Timothy Ayres (born 18 December 1973) is an Australian politician and trade unionist who was elected as a Senator 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 ...

at the 2019 federal election. 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 ...

and was previously a trade union official with the

Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), or more fully the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, is an Australian trade union. The AMWU represents a broad range of workers in the manufacturing se ...

(AMWU).

Early life

Ayres was raised on a farm near

Lismore, New South Wales Lismore is a city in northeastern New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore local government area; it is also a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State. It is situated on a low flood pl ...

. He completed his schooling at Glen Innes High School, before going on to study industrial relations at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

Career

Ayres worked as a union organiser in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

until 2000, when he moved to Sydney. He was elected state secretary of the

(AMWU) in 2010. In July 2017, Ayres won

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 ...

for the ALP Senate ticket in New South Wales, replacing retiring senator Doug Cameron. He defeated former federal MP

Chris Haviland Christopher Douglas Haviland (born 27 February 1952) is an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he has worked as a public servant with the Commonwealth Department of Health, a teacher, a maths tutor and an umpire for Sydney Grade Cricket. He ...

by a substantial margin in a ballot of

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 ...

factional delegates. According to ''

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 ...

'', the vote was "highly controversial and acrimonious", and was boycotted by two major left-wing unions, the

Maritime Union of Australia The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) was a union which covered waterside workers, seafarers, port workers, professional divers, and office workers associated with Australian ports. The MUA was formed in 1993 with merger of the Seamen's Unio ...

and the

CFMEU The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU, though most commonly still referred to as CFMEU) is Australia's main trade union in construction, forestry, maritime, mining, energy, textile, clothing and footwear producti ...

. Ayres was elected to the Senate at the 2019 federal election, running in second place on the ALP ticket in New South Wales. He made his first speech to parliament on 30 July 2019, in which he offered that "a cruel pea-heart beats inside the chest of this mean-spirited government".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayres, Tim Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Left politicians Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales 1973 births Living people Australian trade unionists University of Sydney alumni