Brendan O'Connor (politician)

Brendan Patrick O'Connor (born 2 March 1962) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2001. He held ministerial office in the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard from 2007 to 2013, including as a member of cabinet from 2012. He has been a member of the shadow cabinet since the ALP's defeat at the 2013 federal election.

The Honourable Brendan O'Connor MP
Minister for Employment
In office 1 July 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Bill Shorten
Succeeded by	Eric Abetz
Minister for Skills and Training
In office 1 July 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Craig Emerson
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Minister for Home Affairs
In office 4 February 2013 – 27 June 2013
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Chris Bowen
Succeeded by	Tony Burke
Minister for Small Business
In office 5 March 2012 – 4 February 2013
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Mark Arbib
Succeeded by	Chris Bowen
Minister for Housing
In office 5 March 2012 – 27 June 2013
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Robert McClelland
Succeeded by	Julie Collins
Minister for Human Services
In office 14 December 2011 – 5 March 2012
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Tanya Plibersek
Succeeded by	Kim Carr
Minister for Home Affairs
In office 9 June 2009 – 14 December 2011
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Bob Debus
Succeeded by	Jason Clare
Minister for Employment Participation
In office 3 December 2007 – 9 June 2009
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Sharman Stone
Succeeded by	Mark Arbib
Member of the Australian Parliament for Gorton
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 October 2004
Preceded by	Constituency established
Member of the Australian Parliament for Burke
In office 10 November 2001 – 9 October 2004
Preceded by	Neil O'Keefe
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Brendan Patrick O'Connor 2 March 1962 London, England, United Kingdom
Political party	Labor
Spouse(s)	Jodi Dack (d. 2018)
Children	1 daughter
Alma mater	Monash University Harvard University
Website	https://brendanoconnor.com.au

Early life

O'Connor was born in London, England, United Kingdom, to Irish parents and held Irish citizenship until 1995, when he became an Australian citizen. He was educated in Ireland and Australia, taking degrees in Arts and Law at Monash University. In 1995, he participated in the Harvard Trade Union Program at Harvard Law School, Harvard University. He is the brother of Michael O'Connor, National Secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

He firstly began his union career as an organiser with the now defunct Municipal Employees Union of Victoria; and was then appointed as Assistant National Secretary with the Australian Services Union before entering politics.

Early political involvement

O'Connor is a member of the National Left faction of the Australian Labor Party and is a member of the Socialist Left faction of the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party. At the time of his endorsement for Burke in 2001 he was aligned with the 'Independent Left', a breakaway group from the Socialist Left. This group included Julia Gillard. O'Connor has been a close ally of Julia Gillard since they were both involved in student politics during the 1980s along with Michael O'Connor. In 2015 the Independent Left rejoined the Socialist Left.

Parliament

First terms (2001–2007)

At the 2001 election, O'Connor was elected as the Member for Burke, When the division was abolished by the 2003 redistribution, O'Connor successfully contested the new electoral division of Gorton at the 2004 election.

He does not live in his electorate but in neighbouring Calwell.[1]

In December 2005, he was elected to the position of Chair of the Federal Labor Industrial Relations Taskforce in a caucus ballot. The Taskforce investigated the adverse effects of the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation, a controversial package of industrial relations changes.

Shortly after the election of Kevin Rudd to the office of federal Labor leader and Leader of the Opposition on 4 December 2006, O'Connor was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations.

Government (2007–2013)

O'Connor as Home Affairs Minister in 2011.

Following the Labor victory at the 2007 federal election, Prime Minister Rudd announced that O'Connor would serve as the Minister for Employment Participation from 29 November 2007.[2] As Minister he reformed the Job Network, replacing it with Job Services Australia.[3] This streamlined seven separate employment services programs into a 'one-stop-shop' to provide job seekers with a more personalised service.

On 6 June 2009, O'Connor was announced as the Minister for Home Affairs in the First Rudd Ministry, replacing Bob Debus who retired at the 2010 election.[4] Following Labor's narrow victory, Prime Minister Julia Gillard allocated increased responsibilities to O'Connor. He became Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Justice and Minister for Privacy and Freedom of Information. In this portfolio, O'Connor enacted several key policy reforms including: new and tougher laws to protect children from being procured and groomed online,[5] achieving consensus for an R18+ video game classification after 10 years of debate at Standing Committee of Attorney-General;[6] and introducing significant reforms of the anti-dumping regime in 20 years.[7]

In December 2011, O'Connor became the Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting for School Education.[8]

On 5 March 2012, O'Connor was sworn in as Minister for Small Business, Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness. He was also promoted to Cabinet for the first time,[9] becoming the first small business minister in Cabinet for more than a decade.[10] In this role O'Connor introduced the first Australian Small Business Commissioner, on 2 January 2013.[11] On 30 August 2012, O'Connor and the Council of Australian Governments released the Housing Supply and Affordability Reform report, proposing reforms to increase housing affordability in Australia.

On 4 February 2013, O'Connor was sworn in as Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.[12] Following the June 2013 Labor leadership spill, O'Connor was appointed Minister for Employment and Minister for Skills and Training in the Second Rudd Ministry.[13]

Opposition (2013–present)

After the ALP's defeat at the 2013 federal election, O'Connor was included in Bill Shorten's shadow cabinet. He was retained in shadow cabinet when Anthony Albanese succeeded Shorten as opposition leader after the 2019 election. O'Connor has held the portfolios of employment and workplace relations (2013–2019), special minister of state (2016), employment and industry (2019–2021), science (2019–2021), and small and family business (2019–2021).[14] He succeeded Richard Marles as shadow minister for defence following a reshuffle in January 2021.[15]

Personal life

O'Connor was married to Jodi Dack until her death from breast cancer in August 2018; she had first been diagnosed in 2012. The couple had one daughter together.[16]

See also

• First Rudd Ministry
• First Gillard Ministry
• Second Gillard Ministry

References

1. "How local is local? The 12 MPs who don't live in the seats they're trying to win". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
2. "Rudd drops six: report". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 November 2007. Retrieved 29 November 2007.
3. "$4 billion new employment services: Job Services Australia". Media Release. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
4. "Kevin Rudd announces reshuffle". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
5. "Online sex offenders face more jail time". The Sydney Morning Herald. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
6. "After years of debate, R18+ games are getting closer". News.com.au. 22 July 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
7. "ALP boosts anti-dumping laws". The Australian. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
8. "Gillard announces cabinet reshuffle". ABC News. Australia. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
9. "Small business gets boost to cabinet". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
10. "We put Small Business Minister Brendan O'Connor under the start-up spotlight". StartupSmart. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
11. "First National Small Business Commissioner begins". Media Release. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
12. Ireland, Judith (4 February 2013). "Dad duties done, ministers take the oath". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
13. "Second Rudd Ministry" (PDF). Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Commonwealth of Australia. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
14. "Hon Brendan O'Connor MP". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
15. Snape, Jack (28 January 2021). "Labor set for climate change shift as architect of emissions target Mark Butler is moved on". ABC News. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
16. "Labor MP Brendan O'Connor's wife Jodi Dack dies after cancer battle". The Australian. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2020.

External links

• Brendan O'Connor's personal website.
• Parliament House webpage.