Stephen Francis Smith (born 12 December 1955) is a former Australian politician who was a member of 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 ...

for

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

from 1993 to 2013, representing 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 t ...

. He served as a minister in the

Rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). T ...

and Gillard Governments, including as

Minister for Foreign Affairs 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 ...

(2007–2010), Minister for Trade (2010), and

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

(2010–2013).

Early life

Smith was born in

Narrogin, Western Australia Narrogin is a large town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, southeast of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Pingelly and Wagin. In the age of steam engines, Narrogin was one of the largest railway operation hubs in t ...

, and was educated at CBC Highgate, the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, where he earned a master's degree in law. He was a solicitor, lecturer and tutor before entering politics. He was Principal Private Secretary to the Western Australian

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Joe Berinson Joseph Max Berinson (7 January 1932 – 2 June 2018) was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the Australian House of Representatives and the Western Australian Legislative Council. He was Minister for t ...

1983–87 and State Secretary of the Western Australian Labor Party 1987–90. From 1990 to 1993 he was an adviser to

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

, first when Keating was Treasurer, then when Keating was Prime Minister. He was instrumental in securing caucus support in order for Keating to defeat

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

for the Labor Party leadership in 1991 and thereby allowing Keating to ascend to the prime ministership.

Career

Smith was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry from March 1996 until the November 2007 elections, which were won by the Labor party. He was Shadow Minister for Trade 1996–97, for Resources and Energy 1997–98, for Communications 1998–2001, Health and Ageing 2001–03 and Immigration 2003–04. He was Shadow Minister for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations from October 2004 until December 2006, when he was appointed to the position of Shadow Minister for Education and Training. During the leadership crisis in the Labor Party in 2003, Smith was a prominent supporter of his fellow Western Australian,

Kim Beazley Kim Christian Beazley (born 14 December 1948) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and leader of the opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, having previously been a cabinet ...

. As early as 2002 his name had been mentioned as a possible future leader. He again supported Beazley in the leadership contest which followed the resignation of

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator, currently serving as a member in the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and ...

in January 2005, which saw Beazley return to the leadership. Smith was appointed

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 ...

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 * Filin ...

on 3 December following Labor's win in the 2007 election, and when

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 ...

took over from Kevin Rudd as prime minister in June 2010, she added Minister for Trade to Smith's portfolio. After the 2010 federal election Smith was appointed to the vacant

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

portfolio, while Rudd and

Craig Emerson Craig Anthony Emerson (born 15 November 1954) is an Australian economist and former Australian Labor Party politician. He served as the Australian House of Representatives Member for the Division of Rankin in Queensland from 1998 until 2013. E ...

were appointed to the Foreign Affairs and Trade ministries, respectively. Following Kevin Rudd's return to the leadership of the ALP and as prime minister, on 27 June 2013 Smith announced he would not be a candidate at the 2013 federal election.

Post-parliamentary career

Smith was appointed Winthrop Professor of International Law at the University of Western Australia on 29 April 2014. In March 2016, Smith announced that he did not believe the leader of the Labor Party in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

Mark McGowan Mark McGowan (born 13 July 1967) is an Australian politician, the 30th premier of Western Australia, and the leader of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party. McGowan was born and raised in Newcastle, New South Wales. He attended t ...

, was capable of leading the party to victory at the 2017 state election. He sought to enter the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

by seeking preselection in the new seat of Baldivis. His bid for preselection was unsuccessful. Smith was appointed Chairman of ASX listed Canberra-based cyber security firm archTIS in March 2018. In 2022, Smith was appointed to co-lead the Defense Strategic Review into the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Fo ...

by Prime Minister

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 ...

. On 30 September 2022, Smith was named as the next High Commissioner of Australia to the United Kingdom, to take up office in early 2023 following the completion of the Defense Strategic Review.

Photo gallery

Image:Stephensmith.jpg, Stephen Smith in early 2005 Image:StephenSmith2008.jpg, Stephen Smith in early 2008 Image:SS2008-2.jpg, Robert Gates meets face-to-face with Stephen Smith Image:SS2008-1.jpg,

US Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The s ...

Robert Gates Robert Michael Gates (born September 25, 1943) is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was originally appointed by president George W. Bush a ...

(2nd from left, Debra Cagan to his left) hosts a Pentagon meeting with Stephen Smith (right) in the Pentagon on 28 January 2008 Image:RiceSmith08.jpg, Former

US Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist who is the current director of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served as the 66th Un ...

(centre) and Stephen Smith (right) with students from Wesley College during a visit to Kings Park State War Memorial in

Image:Katsuya Okada Hillary Rodham Clinton and Stephen Smith 20090921.jpg, Stephen Smith (right) meets

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

(centre) and

Katsuya Okada is a Japanese politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Japan from January to December 2012. A member of the House of Representatives of Japan, he was the President of the Democratic Party, and previously of the Democratic Party of Japan. ...

(left) at the

Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

on 21 September 2009

References

External links

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stephen 1955 births Alumni of the University of London Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Australian ministers for Foreign Affairs Australian solicitors Gillard Government Government ministers of Australia Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Perth Members of the Cabinet of Australia People from Narrogin, Western Australia Rudd Government University of Western Australia alumni Defence ministers of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians