John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who 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

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from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating,

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''). Th ...

and Gillard Governments. After his election to the Senate in 1989, Prime Minister

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 ...

appointed Faulkner as Minister for Veterans' Affairs and

Minister for Defence Science and Personnel In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Defence Personnel is a position which is currently held by Matt Keogh, after the Albanese ministry was sworn in on 1 June 2022, following the 2022 Australian federal election. The ministerial p ...

in 1993. In 1994, Faulkner was moved to the position of Minister for the Environment, which he held until Labor's defeat in 1996. He later served as the Leader of the Labor Party in the Senate from 1996 to 2005, and returned to Cabinet upon Labor's election in 2007, after

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 ...

made him

Vice-President of the Executive Council The Vice-President of the Executive Council is the minister in the Government of Australia who acts as the presiding officer of meetings of the Federal Executive Council when the Governor-General is absent. The Vice-President of the Executiv ...

and

Special Minister of State The Special Minister of State (SMOS) in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by Don Farrell since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. The minister is responsible for various parliamentary, electo ...

. He later served as

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 ...

from 2009 to 2010, when he retired from frontline politics. He became the

Father of the Australian Senate This article lists the longest-serving members of the Parliament of Australia. Longest total service This section lists members of parliament who have served for a cumulative total of at least 30 years. All these periods of service were spent i ...

in 2014, and retired from Parliament altogether a year later by way of resignation, and is considered by some as an elder statesman. Faulkner has since been a member of the board of the Global Panel Foundation – Australasia – an NGO that works global in crisis areas.

Background and early career

Faulkner was born in

Leeton, New South Wales Leeton is a town located in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne. It is the administrative centre of the Lee ...

on 12 April 1954, attended Pennant Hills High School, and was educated at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of S ...

, Sydney, where he graduated in Arts and Education (BA, DipEd). Before entering politics he worked as a Special Education teacher in government schools from 1977 to 1979. In 1980 he was employed as a Research officer to the New South Wales Minister for Sport and Recreation, Ken Booth. Gaining prominence within the ALP, he was made Assistant General Secretary of the NSW party in 1980, serving for nine years and became a member of the ALP National Executive in 1989.

Political career

A leading member of the Socialist Left faction of the ALP, Faulkner was appointed to the Senate in 1989 to succeed the former left-wing minister

Arthur Gietzelt Arthur Thomas Gietzelt, AO (28 December 1920 – 5 January 2014) was an Australian politician and minister. Arthur Gietzelt was born in San FranciscoKeating Labor government, Faulkner was Minister for Veterans' Affairs and

1993–94, and Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories, with a seat in the Cabinet, 1994–96. After the defeat of the Keating government in 1996, Faulkner became Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, and was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry 1996–2004. He was at various times Shadow Minister for Social Security, Public Administration and Home Affairs. He was a key Labor strategist in the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

and 2004 federal elections, and was a particularly close advisor to

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 ...

during the 2004 election. In the wake of Labor's defeat in that election, he resigned his positions. Faulkner became the first Labor Senate leader who did not become Government Senate leader since

Don Willesee Donald Robert Willesee (14 April 19169 September 2003) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1950 to 1975. He held ministerial office in the Whitlam ...

. In October 2006 John Faulkner was elected as the National President of the Australian Labor Party until February 2008 and chaired the Labor's National Conference in 2007. Faulkner CDF 21-11-09

In the First Rudd Ministry, Faulkner served as the

and Cabinet Secretary. In his role he introduced new rules for ministerial conduct and fundraising aimed at reducing the influence of lobbyists on government decisions. He also introduced new guidelines reducing the overt political control of government funded advertising. On 9 June 2009, Faulkner was sworn in the Minister for Defence, replacing

Joel Fitzgibbon Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon (born 16 January 1962) is a retired Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives from 1996 to 2022, representing the New South Wales seat of Hunt ...

, who had stepped down on 4 June. He retained this portfolio in the First Gillard government until the 2010 federal election following an earlier announcement that he would step down as Defence Minister and return to the backbench. In 2014 Faulkner began a process of reforms that sought to stamp out perceived corruption and factional infighting within the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party. Faulkner proposed to include rankandfile members in decisions such as the selection of candidates for Senate and Legislative Council vacancies and party tickets, and a vote in the direct election of the New South Wales parliamentary leaders. However, Faulkner's reform proposals were mostly rejected at NSW Labor's 2014 conference. The direct election of party leader gained support with effect from after the 2015 election.

Resignation

Faulkner announced on 30 April 2014 that he would not seek re-election and would be retiring at the end of his term on 30 June 2017. On 11 December 2014, however, he announced that he would be resigning from the Senate in late January or early February 2015, creating a casual vacancy. Faulkner resigned on 6 February 2015.@AuSenate
"Senator John Faulkner has resigned his place in the Senate after more than 25 years as a Senator for NSW", 4:57pm - 6 Feb 2015.

Post-politics life

Faulkner has since been a member of the board of the Global Panel Foundation – Australasia – an NGO that works global in crisis areas.

Personal life

Faulkner was formerly married to fellow Labor politician

Sandra Nori Sandra Christine Nori (born 16 June 1953 in Newcastle, New South Wales) is a former Australian politician and presently a company director and Member of Macquarie University Council. Nori was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assemb ...

and they have two children.

Major published works

* * *

References

External links

John Faulkner – Senator for New South Wales
– ALP profile
Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator John Faulkner on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
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