Bill Shorten

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Bill Shorten

William Richard Shorten (born 1967), Australian trade union official, is National Secretary and Victorian state secretary of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), one of Australia's oldest and largest unions. He is also Victorian State President of the Australian Labor Party. He is the endorsed Labor candidate for the Victorian seat of Maribyrnong at the next federal election.

1 Early career
2 Union official and leader
3 Australian Netball
4 Entering federal politics
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early career

Shorten was born in Melbourne, where his father was a waterside worker and union official. His mother was a lawyer and university academic. He was educated at Xavier College (a leading Catholic school) and Monash University, where he graduated in arts and law. He also holds an MBA from the Melbourne Business School; an unusual qualification for a trade union official.

Shorten began working in the labour movement while still a student, working part-time for Neil Pope, a minister in the Labor state government of John Cain. After graduating he worked for 18 months as a lawyer for the firm of Maurice Blackburn Cashman, a firm which does most of its business representing trade unions. He married Debbie Beale, daughter and granddaughter of Liberal Party politicians Julian Beale and former Australian Ambassador to the United States Sir Howard Beale.

[edit] Union official and leader

In 1994 Shorten began his career as an employee of the AWU, before being elected Victorian State Secretary in 1998. Before taking this post Shorten had decided to enter Victorian state politics, and was elected unopposed as the Labor candidate for the state seat of Melton for the 1999 state election, but gave this up to pursue his career with the union. Shorten was responsible for reforming of the union's structure and halting the long-term decline in its membership.

Shorten was elected as the AWU's National Secretary in 2001, and was re-elected in 2005. He continues to serve as Victorian State Secretary. As a trade union official with a tertiary education, he reflects the changing composition of the AWU's membership, and of the trade union movement.

Shorten is an active member of the Labor Party; he is a member of the party's National Executive and of the Administrative Committee of the Victorian Branch. He is a director of the Superannuation Trust of Australia, GetUp.org.au and the Victorian Funds Management Corporation. In December 2005 he was elected Victorian State President of the Labor Party. He is also a member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Executive.

[edit] Australian Netball

Shorten is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Netball Players Association ("ANPA").

Shorten established an alliance between the ANPA and the AWU to improve the incomes and health and safety conditions of netball players.

The alliance brought the top 120 players in Australia's eight national league netball teams - including the stars of the Australian Netball Team - into the AWU, which represents the players in partnership with the ANPA.

[edit] Entering federal politics

During 2005 there was increasing speculation that Shorten intended entering federal politics at the next election. In February 2006 he announced that he would seek endorsement for the safe Labor seat of Maribyrnong, where the sitting Labor member, Robert Sercombe, belonged to no faction. The AWU is a pillar of the right-wing Labor Unity faction of the party, which has a majority in the Victorian Branch of the party.

The political correspondent of The Age, Misha Schubert, wrote, "The ascendancy of the articulate, clever and impressively connected challenger, routinely touted as a future prime minister, seems all but assured." She pointed out that as well as his base in the right-wing unions, Shorten would be supported by some unions normally associated with the left, such as the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union.

Justifying his challenge to a sitting member and serving shadow minister, Shorten said: "We haven't won a federal election since 1993. When your footy team loses four consecutive grand finals, you renew the team." On 28 February Sercombe withdrew his candidacy, a few days before the local vote of ALP members in which Shorten was expected to poll very strongly. As a result Shorten was pre-selected unopposed, and where upon he pledged his full support to two-time election loser Kim Beazley as leader of the ALP.

During the Beaconsfield mine collapse, Shorten became a de facto lead spokesperson on developments in the immediate aftermath and the ensuing rescue operations. The mine rescue operations drew mass national media coverage, and some observers claimed that Shorten was not turning down any media engagements in an effort to raise his national profile ahead of entering professional politics.^[1] ^[2] Shorten denied that he had any motive other than relaying information on the safety of the two trapped miners (both AWU members).