Robert Charles Grant Sercombe (born 3 April 1949) is a former Australian politician who represented the

Division of Maribyrnong The Division of Maribyrnong is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the inner north-western suburbs of Melbourne. Suburbs include Aberfeldie, Airport West, Avondale Heights, Essendon, Footscray, Gowa ...

, Victoria for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

from March 1996 until his retirement at the 2007 federal election. He 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 ...

, Victoria, and was educated at 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 ...

. He was a public servant, social planner, and administrator before entering politics. He was an adviser to

Clyde Holding Allan Clyde Holding (27 April 193131 July 2011) was an Australian politician who served as Leader of the Opposition in Victoria for ten years, and went on to become a federal minister in the Hawke Government. Early life and education Holdin ...

, a former Victorian opposition leader and a minister in the Hawke government from 1983 until 1988. Sercombe was a member of the Essendon City Council in 1983 and 1984. Sercombe was the Member for Niddrie in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

from 1988 until 1996. He was Deputy Leader of the Opposition 1993–94 and a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1992–94. In State politics, he became well known for supporting a leadership challenge on behalf of Ian Baker who attempted to topple then Leader

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier ...

in 1994. After the bid failed, he did not contest the deputy leadership. In the federal Parliament, Sercombe was an Opposition

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

from 1998 until 2001. He was elected to the Opposition Shadow Ministry after the 2004 election and appointed Shadow Minister for Pacific Islands (assisting the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs,

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

). His portfolio responsibilities were expanded some time later by Beazley to include Overseas Development. As Shadow Minister, Sercombe put out a series of policy announcements about expanding Australia's relationship with that region. Within the Labor Party, Sercombe was for many years a leading member of the

Labor Right The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...

in Victoria, although later became allied to the

Left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

faction in Victoria while being a leading light of the Centre caucus in Canberra. Just prior to a local vote of ALP members, in February 2005 Sercombe announced he was withdrawing his candidacy from Labor preselection for his seat of Maribyrnong in favour of

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...

National Secretary

Bill Shorten William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition a ...

as Shorten had the numbers over Sercombe to win the preselection and Shorten was elected unopposed as a result. He criticised challenges to other incumbent MPs. Despite announcing his retirement Sercombe was kept on the frontbench by Opposition Leader Kim Beazley until December 2006 when he was sacked by new leader Kevin Rudd. Sercombe was an Opposition frontbencher in both the Victorian State and Federal Parliaments but did not become a Minister in either tier of Government.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sercombe, Bob 1949 births Living people Public servants from Melbourne Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Maribyrnong 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians