Mark Christopher Butler (born 8 July 1970) is an Australian politician. He is a member of 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 ...

(ALP) and has served in 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 ...

since 2007. He was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd Governments and also served as national president of the ALP from 2015 to 2018. Butler studied arts and law at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

and international relations at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia. Its main campuses are in Melbourne's Burwood suburb, Geelong Waurn Ponds, ...

. Prior to entering parliament he was the South Australian secretary of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU). He was elected to the seat of

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

at 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 ...

, later switching to Hindmarsh in 2019. Butler was made a parliamentary secretary in 2009, becoming a minister after the 2010 election and winning promotion to

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 ...

the following year. He subsequently held the portfolios of Minister for Mental Health and Ageing (2010–2013), Social Inclusion (2011–2013), Housing and Homelessness (2013), Environment and Water (2013), and

Climate Change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

(2013). After the ALP's defeat at the 2013 election, Butler was a member of shadow cabinet under opposition leaders

Bill Shorten William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition ...

and

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 ...

. He is a senior member of the

Labor Left The Labor Left, also known as the Progressive Left or Socialist Left, is political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It competes with the more economically liberal Labor Right faction. The Labor Left operates autonomously in each s ...

faction and was elected to a three-year term as national president in 2015. After the ALP’s win at the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth cons ...

, Butler has held the portfolio of Minister for Health and Aged Care and is the Deputy Leader of the House.

Early life

Butler was born in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

on 8 July 1970, the son of Lindsay Nicholson and David Butler. His mother was a peace and anti-nuclear activist and campaigned to elect the Hawke and Keating governments. His father, a public servant and Vietnam conscript, was the grandson of conservative South Australian premier

Richard Layton Butler Sir Richard Layton Butler KCMG (31 March 1885 – 21 January 1966) was the 31st Premier of South Australia, serving two disjunct terms in office: from 1927 to 1930, and again from 1933 to 1938. Early life Born on a farm near Gawler, South Aus ...

, but was not politically active himself. Butler's parents divorced when he was five years old, after which he and his brother moved to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

with their mother. He attended Unley High School, taking a gap year in Italy before enrolling at the

. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

and a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

with

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

. While at university he worked as a

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...

at Duncan Basheer Hannon (DBH). He was short-listed for a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

ship, and later completed a Master of International Relations degree at

. Butler was active in student politics while at university. He was a housemate of future state MP Patrick Conlon and developed friendships with future premier

Jay Weatherill Jay Wilson Weatherill (born 3 April 1964) is an Australian politician who was the 45th Premier of South Australia, serving from 21 October 2011 until 19 March 2018. Weatherill represented the House of Assembly seat of Cheltenham as a member of ...

and future federal minister

Penny Wong Penelope Ying-Yen Wong (born 5 November 1968) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate in the Albanese Government since 2022. A member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

; he and Weatherill were best man at each other's weddings.

Trade union career

In 1992, Butler joined the

Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union United Voice was a large Australian trade union, with over 130,000 members. United Voice members worked in a wide range of occupations including hospitality, childcare, teachers' aides, aged care, property services (cleaning, security, maintenan ...

(LHMU) as a legal officer through his connections with Conlon. He made appearances before industrial tribunals, "pushing for cleaners and hospital workers to get better pay". In 1996 he was elected state secretary of the LHMU, winning by a single vote. Butler developed a close working relationship with his NSW counterpart

. He would later be Albanese's campaign manager in the October 2013 election for the Federal ALP Leadership. He was also noted for his constructive relationship with the

Labor Right The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...

faction in South Australia, particularly then-secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, Don Farrell.

Political career

Butler joined the ALP at a young age and became a delegate to state conference in South Australia in 1993. At the age of 23, he was a candidate for ALP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

in the seat of Ross Smith prior to the

1993 South Australian state election State elections were held in South Australia on 11 December 1993. All 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Premier of South Australia Lynn Arnold was defeated by th ...

. He subsequently was preselected for the seat of

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

prior to the 1997 state election, but resigned to become state secretary of the LHMU. Butler served as state president of the

Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) The Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch), commonly known as South Australian Labor, is the South Australian Branch of the Australian Labor Party, originally formed in 1891 as the United Labor Party of South Australia. It is one of two ...

from 1997 to 1998, the youngest president in the party's history. He was elected as a delegate to national conference in 1998 and elected to the national executive in 2000, representing the Left faction.

Government (2007–2013)

Butler was elected as the Labor member for the electoral division of

at the

. In a 2009 First Rudd Ministry reshuffle, Butler was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Health. On 14 September 2010, he was sworn in as Minister for Mental Health and Ageing in the Second Gillard Ministry. On 12 September 2011 he was given the additional responsibility of Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Mental Health Reform. On 14 December 2011, Butler's ministry was renamed Mental Health and Aged Care, and he became a member of Cabinet.

Opposition (2013–2022)

2014-09-21 Mark Butler Peoples Climate March Melbourne 600 0445

After the 2013 election,

named Butler as the Shadow Minister for the Environment. On 17 June 2015, Butler was elected National President of the Australian Labor Party and was succeeded by

Wayne Swan Wayne Maxwell Swan (born 30 June 1954), often colloquially referred to as Swanny, is an Australian politician who is National President of the Labor Party. He was previously the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Deputy Leader of the Labor ...

on 18 June 2018, becoming senior vice-president to Swan. In a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on 28 January 2021, Butler was moved from shadow Climate Change spokesperson to shadow spokesperson for Health.

Government (2022–present)

At the 21 May 2022 election, Butler was elected for Labor in the expanded seat of Hindmarsh which included most of the area of the former seat of

, which had been abolished as part of the 2018 boundary redistribution. In the incoming Albanese ministry Butler was appointed as Minister for Health and Aged Care.

Personal life

Butler has two children from a previous marriage and one from his second marriage. In 2021, he married former SBS, BBC World News and ABC journalist Daniela Ritorto. Butler supports the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

. Butler is a pescetarian."Fake Turnbull steals the show, but the real Malcolm’s not laughing"
theage.com.au. Retrieved 15 July 2022.

References

External links

Official website
Retrieved 25 February 2019.
Parliamentary Profile: Australian Parliament websiteParliamentary Profile: Labor websiteSummary of parliamentary voting for Mark Butler MP on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butler, Mark 1970 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Port Adelaide Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Hindmarsh Politicians from Adelaide Australian people of English descent Government ministers of Australia Members of the Cabinet of Australia Labor Left politicians 21st-century Australian politicians Albanese Government