, October 2011.

Parliamentary party positions

• Australian Labor Party. Served: 09.10.2004 to 05.08.2013
• Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Reconciliation and the Arts from 24.6.2005 to 10.12.2006.
• Shadow Cabinet Minister from 24.6.2005 to 3.12.2007.
• Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage from 10.12.2006 to 3.12.2007.
• Shadow Minister for the Arts from 10.12.2006 to 3.12.2007.

Personal

• Born: 16.4.1953, Wahroonga, Australia
• Gender: Male
• Marital Status: Married

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA (Australian National University).
• LLB (University of New South Wales).
• Musician, Midnight Oil, from 1977 to 2002.
• President of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 1989 to 1993.
• President of the Australian Conservation Foundation from 1999 to 2004.

Electorate

• Name: Kingsford Smith
• Location: southern Sydney; it includes the suburbs of Banksmeadow, Botany, Chifley, Coogee, Daceyville, Eastgardens, Eastlakes, Hillsdale, Kensington, Kingsford, La Perouse, Little Bay, Malabar, Maroubra, Maroubra Junction, Mascot, Matraville, Pagewood, Phillip Bay, Port Botany and South Coogee, and parts of Clovelly, Randwick and Rosebery.
• Area: 127 Sq km
• Electors enrolled: 97,747 (at 21.8.2010)
• Industries: shipping, paper manufacturing, light manufacturing, commercial and retail businesses.
• Includes: Kingsford Smith includes the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorate of Maroubra, and parts of Coogee, Heffron and Sydney.

Honours

• Appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, 9.6.2003.

Publications

• Political Blues, Hodder and Stoughton, Sydney: 1987.
• Big blue sky: a memoir, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW: 2015.