Bill Shorten

William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician and former trade unionist serving as the current Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022.

Shorten was born on 12 May 1967 at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, the son of Ann Rosemary (née McGrath) and William Robert Shorten.

He has a twin brother, Robert.

They began attending Kostka Hall, the college's junior campus, in 1977.

Shorten was chosen for the state debating team in 1984, his final year at the school.

He excelled at fencing and was the state under-15 champion in the sabre division.

In 1985, Shorten began studying at Monash University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1992.

He was active in student politics, both in the university's ALP Club and in Young Labor.

Shorten briefly worked in a butcher's shop during his first years at university, and was also a member of the Australian Army Reserve from 1985 to 1986, holding the rank of private.

He helped establish Network, a Labor Right-aligned faction of Young Labor; in 1986 it "took control of Young Labor from the Left for the first time".

Shorten's parents divorced in 1988 and his father remarried a few years later.

He volunteered in Senator Gareth Evans' office, and then after the 1988 Victorian state election was employed as a youth affairs adviser to Neil Pope, a Victorian government minister.

He took a gap year in 1990, travelling overseas for the first time and backpacking through Central Europe.

He was subsequently involved in Network's abortive attempt to take over the state branch of the Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association.

After graduating, Shorten worked for twenty months as a lawyer for Maurice Blackburn Cashman.

He worked in politics and in law before becoming an organiser with the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) in 1994.

In 1994, he began his union career as a trainee organiser under the ACTU's Organising Works program at the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), before being elected Victorian state secretary in 1998.

His time as secretary was marked by a reform of the union's structures.

He was elected state secretary of the Victorian Branch of the AWU in 1998 before becoming AWU national secretary in 2001.

He subsequently became estranged from his father, who died in 2000.

Shorten grew up in Melbourne's south-east, living in Hughesdale.

He attended St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Malvern East.

He and his brother were offered scholarships to De La Salle College, but their mother instead chose to send them to Xavier College, Kew.

In this role, Shorten played a prominent role as a negotiator following the Beaconsfield Mine collapse in 2006, which first brought him to national prominence.

A member of parliament (MP) for the division of Maribyrnong since 2007, Shorten also held several ministerial portfolios in the Gillard and Rudd governments from 2010 to 2013.

Born in Melbourne, Shorten studied law at Monash University.

Shorten was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2007 federal election, winning the seat of Maribyrnong, before being immediately appointed a Parliamentary Secretary.

Following the 2010 election, he was promoted to the cabinet, serving first as Assistant Treasurer, then as Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation and Minister for Workplace Relations in Julia Gillard's government.

Previously, Shorten was leader of the opposition and leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2013 to 2019.

After Kevin Rudd replaced Gillard as prime minister in June 2013, Shorten was briefly Minister for Education until the Labor Party's defeat at the 2013 election.

After Rudd retired from politics, Shorten won a leadership election in October 2013 against Anthony Albanese, and became leader of the Labor Party.

He led Labor to a narrow loss at the 2016 election and then led Labor to an unexpected defeat at the 2019 election, after which he announced his resignation as leader, with Albanese being elected unopposed to replace him.

Following Labor's victory at the 2022 election, Shorten was appointed as the Minister for Government Services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Shorten is a senior figure within the Labor Right.

According to a statement given during the 2017–18 dual citizenship scandal, Shorten held British citizenship by descent until 2006, when he renounced it in order to run for parliament.

Shorten's mother was a university academic and lawyer who completed a doctorate at Monash University and ended her career there as a senior lecturer in education.

She completed a law degree later in life and practised as a barrister for six years.

She was originally from Ballarat, descended from "a long line of Irish Australians" who arrived during the Victorian gold rush.

Shorten's father was a marine engineer born in Tyneside, England.

After settling in Australia he worked as a manager at the Duke and Orr Dry Docks on Melbourne's Yarra River, where he was frequently in contact with union leaders.