Michael Sukkar

Michael Sven Sukkar (born 11 September 1981) is an Australian politician serving as the Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness, Social and Community Housing. He has been a member of the House of Representatives since September 2013, representing the Division of Deakin in Victoria for the Liberal Party.[1]

The Honourable

Michael Sukkar

MP
Assistant Treasurer
Assumed office
29 May 2019
Prime MinisterScott Morrison
MinisterJosh Frydenberg
Preceded byStuart Robert
Minister for Housing
Assumed office
29 May 2019
Prime MinisterScott Morrison
MinisterAnne Ruston
Preceded bySarah Henderson
Minister for Homelessness, Social and Community Housing
Assumed office
22 December 2020
Prime MinisterScott Morrison
MinisterAnne Ruston
Preceded byLuke Howarth
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Deakin
Assumed office
7 September 2013
Preceded byMike Symon
Personal details
Born (1981-09-11) 11 September 1981
Melbourne, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)Anna Sukkar
Alma materDeakin University
University of Melbourne
ProfessionPolitician
lawyer
Websitemichaelsukkar.com.au

Early life and background

Sukkar was born in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Ringwood, to a father who was born in Lebanon. Sukkar attended primary school at Sacred Heart in Croydon and then secondary school at Aquinas College in Ringwood.[2] He completed a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce at Deakin University in 2004 and Master of Laws at the University of Melbourne in 2010.[3][4]

In 2005 Sukkar worked as a taxation consultant at accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.[2] From 2006 he spent seven years working as a tax lawyer with the firm Blake Dawson Waldron (now known as Ashurst Australia) where he was a senior associate.[2]

In 2008 Sukkar suffered a cardiac arrest while playing basketball, and was treated by a nurse and anaesthetist who were at the game and an off-duty paramedic who was nearby.[5] Once he joined Parliament, Sukkar became an advocate for defibrillators in the community. [6]

Entering Parliament (2013-2016)

In 2012, Sukkar was endorsed as the Liberal Party candidate for the marginal seat of Deakin. He won the seat at the 2013 election with a swing to the Liberal Party of 3.8 points, succeeding Labor MP Mike Symon[7] he joined the government benches of the Abbott Government. Sukkar served on a number of parliamentary committees in this Parliament, such as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.[2] In 2014 Sukkar launched the Deakin 200 Club with other conservative Liberal MPs to fundraise for marginal seats held by conservatives within the party.[8]

First ministry (2016-2019)

At the 2016 federal election, Sukkar increased his margin by 2.5 points, the Liberal Party's largest swing in Victoria.[9] On 24 January 2017, the new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, appointed Sukkar to the ministry as Assistant Minister to the Treasurer.[10] Turnbull gave Sukkar responsibility for addressing housing affordability.[11] When asked about housing affordability on 20 February 2017, Sukkar told Sky News that "we're also enabling young people to get highly paid jobs which is the first step to buying a house".[12] Labor MP Tim Watts said in response that the remarks showed the Coalition was "back to where Joe Hockey started on housing affordability".[13]

In June 2017 Sukkar, Greg Hunt, and Alan Tudge faced the possibility of being prosecuted for contempt of court after they made public statements criticising the sentencing decisions of two senior judges while the government was awaiting their ruling on a related appeal.[14][15] They avoided prosecution by, eventually, making an unconditional apology to the Victorian Court of Appeal.[16][17][18] Conviction could have resulted in their expulsion from parliament under Constitution s 44(ii) and as a result, the government losing its majority in the House of Representatives.

Sukkar supported Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton during the Liberal leadership spill in August 2018, and had a pivotal role in removing then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. At the May 2019 federal election Sukkar was re-elected for a third term, although with a reduced margin of 4.8% (a swing of 1.7%),[19] despite support in his electorate falling to 47% of the two-party-preferred vote in an opinion poll released shortly after the leadership spill.[20] Sukkar was not returned to the ministry after Scott Morrison succeeded Malcolm Turnbull, but returned as Assistant Treasurer.

