Donald Edward Farrell (born 6 June 1954) is an Australian politician and former trade unionist. 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 been Minister for Trade and Tourism and

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 ...

in the Albanese government since 2022. He has served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

since 2016, after a previous term from 2008 to 2014. Farrell holds a law degree from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

. He was state secretary of the

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is the largest private sector trade union in Australia, representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and has branches in every state and territory. Its membership is pre ...

(SDA) from 1993 to 2008. After an unsuccessful candidacy at the

1988 Adelaide by-election A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Adelaide on 6 February 1988. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party MP Chris Hurford to become Australia's Consul-General in New York City. The election w ...

, Farrell was elected to the Senate at the 2007 federal election. He was a parliamentary secretary in the Gillard government from 2010 to 2013, then served briefly as Minister for Science and Research and

Minister for Sport A Ministry of Sports or Ministry of Youth and Sports is a kind of government ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people. The Ministry of Youth and Spo ...

prior to the ALP's defeat at the 2013 federal election. He lost his own seat at election, but was returned to the Senate in 2016 following a

double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...

. Farrell was elected as the ALP's deputy Senate leader in 2016 and is a senior figure in 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 ...

faction. He was appointed to cabinet following the party's victory at the 2022 election.

Early life

Farrell was born on 6 June 1954 in

Murray Bridge, South Australia Murray Bridge (formerly Mobilong and Edwards Crossing) is a city in the Australian state of South Australia, located east-southeast of the state's capital city, Adelaide, and north of the town of Meningie. The city had an urban population of a ...

. He is the son of Mary Heptinstall and Edward William Farrell. His father was a member of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) and stood for federal parliament unsuccessfully on six occasions, five times for the seat of Boothby and once for the Senate. During his childhood, Farrell lived for periods in

Crafers The town of Crafers is in the Adelaide Hills to the south-east of Adelaide, South Australia, considered to be an outer suburb of Adelaide. History Crafers was named after David Crafer, who arrived in Adelaide in 1838 and moved to the area. ...

, Forestville,

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

, and

Daw Park Daw Park is an inner southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, in the local government area of the City of Mitcham. The suburb is divided into two parts, with a smaller northern exclave separated from the larger southern part by a sectio ...

. He began his schooling at St Therese's School and completed his secondary education at

Blackfriars Priory School Blackfriars Priory School is a private Roman Catholic school for boys situated in Prospect, an inner-northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is conducted by the Dominican Friars of the Province of the Assumption. History The school ope ...

. He subsequently completed the degree of

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 ...

at the

. He worked for six years in his uncle's kiosk at

Cleland Wildlife Park Cleland National Park, formerly Cleland Conservation Park, is a protected area located in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia about south-east of the Adelaide city centre. It conserves a significant area of natural bushland on the Adelaide ...

, and also worked as a mail sorter, council worker and waiter for periods.

Union career

Farrell joined the

(SDA) as an industrial officer in 1976. He was promoted to assistant secretary in 1980 and became state secretary in 1993, serving until his election to the Senate.

Political career

Farrell joined the ALP in 1976 and was elected as a delegate to state conference and state council in the same year. He was a delegate to the

Australian Labor Party National Conference The Australian Labor Party National Conference (sometimes referred to as the Federal Conference) is an internal body of the Australian Labor Party, one of the major political parties in Australia. It is the highest representative body of the party ...

from 1984 and was elected state president of the ALP in 1988. He became a senior figure in the

faction in South Australia. Farrell first ran for parliament at the

but was unsuccessful. In June 2007, Farrell won preselection for the first position on Labor's Senate ticket in the 2007 election and he was subsequently the first elected senator for South Australia at the general election. His term began on 1 July 2008.

Gillard and Rudd governments

Following the 2010 federal election, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water. On 25 March 2013, Farrell was promoted into the Outer Ministry as the Minister for Science and Research and the Minister Assisting on Tourism. On 1 July 2013 as part of the Second Rudd Ministry, Farrell was appointed the

as well as remaining Minister Assisting on Tourism. In 2011 Farrell was listed as number six on the top ten political fixers as identified by ''The Power Index'' website. Where the article states that Labor's former deputy leader, Ralph Clarke commented:

"He controls the pre-selection directly or indirectly of every MP in South Australia. If you want to get on, you get on with Don."

