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

• Official visits to Indonesia, December 2007.
• Official visits to Papua New Guinea, April 2008.
• Official visits to Indonesia, UK, France, Belgium and Germany, April-May 2008.
• Official visits to Chile and USA, June-July 2008.
• Official visits to New Zealand, September 2008.
• Official visits to Papua New Guinea, March 2009.
• Official visits to USA, April 2009.
• Official visits to Indonesia, May 2009.
• Official visits to Portugal and France, June 2009.
• Official visits to USA, September 2009.
• Official visits to Solomon Islands, November 2009.
• Official visits to New Zealand, January 2010.
• Official visits to Morocco, June 2010.
• Official visits to 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.