Brendan Patrick O'Connor (born 2 March 1962) is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Skills and Training since 2022. He is a member of 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 ...

(ALP) and has served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

since 2001. He held ministerial office in the governments of

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 ...

and

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013, holding office as leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the first and only ...

from 2007 to 2013, including as a member of

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

from 2012 to 2013. He was a member of the shadow cabinet from

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

to 2022.

Early life

O'Connor was born on 2 March 1962 in London, England. He is the son of Michael and Philomena O'Connor. His parents were both born in Ireland, his mother in

Thurles Thurles (; ''Durlas Éile'') is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of the same name in the barony of Eliogarty and in the ecclesiastical parish of Thurles (Roman Catholic parish), Thurles. The cathedral ch ...

and his father in

Tralee Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...

. O'Connor was born with both Irish and British citizenship, renouncing the latter in the early 1980s. He acquired Australian citizenship by naturalisation in 1995 and renounced his Irish citizenship in 2001 in order to stand for parliament. O'Connor arrived in Australia when he was six years old. He attended

Aquinas College, Melbourne , motto_translation = "To light up and be on fire" , denomination = Roman Catholic , established = 1961 , type = Independent, co-educational , principal = Darren Atkinson ...

, and subsequently completed the degrees of

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

. He also completed a diploma at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the United States through the

Harvard Trade Union Program Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan cler ...

Union movement

While at university, O'Connor worked as a researcher for the Municipal Employees Union. He was the assistant national secretary of the

Australian Services Union The Australian Services Union (registered as the Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union) is a trade union representing workers in a variety of industries. The ASU is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trad ...

from 1993 to 2001.

Early political involvement

A member of

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 ...

, O'Connor is a member of the National Left faction of the Australian Labor Party and is a member of the Socialist Left faction of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party. At the time of his endorsement for Burke in 2001 he was aligned with the 'Independent Left', a breakaway group from the Socialist Left. This group included Julia Gillard. O'Connor has been a close ally of

since they were both involved in student politics during the 1980s along with Michael O'Connor. In 2015 the Independent Left rejoined the Socialist Left.

Parliament

First terms (2001–2007)

At the 2001 election, O'Connor was elected as the Member for Burke, When the division was abolished by the 2003 redistribution, O'Connor successfully contested the new electoral division of Gorton at the 2004 election. In December 2005, he was elected to the position of Chair of the Federal Labor Industrial Relations Taskforce in a caucus ballot. The Taskforce investigated the adverse effects of the Howard Government's

WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the ''Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choice ...

legislation, a controversial package of industrial relations changes. Shortly after the election of

to the office of federal Labor leader and Leader of the Opposition on 4 December 2006, O'Connor was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations.

Government (2007–2013)

Following the Labor victory at the 2007 federal election, Prime Minister Rudd announced that O'Connor would serve as the Minister for Employment Participation from 29 November 2007. As Minister he reformed the Job Network, replacing it with Job Services Australia. This streamlined seven separate employment services programs into a 'one-stop-shop' to provide job seekers with a more personalised service. On 6 June 2009, O'Connor was announced as the

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

in the First Rudd ministry, replacing

Bob Debus Robert John Debus (born 16 September 1943) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives and the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the Labor Party. Debus has been a minist ...

who retired at the 2010 election. Following Labor's narrow victory, Prime Minister

allocated increased responsibilities to O'Connor. He became Minister for Home Affairs,

Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

and Minister for Privacy and Freedom of Information. In this portfolio, O'Connor enacted several key policy reforms including: new and tougher laws to protect children from being procured and groomed online, achieving consensus for an R18+ video game classification after 10 years of debate at Standing Committee of Attorney-General; and introducing significant reforms of the anti-dumping regime in 20 years. In December 2011, O'Connor became the Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting for School Education. On 5 March 2012, O'Connor was sworn in as Minister for Small Business, Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness. He was also promoted to

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

for the first time, becoming the first small business minister in Cabinet for more than a decade. In this role O'Connor introduced the first Australian Small Business Commissioner, on 2 January 2013. On 30 August 2012, O'Connor and the

Council of Australian Governments The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) was the primary intergovernmental forum in Australia from 1992 to 2020. Comprising the federal government, the governments of the six states and two mainland territories and the Australian Local G ...

released the ''Housing Supply and Affordability Reform'' report, proposing reforms to increase housing affordability in Australia. On 4 February 2013, O'Connor was sworn in as Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. Following the June 2013 Labor leadership spill, O'Connor was appointed

Minister for Employment , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

and Minister for Skills and Training in the Second Rudd ministry.

Opposition (2013–2022)

After the ALP's defeat at the 2013 federal election, O'Connor was included in

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 ...

's shadow cabinet. He was retained in shadow cabinet when

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since 2019 and the member of parlia ...

succeeded Shorten as opposition leader after the 2019 election. O'Connor has held the portfolios of employment and workplace relations (2013–2019),

special minister of state The Special Minister of State (SMOS) in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by Don Farrell since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. The minister is responsible for various parliamentary, electo ...

(2016), employment and industry (2019–2021), science (2019–2021), and small and family business (2019–2021). He succeeded

Richard Marles Richard Donald Marles (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician serving as the 19th deputy prime minister of Australia and the Minister for Defence. He has been the deputy leader of the Labor Party since 2019 and previously served as D ...

as shadow minister for defence following a reshuffle in January 2021.

Government (2022–present)

Following the 2022 federal election, O'Connor was appointed Minister for Skills and Training in the Albanese ministry.

Personal life

O'Connor was married to Jodi Dack until her death from breast cancer in August 2018; she had first been diagnosed in 2012. The couple had one daughter together. O’Connor lives in Keilor.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Brendan 1962 births People from London Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Government ministers of Australia Harvard Law School alumni Irish emigrants to Australia Gillard Government Rudd Government English emigrants to Australia People who lost British citizenship Naturalised citizens of Australia Living people Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Burke (1969–2004) Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gorton Monash Law School alumni Labor Left politicians 21st-century Australian politicians People who lost Irish citizenship Albanese Government Politicians from Melbourne