Biography

Parliamentary service

• Elected to the House of Representatives for Griffith, Queensland, 1998. Re-elected 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013. Resigned 22.11.2013.

Ministerial appointments

• Prime Minister from 3.12.2007 to 24.6.2010.
• Cabinet Minister from 3.12.2007 to 24.6.2010.
• Minister for Foreign Affairs from 14.9.2010 to 26.2.2012.
• Cabinet Minister from 27.6.2013 to 18.9.2013.
• Prime Minister from 27.6.2013 to 18.9.2013.

Committee service

• House of Representatives Select: Address in Reply served from 12.2.2008 to 13.2.2008
• House of Representatives Standing: Publications served from 8.12.1998 to 8.10.2001
• Joint Statutory: Corporations and Securities served from 8.12.1998 to 8.10.2001; Intelligence and Security served from 14.3.2012 to 5.8.2013

Conferences, delegations and visits

• Official observer to the general elections, Indonesia, June 1999.
• Parliamentary delegation member to East Timor from August to September 2001.
• Attended official meetings in Japan, November 2002.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, September 2003.
• Attended official meetings in the UK, November 2003.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, June 2004.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia, September 2004.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, September 2005.
• Attended official meetings in Hong Kong, December 2005.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, December 2007.
• Attended official meetings in East Timor, February 2008.
• Official visits to USA, Belgium, UK, Romania, China, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Isalands from March to April 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Japan and Indonesia, June 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Japan and Malaysia, July 2008.
• Official visits to China, South Korea and Singapore, New Zealand and Niue, August 2008.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, September 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Peru and the USA, November 2008.
• Official visits to Indonesia, Afghanistan and United Arab Emirates, December 2008.
• Attended official meetings in Papua New Guinea, January 2009.
• Official visits to the UK, USA and Singapore from March to April 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore, May 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Malaysia, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, July 2009.
• Attended official meetings in the USA, China and Indonesia from July to August 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore and the USA from August to September 2009.
• Attended official meetings in the UK, Indonesia and Thailand, October 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Afghanistan, India, Singapore, Trinidad and Tobago, Japan and Denmark from November to December 2009.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia and Canada from February to March 2010.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia and Canada, May 2010.
• Attended official meetings in Pakistan and the USA, September 2010.
• Attended official meetings in Japan, Belgium and Italy, October 2010.
• Attended official meetings in China and South Korea from October to November 2010.
• Attended official meetings in the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Bahrain from November to December 2010.
• Attended official meetings in Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Brazil and Chile, December 2010.
• Attended official meetings in Ethiopia, Switzerland, Turkey, Greece, Liechtenstein and Germany from January to February 2011.
• Attended official meetings in South Africa, Egypt, Switzerland, Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Oman from February to March 2011.
• Official visits to New Zealand and Indonesia, March 2011.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore, Vietnam and Germany, April 2011.
• Attended official meetings in France, Belgium, Germany, the USA, St Kitts and Nevis and Italy from April to May 2011.
• Attended official meetings in Thailand, Finland, Sweden, Norway and China, May 2011.
• Attended official meetings in Hungary, the United Arab Emirates, USA and UK, June 2011.
• Attended official meetings in Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan and Myanmar from June to July 2011.
• Official visits to Indonesia, Kenya and Timor-Leste, July 2011.
• Official visits to Papua New Guinea, the USA and Mexico from September to October 2011.
• Attended official meetings in Singapore and the Philippines, October 2011.
• Official visits to the USA and India, November 2011.
• Attended official meetings in South Korea from November to December 2011.
• Attended official meetings in Germany, Lithuania, Italy, Libya, Qatar, the USA and El Salvador, December 2011.
• Official visits to France, Belgium, UK, Germany, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Indonesia and the USA, January 2012.
• Attended official meetings in Germany, February 2012.
• Attended official meetings in Mexico, the USA and Tunisia, February 2012.

Parliamentary party positions

• Australian Labor Party. Served: 03.10.1998 to 22.11.2013
• Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs from 25.11.2001 to 10.12.2006.
• Shadow Cabinet Minister from 25.11.2001 to 3.12.2007.
• Shadow Minister for International Security from 8.12.2003 to 10.12.2006.
• Shadow Minister for Trade from 24.6.2005 to 10.12.2006.
• Leader of the Opposition from 4.12.2006 to 3.12.2007.
• Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party from 4.12.2006 to 24.6.2010.
• Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party from 26.6.2013 to 13.9.2013.

Party positions

• Member of the Australian Labor Party Campaign Committee (Qld), 1989.
• President of the Australian Labor Party Bulimba Branch (Qld) from 1994 to 1998.
• Secretary of the Australian Labor Party Bulimba Branch (Qld) from 1994 to 1998.

Personal

• Born: 21.9.1957, Nambour, Australia
• Gender: Male
• Marital Status: Married

Qualifications and occupation before entering Federal Parliament

• BA(Hons) (Australian National University).
• PhD (University of Oxford).
• Diplomat from 1981 to 1988.
• Chief of Staff to the Hon. W Goss from 1988 to 1991.
• Director-General of the Cabinet Office (Qld) from 1991 to 1995.
• Senior China Consultant for KPMG Australia from 1996 to 1998.

Electorate

• Name: Griffith
• Location: eastern Brisbane; it includes the suburbs of Balmoral, Bulimba, Camp Hill, Carina Heights, Coorparoo, Dutton Park, East Brisbane, Greenslopes, Highgate Hill, Hawthorne, Kangaroo Point, Morningside, Norman Park, Seven Hills, South Brisbane, Woolloongabba and parts of Annerley, Cannon Hill, Carina, Holland Park, Holland Park West, Mount Gravatt East, Murarrie, Tarragindi and West End.
• Area: 60 Sq km
• Electors enrolled: 97,136 (at 7.9.2013)
• Industries: food processing and light industry.
• Includes: Griffith includes parts of the Queensland Legislative Assembly electorates of Bulimba, Chatsworth, Greenslopes, Mansfield, South Brisbane and Yeerongpilly.

Honours

• Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia, 10.6.2019.

Publications

• Jasper & Abby and the great Australia Day kerfuffle, Allen & Unwin, East Melbourne, Vic.: 2010.
• Not for the faint-hearted: a personal reflection on life, politics and purpose, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney: 2017.
• The PM years: volume II, Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney: 2018.
• The case for courage, Monash University Publishing, Clayton, Vic.: 2021.
• The avoidable war: the dangers of a catastrophic conflict between the US and Xi Jingping's China, Hachette Australia, Sydney: 2022.
• On Xi Jinping: how Xi's Marxist Nationalism is shaping China and the world, Oxford University Press, New York, 2024.