Second ministry (2019-present)
Sukkar here with his son Leo at the 2020 Anzac Day Dawn Service

Following the surprise victory of Scott Morrison, Sukkar was invited to take the portfolio of Assistant Treasurer and to take the portfolio of Housing[21] which is responsible for the National Finance and Investment Corporation. By the end of 2020, the government had funded $6 billion for rent assistance and the corporation had issued $1.5 billion in bonds. Treasury estimates this will support homeowners in the building of 2,000 new homes and the purchase of 6300 existing homes. During this Parliament, Sukkar was accused branch stacking, of which he was cleared when it moved to formal investigation.[22][23] In January 2021, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) was investigating a donor with ties to Sukkar over foreign interference risks.[24]

In December 2020, Sukkar was given further responsibilities. He was sworn in to the roles of Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness, Social and Community Housing.[25]

Political views

In his maiden speech, Sukkar categorised himself as an "economic liberal" and with "strong conservative foundations". He credited his Catholic religion as being one of the two most significant influences in his life, in addition to his family.[4] Over time, his views can be seen to cluster around five topics. In 2013 he expressed support for the school chaplaincy program at an Australian Christian Lobby forum.[26]

Sukkar opposed same-sex marriage during the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.[27] Although initially stating he would follow the outcome of the survey,[28][29] Sukkar abstained from the vote despite his electorate voting 66% in favour, saying that he could not support the bill.[30]

Personal life

Sukkar married Anna Duthie in 2010.[31] They have two sons, Leo and Nathan.[2]

Parliamentary Roles
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Mike Symon		 Member for Deakin
2013–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Stuart Robert		 Assistant Treasurer
2019–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Sarah Henderson		 Minister for Housing
2019-present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Luke Howarth		 Minister for Homelessness, Social and Community Housing
2020-present		 Incumbent

References
  1. "Michael Sukkar Candidate for Deakin". Liberal Party of Australia. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  2. "Michael Sukkar". Q+A. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. "Electorate: Deakin". Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  4. "First Speech". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  5. "Near-death experience brings tax lawyer to politics". 10 March 2014.
  6. "Campaigners call for defibrillators at sporting clubs in bid to save lives". www.abc.net.au. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  7. "Deakin Results". Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  8. McColl, Gina (5 March 2017). "The right-wing Liberal club hiding donors and building conservative clout". The Age. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  9. "Victorian Liberals should be proud of their results". Herald Sun. 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  10. "New federal ministers officially sworn in". Australia: Sky News. AAP. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  11. "Sukkar to tackle housing affordability". 21 February 2017.
  12. Bourke, Latika (21 February 2017). "Coalition MP tasked with housing affordability says 'highly paid job' is 'first step' to home ownership". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  13. "Michael Sukkar: get a highly paid job to buy a house". The Australian. 21 February 2017.
  14. "Greg Hunt, Alan Tudge, Michael Sukkar face contempt charge". Financial Review. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  15. Hutchens, Gareth (14 June 2017). "Greg Hunt declines to say if he'll be in court for hearing over potential contempt charges". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  16. Wahlquist, Calla (23 June 2017). "Coalition ministers will not face contempt charges after court accepts apology". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  17. Bucci, Nino; Massola, James (23 June 2017). "Ministers escape contempt charges after 'unconditional apology' to Supreme Court". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  18. "An Executive and Judicial tussle: Is this healthy for our democracy?". Constitution Education Fund Australia. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  19. "Deakin (Key Seat) - Federal Election 2019 Electorate, Candidates, Results | Australia Votes - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  20. Latika Bourke & David Crowe (28 August 2018). "Michael Sukkar faces backlash over role in Liberal leadership crisis". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  21. Conifer, political reporters Dan; Belot, Henry (26 May 2019). "The new Morrison ministry — who is in and who has moved". ABC News. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  22. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/that-s-politics-inside-the-liberal-party-s-branch-stacking-machine-20200821-p55o1f.html
  23. "Federal Government MPs cleared of wrongdoing and misusing public funds". www.abc.net.au. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  24. Hui, Echo; Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Sean (3 January 2021). "ASIO red-flags Liberal Party donor Huifeng 'Haha' Liu over foreign interference risks". ABC News. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  25. Chambers, Geoff (19 December 2020). "Cabinet reshuffle". The Australian. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  26. "Michael Sukkar at Australian Christian Lobby". Australian Christian Lobby. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  27. "Conservatives target parental rights in same-sex marriage bill". Australian Financial Review. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  28. "Michael Sukkar: any hate speech is the fault of marriage equality advocates | OUTInPerth – Gay and Lesbian News and Culture". www.outinperth.com. 8 August 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  29. "Whitehorse MPs to respect public vote". Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  30. "Sukkar abstains from marriage vote". Herald Sun. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  31. "Michael Sukkar". IMDb. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
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