Andrew James Giles (born 31 July 1973) is an Australian politician. He has been a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

since September 2013, representing the

Division of Scullin The Division of Scullin is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the outer northern suburbs of Melbourne, including Epping, Lalor, Mill Park Mill Park is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), ...

, Victoria. He is currently the

Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs The Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs is a ministerial post of the Australian Government and is currently held by Andrew Giles, pending the swearing in of the full Albanese ministry on 1 June 2022, following the ...

. Giles joined the ALP when he was eighteen, and – prior to his election to Parliament – worked as a principal lawyer at Slater and Gordon in Melbourne, practising in employment law. Giles previously served as Shadow Assistant Minister for Schools between 2016–2019, and Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Shadow Minister for Cities and Urban Infrastructure from 2019–2022. Giles also previously served as one of the two federal parliamentary convenors of the

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

faction, along with

Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books '' The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides'' and ''The Great Santini'' we ...

Early life and education

Giles was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on 31 July 1973. His mother was born in the United Kingdom, making him a British citizen by descent; he renounced his dual citizenship before standing for parliament in 2013. Giles attended high school at

Scotch College, Melbourne (For God, for Country, and for Learning) , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Presbyterian , slogan = , ...

. Giles has a Bachelor of Arts and Laws from the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. Before entering parliament, he was a principal solicitor for

Slater and Gordon Slater & Gordon Lawyers is a law firm in Australia. The firm was founded in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1935 by a barrister and solicitor from Irymple, Victoria, Hugh Lyons Gordon, and Labor politician Bill Slater. The firm is one of Australia' ...

and as a senior associate at Holding Redlich lawyers and consultants. He acted as a solicitor for refugees stranded aboard the MV ''Tampa''. Giles also worked as a senior advisor for the Bracks and Brumby Governments in Victoria. He was secretary of the Socialist Left in Victoria.

Parliamentary career

Giles was elected to parliament at the 2013 federal election, replacing the retiring

Harry Jenkins Henry Alfred "Harry" Jenkins, (born 18 August 1952) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1986 to 2013, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Jenkins served as the 26th Speaker of ...

in the

. He immediately took up a position as Labor's cities taskforce and has engaged in an Australia-wide cities listening tour. He is co-chair of Parliamentary friends of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, and the deputy chair of the Parliament's Northern Europe group of its

IPU Ipu is a percussion instrument made from gourds that is often used to provide a beat for hula dancing. There are two types of ipu, the ipu heke (), which is a double gourd made by taking two gourds of different sizes, cutting them and joining t ...

members. In 2016 he was elevated to the position of the Shadow Assistant Minister for Schools. In 2019 he became a member of Labor's Shadow Ministry. His portfolios included: Multicultural Affairs, Cities and Urban Infrastructure. He also served as the Shadow Minister Assisting for Immigration and Citizenship. In this role Giles led Labor's campaign to stop the Morrison Government's attempts to privatise Australia's visa system. He was also responsible for Labor's ‘reboot’ with multicultural communities, including the establishment of a Multicultural Caucus Committee to inform future policy development.

Personal life

Giles has two children and lives with his wife, Dr Jillian Constable.Andrew Giles MP , Australian Labor Party
/ref> In the 1990s, he played guitar in an indie rock band called Ether, along with James Cecil, who went on to play in bands such as

Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki were an Australian indie pop band which consisted of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland. The band released five studio albums before going on hiatus: ''Fingers Crossed'' (2003), ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giles, Andrew 1973 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Scullin Members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians Australian people of British descent People who lost British citizenship Labor Left politicians People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne