Arthur Sinodinos (born 25 February 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician who has been

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since February 2020. He served as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

from 1997 to 2007 and was 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

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 2011 to 2019, becoming a minister in the Abbott and Turnbull Governments. Sinodinos was born in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

, and attended the University of Newcastle. For many years he was a public servant until becoming a political adviser. In 2007 he was appointed Chief of Staff to John Howard. After Howard's defeat at the 2007 election, Sinodinos spent time working for both

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, Ho ...

and the

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...

, before being appointed to fill a vacant seat in 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 ...

in 2011. After the Liberal victory at the 2013 election, newly-elected Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

appointed Sinodinos Assistant Treasurer. Sinodinos later stepped aside from his ministerial duties in 2014 during an investigation by the

New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) is an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for eliminating and investigating corrupt activities and enhancing the integrity of the state's public administration. The Comm ...

(ICAC). In September 2015, after

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

's appointment as Prime Minister, Sinodinos was appointed Cabinet Secretary. He was later made

Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science The Minister for Industry and Science is an Australian Government cabinet position which is currently held by Ed Husic in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. In the Government of Austra ...

in January 2017. He resigned from the Government in December 2017, due to receiving treatment for cancer. In May 2019, Prime Minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...

announced that Sinodinos would become Ambassador to the United States.

Background and early career

Sinodinos was born in

, to Greek immigrant parents. His father was a member of the left-aligned Seaman's Union that, during Sinodinos' early years, was campaigning against the United States intervention in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

. His mother recalled stories of the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος �όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...

of the 1940s where

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

insurgents would knock on the door of their family home at night. Sinodinos has said that this helped him form his early political views. Sinodinos graduated from the University of Newcastle in 1979 with a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

with Honours. He then entered the

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as a graduate recruit, working within the Department of Finance, before working in the Department of the Treasury between 1980 and 1987 and again between 1989 and 1995. He was the

to then Prime Minister

from 1997 to 2006, after serving with him previously from 1987 to 1989 when he was Opposition Leader and rejoining him in 1995. As a close confidant of the Prime Minister, he was regarded as one of the most powerful people in the country.

Corporate career

Sinodinos left his position as the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff to become a director with the investment bank

JBWere, and a regional general manager at the

; he reportedly declined an offer to become

Australian Ambassador to the United States The Ambassador of Australia to the United States is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the director of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to the United States of America. The embassy is locate ...

. In 2008, he was part of a panel that mediated public input into the

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. In March 2009, he was appointed a managing director at the National Australia Bank. Sinodinos became a director of Australian Water Holdings Pty Ltd (AWH) in 2008 and chairman in 2010. He resigned from these positions on becoming a senator.

Political career

Sinodinos was appointed to fill the vacant New South Wales Senate seat opened by the resignation of

Helen Coonan Helen Lloyd Coonan (born 29 October 1947) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1996 to 2011, representing the Liberal Party. She was a minister in the Howard Government, serving as Minister for Revenue ...

on 13 October 2011. He served as honorary Finance Director (2009 to 2011) and President (2011–2012) for the NSW branch of the Liberal Party. Initially touted as a candidate for the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

seat of Bradfield, Sinodinos was appointed to the Australian Senate representing New South Wales, replacing the resigned Liberal Senator

for the remainder of her term, which was due to expire on 30 June 2014. At the 2013 election he was elected to a further six-year term from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2020. Howard was present in Parliament when Sinodinos delivered his

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. Sinodinos is a member of the board of

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– Australasia, a non-governmental organisation. During 2012 Sinodinos was a regular columnist, writing in ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

''. On 19 March 2014, Sinodinos stood aside from his role as Assistant Treasurer prior to giving evidence as a witness before

's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). During the enquiry Sinodinos advised he was unaware of a $74,000 donation made to the Liberal Party by Australian Water Holdings, despite being Deputy chairman on a $200,000 salary. At the time of the payment Sinodinos was also Treasurer of the Liberal Party. He formally resigned on 19 December 2014 as Assistant Treasurer and was succeeded as Assistant Treasurer by

Josh Frydenberg Joshua Anthony Frydenberg () (born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisi ...

. ICAC eventually made no adverse findings against Sinodinos. In January 2017, Sussan Ley temporarily stood aside as the Minister for Health and Aged Care and Minister for Sport and then subsequently resigned from the ministry. Sinodinos briefly acted in her portfolios until a subsequent rearrangement of the Turnbull ministry where Sinodinos was appointed as the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science. In October 2017, Sinodinos took leave from parliament and the ministry to aid his recovery from an unnamed type of cancer. He "believes the prognosis is very positive and that the cancer is eminently treatable". This was later revealed to be a stage four

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredne ...

, for which Sinodinos required a bone marrow transplant. He was voluntarily removed from cabinet in the December 2017 rearrangement.

Ambassador to the United States

In May 2019, it was announced that Sinodinos would be appointed the next

. He resigned as a member of the

on 11 November 2019. He replaced

Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott Government from 18 September ...

as ambassador on 7 February 2020.

Honours

Sinodinos was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

in 2008 for service to politics through the executive function of government, to the development of economic policy and reform, and to the Greek community.

Personal

Sinodinos lives in New South Wales with his wife, whom he met at a

Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...

, and their children, Dion (7 June 2001), Isabella (28 June 2010) and Alexandria (29 October 2012). He has been a director of the

Mary MacKillop Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian religious sister who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church, as St Mary of the Cross. Of Scottish descent, she was born in Melbourne but is best known ...

Foundation.

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Arthur Sinodinos on TheyVoteForYou.org.au

Arthur Sinodinos parliamentary profile on aph.gov.au
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinodinos, Arthur 1957 births Abbott Government Australian investment bankers Australian people of Greek descent Ambassadors of Australia to the United States Chiefs of Staff to the Prime Minister of Australia Government ministers of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Members of the Cabinet of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia People from Newcastle, New South Wales Turnbull Government University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni 21st-century Australian politicians