Mark Victor Arbib (born 9 November 1971) is an Australian former
Labor Party politician and
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
ist, who was an
Australian Senator
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a ...
for
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
from 2008 to 2012.
Arbib rose within the New South Wales Labor Party, and was eventually elected as State Secretary in 2004, before being elected to the
Senate
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 ...
at the
2007 election. Arbib was frequently described in the media as a "power-broker" within the Parliamentary Labor Party. In 2009, he was appointed to the
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 ...
as
Minister for Employment Participation.
In 2010, he was instrumental in the successful
leadership challenge by
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...
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 ...
to
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
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 ...
. Gillard later named Arbib as
Minister for Sport and
Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness. After Rudd launched a
leadership challenge against Gillard in 2012, Arbib announced his immediate retirement from politics.
Arbib was subsequently appointed a senior executive with
James Packer's private investment company,
Consolidated Press Holdings
James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...
. He was also made President of
Athletics Australia
Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia.
First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...
and has previously been a board member of the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...
and for
Sydney FC.
Personal
Arbib was born in the Sydney suburb of
Chippendale. His father, Eric Arbib, was of
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
n heritage and spoke Italian, moving to Australia in the 1960s and becoming a property developer. His mother, Lola, was born in Sydney. She raised Mark and his brother Scott after the death of their father when they were young.
He has a Master of Arts in political science and economic history from the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
.
He lives in Sydney with his wife Kelli Field and two daughters. He is a supporter of the
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
club,
Sydney FC A-League
A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...
club, and is a public Ambassador for Australia's leading
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
non-profit education organisation, the
Australian Indigenous Education Foundation
The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) is a non-profit organisation which provides scholarships to the Indigenous students in Australia.
History
The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation was established in 2008 by Andrew ...
.
Arbib is an avid runner, having completed a number of Ironman triathlons and marathons. His personal best times are 11.09 for the Melbourne Ironman and 2.58.51 for the Sydney Marathon.
Early career
While studying, Arbib worked part-time at a
Sizzler
Sizzler USA Restaurants, Inc., doing business as Sizzler, is a United States-based restaurant chain with headquarters in Mission Viejo, California, with locations mainly in California, plus some in the nearby states of Washington, Arizona, Neva ...
restaurant in
Bondi Junction. When there were moves to remove penalty rates, he negotiated on behalf of the part-time workers and signed up members to the Liquor Trades Union.
Later he worked variously as a metal trades assistant, beach inspector and restaurant cook, but became increasingly involved in the trade union movement. In 1989 he had a bit part in the Australian soap opera ''
Home and Away
''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip ...
''.
He joined 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 ...
in 1992 and was elected as President of NSW
Young Labor Australian Young Labor, also known as the Young Labor Movement or simply Young Labor, is the youth wing of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) representing all ALP members aged between 15 to 26. The organisation operates as a federation with independen ...
in 1995. He served as Assistant General Secretary from 1999 and was the ALP State Organiser between 1996 and 1999.
Career as General Secretary
Arbib was elected General Secretary of the Australian Labor Party (NSW Branch) in June 2004.
In 2005, he was elevated to the role of national convener of the party's right wing.
In 2007, Arbib was Campaign Director for
Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma (; born 21 July 1961) is a former Australian politician who was the 40th Premier of New South Wales. He served from 3 August 2005 to 5 September 2008. From Sydney, Iemma attended the University of Sydney and the University of Techno ...
's successful
2007 state election campaign.
Following the 2007 Election victory for the Labor Party, he was credited by former premier
Bob Carr
Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later en ...
as "one of the best campaigners in the business." However, the opposition has criticised his role in procuring
political donations
Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political ac ...
for the Labor party from business groups.
In January 2008, ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' quoted an organisation which makes
political donations
Campaign finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political ac ...
to the
Labor Party as saying that Mark Arbib made an art form out of extracting political donations from businesses. Said the donor: "There's no doubt Arbib wrote the book in terms of both political donations ... and their importance ... It's fine to take the higher ground and say 'we won't make donations' ... but if you don't you have got zero chance of getting (to see them)." Arbib denied the allegations.
Arbib was named in the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
television program ''
Four Corners
The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
'' in relation to political donations to the NSW Labor Party.
Arbib was preselected for the number one position of Labor's New South Wales Senate ticket and won a seat at the
2007 federal election.
Federal politics
From 1 July 2008 to 30 March 2009, Arbib served on the
Senate Committees for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Corporations and Financial Services, and Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. He was also the co-convenor of a bipartisan parliamentary group: Parliamentarians Against Child Abuse and Neglect (PACAN) and is an Ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.
