Robert Francis McMullan (born 10 December 1947) is an Australian former politician who represented 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 ...

in both the Senate and 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 ...

. He was the first person to represent the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

in both houses of federal parliament

Early life

McMullan was born in

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 i ...

, Western Australia, and educated at

Governor Stirling Senior High School Governor Stirling Senior High School (abbreviated as GSSHS) is a public co-educational partially selective high day school, located in Woodbridge, a north-eastern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The school provides both a vocational and ...

and 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 ...

where he studied economics and arts. Active in the movement against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, he was

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

for military service in 1968 but successfully argued in court that he was a conscientious objector. Grattan, Michelle
Labor man for everyman
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 25 March 1981. He became an industrial advocate for the trade unions, joining the Labor Party in 1973.

Labor Party involvement

In 1975, McMullan became the Labor Party's Western Australian State Secretary. In 1981, he was elected National Secretary of the Labor Party and he directed the ALP's three successful election campaigns in 1983, 1984 and 1987. He remains the most successful National Secretary of the Labor Party ever.

Parliamentary career

On 16 February 1988, McMullan was chosen by a joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate to fill a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

in the representation of the

in the Senate, caused by the resignation of

Susan Ryan Susan Maree Ryan (10 October 194227 September 2020) was an Australian politician and public servant. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and held ministerial office in the Hawke Government as Minister Assisting the Prime Mini ...

. This was the second (and last) time that a territory senate vacancy was filled in this way. McMullan was Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer 1990–93, Minister for the Arts and Minister for Administrative Services 1993–94, Minister for Administrative Services 1994 and Minister for Trade 1994–96 in the government of

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 ...

. As Arts Minister he was shadowed by Opposition leader

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson wa ...

who had appointed himself as Shadow Arts Minister. On 6 February 1996 he resigned his Senate seat in order to contest the

Division of Canberra The Division of Canberra is an Australian electoral division in the Australian Capital Territory. It is named for the city of Canberra, Australia's national capital, and includes all of central Canberra, Kowen, Majura, as well as part of West ...

in the House of Representatives at the March election; he was successful. The Keating government having been defeated by

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 ...

, Labor went into opposition and McMullan was elected as a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry. In 1998, following a redistribution, McMullan moved to the neighbouring seat of Fraser. McMullan became Manager of Opposition Business (opposite number to the Leader of the House) in 1998, and following Labor's 2001 electoral defeat he was made Shadow Treasurer. In July 2003 McMullan was replaced as Shadow Treasurer by

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 ...

and relegated to the post of Shadow Minister for Finance, taking on additional responsibility for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. McMullan then became Shadow Minister for Finance and Shadow Minister for Small Business. In

Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...

in Parliament, McMullan gained a reputation for repeatedly asking the same question in different words if he did not get a direct answer. After the 2004 election, McMullan did not stand for election to the Shadow Cabinet, in what was widely seen as an expression of lack of confidence in the leadership of

. Following the election 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 ...

on 4 December 2006 as Opposition Leader in place of

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 cabine ...

, McMullan returned to the front bench in the junior role of Labor spokesperson on Federal-State Relations, the reform of which was one of Rudd's declared priorities. In the

2007 federal election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...

McMullan held his seat of Fraser, albeit with a two-party preferred swing to Labor of less than 2%, one-third of the national average swing to Labor. When the First Rudd Ministry was sworn in on 3 December 2007, McMullan was given the junior post of Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance. On 19 January 2010, McMullan announced he would not contest the next federal election.McMullan to quit politics
, ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', 19 January 2010. He retired prior to the 2010 federal election.

External links

Biographical and other Details on Official Labor Party Web Site
accessed 15 September 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMullan, Bob 1947 births Living people Australian conscientious objectors Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for the Australian Capital Territory Members of the Cabinet of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Canberra Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Fraser (ACT) 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Australian Labor Party officials