Robert George Mitchell (born 9 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has been an

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 ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

since August 2010, representing the electorate of

McEwen The Scottish surname MacEwen derives from the Old Gaelic ''Mac Eoghainn'', meaning 'the son of Eoghann'. The name is found today in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Because it was widely used before its spelling was standardised, the modern n ...

. Previously a member of the

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

from 2002 to 2006, he currently serves in the position of second deputy speaker.

Early life

Mitchell 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 ...

on 9 September 1967. He grew up in the suburb of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

in the city's north. His younger brother Jason died of

Marfan syndrome Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a multi-systemic genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue. Those with the condition tend to be tall and thin, with long arms, legs, fingers, and toes. They also typically have exceptionally flexible joints a ...

at the age of 29. Mitchell left school in year 10 to take up a shoemaking apprenticeship. He later worked as a contractor for the

Royal Automobile Club of Victoria The Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV) is a motoring club and mutual organisation. It offers various services to members, including insurance and roadside assistance. It has about 30,000 ordinary club members who have access to the lifes ...

, as a tow-truck operator, and as a sales and marketing representative within the transport industry. He was the state manager of a diesel parts company from 2000 to 2002 and is a member of the Institute of Automotive Mechanical Engineers.

State politics

Mitchell was recruited into the ALP by Don Nardella. He first stood for parliament at the

1999 Victorian state election The 1999 Victorian state election, held on Saturday, 18 September 1999, was for the 54th Parliament of Victoria. It was held in the Australian state of Victoria to elect the 88 members of the state's Legislative Assembly and 22 members of the 44 ...

, unsuccessfully standing for the

Central Highlands Province Central Highlands Province was an electorate of the Legislative Council of Victoria The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assem ...

. He won the seat on his next attempt at the 2002 state election. The province was abolished in 2006 following the reform of the Legislative Council. Mitchell then stood unsuccessfully as the Labor candidate for 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 ...

seat of

Benalla Benalla is a small city located on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the the population was 10,822. It is the administrative centr ...

at the 2006 state election.

Federal politics

At the 2007 federal election, Mitchell was the Labor candidate for the seat of McEwen, a hybrid urban-rural seat encompassing Labor-friendly territory in north

and more conservative rural areas to the north of the capital. He had initially been announced as the winning candidate, defeating the sitting

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member

Fran Bailey Frances Esther Bailey (born 21 May 1946) is a former Australian politician. She is a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993 and 1996 to 2010, representing the Division of McEwen in Victoria. Sh ...

by a mere seven votes. However, after a recount this margin was reduced to five. A subsequent recount requested by the Liberal Party, overturned this result with Mitchell instead losing by 12 votes. The

Court of Disputed Returns The Court of Disputed Returns is a court, tribunal, or some other body that determines disputes about elections in some common law countries. The court may be known by another name such as the Court of Disputed Elections. In countries that derive ...

later increased this margin to 27 votes. He won McEwen following Bailey's retirement at the 2010 election. His win was one of only two gains for Labor at the election. Ahead of the 2013 federal election, McEwen was pushed further into Melbourne, technically making it a safe Labor seat. However, Mitchell weathered a nine-point swing against former Liberal MLC Donna Petrovich. He retained the seat at the 2016 election with a swing of seven points. Mitchell served as a

government whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology o ...

from May 2013 until the government's defeat at the 2013 election. He was subsequently elected second deputy speaker of the House, having been first appointed to the

speaker's panel The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The counterpart in the upper house is the President of the Senate. The office of Speaker was ...

in February 2012. In November 2021, Mitchell was nominated by his party as a candidate for the

Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The counterpart in the upper house is the President of the Senate. The office of Speaker was ...

but was defeated by Liberal's

Andrew Wallace Andrew Bruce Wallace (born 23 April 1968) is an Australian politician who served as the 31st Speaker of the House of Representatives from November 2021 to April 2022. He is a member of the Liberal Party and has been a member of the House of Re ...

59 votes to 70. Following ALP's victory at the 2022 election, he was defeated by Queensland MP Milton Dick in an internal

Right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

faction ballot to become the party's nominee for speaker. The speakership was assigned to the Right faction under a deal in which 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 would choose the party's nominee for

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

Electoral performance

Personal life

Mitchell has one daughter with his partner Lisa Cartledge. he lived in

Whittlesea, Victoria Whittlesea is a town in Victoria, Australia, north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea local government area. Whittlesea recorded a population of 6,117 at the . History The Post Office opened ...

. His home was nearly lost in the

Black Saturday bushfires The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that either ignited or were already burning across the Australian state of Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009, and were among Australia's all-time worst bushfire disasters. T ...

in 2009.

References

External links

Australian Labor Party profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Rob Living people 1967 births Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for McEwen 21st-century Australian politicians People from the City of Hume Politicians from Melbourne