Arbib was a member of the
ALP National Executive (from 2004) and a member of the ALP National Executive Committee (from 2007). In February 2009, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery.
In the June 2009 reshuffle, he was promoted to Employment Participation Minister and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Government Service Delivery.
On 24 June 2010, Arbib used his power as leader of the NSW right faction to shore up numbers to depose
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 ...
, then in his first term as Prime Minister, in favour of
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 ...
.
In August 2010 Arbib stood down from the ALP National Executive to concentrate on his portfolio duties. In November 2010 Arbib was the first Federal Labor Party front bencher to support same-sex marriage. He spoke in favour of marriage equality at Labor's National Conference in December 2011 and has called on the Liberal Party to allow its members a conscience vote.
As Minister for Sport, Arbib championed a National Policy on Match Fixing in Sport which included nationally consistent criminal legislation. Arbib argued match-fixing was a threat to the integrity of sport and called for jail time for those found guilty of engaging in serious match-fixing and for the formation of an international WADA-type body to combat match-fixing internationally. During his time as Minister for Sport, Arbib was also a Member of the World Anti-Doping Authority Foundation Board.
The
United States diplomatic cables leaks revealed that Mark Arbib was in regular contact with staff at the US embassy in Canberra and provided them with inside information and commentary on the workings of the government and the Labor Party.
Arbib strongly denied having a special relationship with the United States and was highly critical of Fairfax's reporting of the cables which he claims contained a number of serious factual errors.
In the
December 2011 reshuffle, Arbib was appointed as Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Small Business and Manager of Government Business in the Senate.
On 27 February 2012, hours after the
ALP leadership ballot, Arbib announced his resignation from the Cabinet from 2 March, and his intention to also resign from the Senate. He cited wanting to spend more time with his family than being a Minister and Senator can allow. He also hoped his resigning would help the Labor Party to heal. His resignation from the Senate was submitted on 5 March. The following day on 6 March 2012, Arbib was replaced as a Senator by former
Premier of New South Wales
The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...
Bob Carr
Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later en ...
, who on 13 March became the
Foreign Minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
following the resignation 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 ...
from that position.
Post politics
In June 2012, Arbib became director of strategy and business development at
Consolidated Press Holdings
James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...
, the private investment company of
James Packer
James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...
, whom Arbib had helped during his time in politics.
Arbib also represented
Consolidated Press Holdings
James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...
on the board of the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...
,
and was a board member of the Packer Family Foundation which, in July 2014, announced a $200 million national philanthropic fund in partnership with the Crown Resorts Foundation.
Sporting and philanthropic roles
Following his role as Federal Minister for Sport, Arbib has gone on to serve in a number of roles with major sporting organisations. In April 2012
Australian Rugby Union
Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It ...
(ARU) announced Arbib would conduct a major review into ARU's corporate governance. The review followed the decision of other major sports, including the Australian Rugby League Commission,
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia (CA), formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board (ACB), is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the 'Australian Board of Control for International Crick ...
and
Football Federation Australia
Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...
, to review their governance structures.
The recommendations contained in ''Strengthening the Governance of Australian Rugby'' (the Arbib Review), were endorsed in full by the Board of ARU in October 2012. On 10 December 2012, ARU's State and Territory Member Unions voted in favour of a new constitution adopting Arbib's recommendations. The changes from the Arbib Review established an Independent Board of Directors and reformed the Membership of ARU to better reflect the Rugby Union community across Australia, both amateur and professional.
In May 2012 it was also announced that Arbib would join the board of
Sydney FC, one of the
A League's most successful football clubs.
Arbib stepped down from
Sydney FC in April 2016 to take up a new role as President of
Athletics Australia
Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia.
First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...
after having been unanimously appointed to the position by his fellow directors. In his role as president, Arbib is looking to increase the reach and exposure of Athletics, including by making the sport more attractive to broadcasters. Arbib is also a board member of the professional Rugby League Team the
South Sydney Rabbitohs
The South Sydney Rabbitohs are a professional Australian rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen pla ...
, winners of the 2014 Premiership.
Arbib is an active supporter of a number of philanthropies. In particular, he is an Ambassador for the Indigenous Marathon Project and for Australia's leading Indigenous non-profit education organisation, the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.
In October 2016, he was elected to the
Australian Olympic Committee
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
Board.
See also
*
First Rudd Ministry
*
First Gillard Ministry
*
Second Gillard Ministry
References
External links
Parliamentary biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbib, Mark
1971 births
Living people
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Labor Right politicians
Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales
Members of the Australian Senate
Politicians from Sydney
University of New South Wales alumni
Australian trade unionists
Australian people of Libyan descent
21st-century Australian politicians
Government ministers of Australia
Australian Labor Party officials