Thomas Mark Bishop (born 29 June 1954) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n politician who served as an Australian Labor Party member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

representing the state of Western Australia from July 1996 until June 2014. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia and was educated at the University of Adelaide and Harvard University. He was an industrial officer and union secretary before entering politics. Bishop has been Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs 2001–04, Shadow Minister for Customs 2003–04 and Shadow Minister for Defence Industry, Procurement and Personnel 2005–2006. In December 2006, Bishop announced that he would not recontest his Senate seat, due to expire on 30 June 2008. However, before the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

he decided to recontest and was re-elected for a further six-year term. In the Rudd Labor Government, Senator Bishop was chair of the Senate Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, as well as being a member of a number of other Joint House and Senate committees. Bishop withdrew from Senate preselection for the 2014 election after a factional deal which would have seen him relegated to an unwinnable position on the ticket. He subsequently retired from politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop, Mark 1954 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Harvard University alumni Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Members of the Australian Senate Politicians from Adelaide 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at Sacred Heart College, Adelaide