In 2012, he was again selected as the first candidate on Labor's Senate ticket in the 2013 federal election, causing some controversy as he defeated

Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

for the leading Senate position. At the time, Wong was a senior minister in the Second Gillard Ministry and a member of the Australian Cabinet.

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 ...

accused union powerbrokers of not listening to the electorate and instead focusing on its own ructions. He labelled the move as:

"...gross self-indulgent rubbish.... aken by....those who should care more about the party and less about themselves."

He stated that he would demand that Labor's national executive overturn the decision and promote Senator Wong to the number one spot. On 30 October 2012, Farrell stepped aside to give Wong the number one spot on Labor's senate ticket for the 2013 election. He was quoted as saying:

"I was concerned that the issue was damaging the Labor Party. ..... I was prepared to do a swap with Penny. This is a case whereby modern Labor can't be seen to be concentrating on our internals at the expense of what is going on out there in the electorate and what is expected."

Wong later expressed favourable sentiments about Farrell after his decision to stand aside:

"Throughout his career, Don has always put the Labor Party first and he has demonstrated that principle again today."

Time in opposition

Farrell was defeated at the 2013 federal election and his term in the Senate ended on 30 June 2014.Labor "Godfather" hints at political return
ABC News Online, 2 October 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013 In January 2014, it was announced that Michael O'Brien offered Farrell his state seat of Napier, so that Farrell could contest the 2014 South Australian election, representing Labor.

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Jay Weatherill Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian politician who was the 45th Premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill represented the House of Assembly seat of Cheltenham as a member of ...

threatened to resign if Farrell was successfully preselected. A few hours later, Farrell withdrew his nomination. In 2016 Farrell was endorsed as a Labor candidate for the Senate in South Australia in the 2016 federal election, and was subsequently re-elected. He was elected and returned to the Labor frontbench in October 2016. Farrell opposed

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

and supported the view of "traditional marriage as being between a man and a woman". He said he would only vote for marriage equality after the 2019 election. He had publicly stated that he would vote against marriage equality in the parliament regardless of the results of the

Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the postal service between 12 September and 7 November 2017. Unlike voting in ...

. When the

Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 The ''Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which legalises same-sex marriage in Australia by amending the '' Marriage Act 1961'' to allow marriage between two persons o ...

bill was voted in the senate, Farrell abstained from voting.

Ministry in Albanese Government

After the ALP's victory at the 2022 federal election, Farrell became the deputy leader of the government in the Senate. He was appointed 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 ...

in the Albanese ministry, becoming

and Minister for Trade and Tourism. In the role, Farrell has kept pressure on his China counterparts to lift their trade sanctions against Australian exports, saying, "Things aren’t going to get back to normal until they lift those bans." A key priority has been diversifying trade risk away from China, beginning new free trade agreements with the UK and India. On New Year's Day 2022, Farrell's free trade agreement with India became active, with tariffs being removed on 85% of Australia's exports to India.

Personal life and health

In 2014, following the end of his first Senate term, Farrell established Farrell Wines, a vineyard in the

Clare Valley The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...

. In December 2021, Farrell caught

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

after attending a wedding in Melbourne.

References

External links

*"Burying the hatchet", The Advertiser (Adelaide). 25 March 2006
Branches, Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association.
Accessed 25 August 2006
Division of Adelaide 1988 by-election results, Psephos
Accessed 25 August 2006 *"The Don", Sunday Mail (Adelaide). 20 August 2006 *"Don Farrell", The Advertiser (Adelaide). 6 July 2002
First Speech to Parliament, Kate Ellis MP.
Accessed 25 August 2006

ABC News Online. 9 June 2007. Accessed 12 June 2007.
Senator Don Farrell profile: APH
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Don 1954 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Members of the Australian Senate Australian people of Irish descent Politicians from Adelaide Adelaide Law School alumni 21st-century Australian politicians Members of the Cabinet of Australia Government ministers of Australia Albanese Government