Bob McMullan

Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance

After starting his political career as Secretary of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party in 1975, Bob McMullan has become one of Australia's pre-eminent Labor politicians.

In 1981, he was elected National Secretary and moved to Canberra, where he directed the ALP's three successful election campaigns in the 1980s. After being appointed Senator for the Australian Capital Territory in 1990, Mr McMullan was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer in 1990 and in 1991 became Manager of Government Business in the Senate. As Senator for the ACT, held the positions of Minister for the Arts and Administrative Services (1993) and Minister for Trade (1994), before being elected to the seat of Canberra in 1996 and, after a redistribution, as Member for Fraser in 1998.

Most recently, between 1996 and 2007 Mr McMullen held a number of Shadow Ministerial positions including Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Finance and Small Business and Shadow Minister for Federal/State Relations, and after the election of the Rudd Government in November 2007, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance.

Mr McMullan is also patron of several sports and arts organisations in the ACT, and is an avid follower of most sports and with particular interest in Australian art and heritage, the environment, reading and golf.