Joel Fitzgibbon
The Honourable Joel Fitzgibbon MP |
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File:JoelFitz.JPG | |
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | |
In office 2 July 2013 – 18 September 2013 |
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Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | Joe Ludwig |
Succeeded by | Barnaby Joyce |
Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives | |
In office 27 September 2010 – 14 May 2013 |
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Prime Minister | Julia Gillard |
Preceded by | Roger Price |
Succeeded by | Chris Hayes |
Minister for Defence | |
In office 3 December 2007 – 4 June 2009 |
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Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
Preceded by | Brendan Nelson |
Succeeded by | John Faulkner |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Hunter |
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Assumed office 2 March 1996 |
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Preceded by | Eric Fitzgibbon |
Personal details | |
Born | Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon 16 January 1962 Bellingen, New South Wales, Australia |
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | Australian Labor Party |
Website | JoelFitzgibbon.com |
Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon (born 16 January 1962) is an Australian politician and Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Hunter in New South Wales. From December 2007 to June 2009 he was the Minister for Defence in the First Rudd Ministry. He resigned from cabinet in June 2009, following a series of controversies.[1] In July 2013, following Kevin Rudd's election as Labor Leader, he was appointed the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the Second Rudd Ministry.
Contents
Background
Joel Fitzgibbon was born in Bellingen, New South Wales, and is the son of Eric Fitzgibbon who was MP for Hunter 1984–96. Before entering politics Fitzgibbon was an automotive electrician, electorate officer, part-time technical education lecturer and small business operator. He was a member of the Cessnock City Council in the period 1987–95.
Political career
Joel's father, Eric Fitzgibbon, retired before the 1996 election, and Joel won Labor preselection for the seat. Hunter is one of Labor's few country strongholds; it has been in Labor hands without interruption since 1910. While Joel Fitzgibbon suffered a seven-point swing in 1996, he has been re-elected with little trouble since then, with the exception of the 2013 election, where his margin was significantly reduced. He was elected to the opposition shadow ministry in October 1998 and was appointed Shadow Minister for Mining, Energy and Forestry in 2003–05. In June 2005 he was appointed shadow assistant treasurer and shadow minister for revenue and for small business and competition. In early December 2006, when Kevin Rudd became leader of the opposition, Fitzgibbon was appointed shadow minister for defence. He was subsequently appointed minister for defence when Labor won office at the 2007 federal election.[2]
Minister for Defence
In 2008 Fitzgibbon expressed dissatisfaction with an unclassified briefing he received on an assessment of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). He subsequently ordered and received a classified report that addressed his concerns, and then expressed confidence in the JSF project.[3] In the same interview, he denied any personal involvement in the Australian Federal Police (AFP) raid on the home of Canberra Times' journalist Philip Dorling, although he did not guarantee that his department had not contacted the AFP.[3] Dorling was accused of receiving confidential cabinet documents intended for Fitzgibbon.[4]
On 22 October 2008 Fitzgibbon instructed the Department of Defence to cease debt recovery procedures against SAS soldiers who had been accidentally overpaid. A subsequent audit by KPMG discovered that the soldiers' pay continued to be docked after the ministerial instruction.[5]
Controversy
On 26 March 2009, Fairfax Media reported that officers in the Department of Defence had conducted a covert and unauthorised investigation into Fitzgibbon's friendship with a Chinese-Australian businesswoman in the belief that it constituted a security risk. This was alleged to have included officers from the Defence Signals Directorate accessing the computer network in Fitzgibbon's office to obtain the woman's bank details.[6][7] The Department launched an urgent inquiry into the reports. Nick Warner, the Department's Secretary, stated that he had not seen any information to confirm the claims and that there were no circumstances in which secret investigations into Ministers could be authorised.[8] Fitzgibbon was reported to be "furious" about the investigation, and has suggested that it may have been conducted by officials opposed to his reforms to the Australian Defence Organisation.[7][9]
Fitzgibbon resigned as Minister for Defence on 4 June 2009 after admitting that meetings held between his brother Mark Fitzgibbon, the head of the health fund NIB, and Defence officials concerning business opportunities had breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct.[10]
In 2013, Fitzgibbon reflected on his term as Defence Minister and said that the defence chiefs had an obsession for the JSF, and refused to consider other alternatives.[11]
43rd Parliament
Following his re-election in the 2010 Federal election, Fitzgibbon was elected by the Labor caucus as chief government whip.[12]
Following the June 2013 Labor leadership spill, Fitzgibbon was appointed as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the Second Rudd ministry.[citation needed]
2015 abolition of Hunter
In 2015 the Australian Electoral Commission announced plans to abolish the federation seat of Hunter which Fitzgibbon represents. Electors in the north of Hunter will join New England. The roughly 40 percent remainder will become part of Paterson. As Hunter is a federation seat, first contested at the inaugural 1901 federal election, the name of Hunter is required to be retained. The commission proposes renaming Charlton to Hunter, and in honour of deceased Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, renaming Throsby to Whitlam. Due to changing populations, overall New South Wales loses a seat while Western Australia gets an extra seat.[13]
See also
References
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- ↑ Australian Electoral Commission to abolish Federal NSW seat of Hunter: ABC 16 October 2015
External links
- joelfitzgibbon
.com – official website - Search or browse Hansard for Joel Fitzgibbon at OpenAustralia.org
Parliament of Australia | ||
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Preceded by | Member for Hunter 1996–present |
Incumbent |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | Minister for Defence 2007–2009 |
Succeeded by John Faulkner |
Preceded by | Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry 2013 |
Succeeded by Barnaby Joyce as Minister for Agriculture |
- Use dmy dates from December 2014
- Use Australian English from July 2013
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with unsourced statements from January 2015
- 1962 births
- Living people
- Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Hunter
- Members of the Australian House of Representatives
- Members of the Cabinet of Australia
- Rudd Government
- Defence ministers of Australia