Glenn Sterle

Senator
Glenn Sterle
Senator for Western Australia
Assumed office
1 July 2005
Personal details
Born (1960-01-03) 3 January 1960
Melbourne, Victoria
Nationality Australian
Political party Australian Labor Party
Occupation Union organiser

Glenn Sterle (born 3 January 1960) is an Australian politician.[1] A former trade union organiser, he has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate since 2005, representing the state of Western Australia.[2]

Career

Trucking business

Sterle was born in Melbourne, but was raised in the Perth suburb of Langford.[2] He attended Thornlie Senior High School, but dropped out at the age of 17 to work as a furniture removalist.[3] Three years later, he founded his own business operating road trains throughout northern Western Australia and the Northern Territory. He spent fourteen years working as an owner-operator before giving up his business to take on a position as an organiser with the Transport Workers Union in 1991.[3]

Trade union

Aside from working as an organiser, Sterle served on his local branch committee, and was ultimately elected to the union's federal council in 1998, remaining in all three positions until his election to the Senate in 2004. His time with the union included a brief stint as acting state secretary in 1998 and an integral role in a major airline strike in the state in 2000. It was also during this period that Sterle received the Centenary Medal, in 2003, for services to training in the transport industry.[4]

Party-political

Sterle's involvement with the union prompted him to join the Australian Labor Party in 1991, and in 1999, he was elected as a delegate to the party's state conference. He served as the ALP's transport policy convener in 2000, and was a delegate to the party's national conference in 2002 and 2004.[5] He subsequently decided to make a bid to enter parliament, and in the lead-up to the 2004 federal election, challenged the preselection of veteran senator and former cabinet minister Peter Cook. Cook was determined to remain in parliament,[6] but withdrew from the ballot of their shared Centre Faction when it became clear that Sterle had achieved enough support to win.[7] As a result, Sterle gained the second position on the party's Senate ticket and was easily elected.[8]

Senate

Sterle's term began on 1 July 2005. He has served on a variety of Senate and joint-house committees, notably Rural and Regional Affairs, and Transport: Legislation and References. He served as a temporary Chair of Committees from 12 November 2013 to 9 May 2016.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "The 42nd Parliament Senators and Members, by Date of Birth". 17 September 2009. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Glenn Sterle, Senator for Western Australia First Speech". 16 August 2005. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Glenn Sterle - Senator for Western Australia". Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  4. ↑ "IR Choiced for the Future" (PDF). 26 October 2007. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  5. ↑ Kevin Andrews. "2004 Who's Who Guide to the ALP Conference" (PDF). Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  6. ↑ "WA Senator dropped by Labor faction". 14 November 2004. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  7. ↑ Antony Green (24 September 2004). "2004 Federal Election Senate Western Australia". Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  8. ↑ "Greens win fourth Senate seat". ABC News Online. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  9. ↑ Senator Glenn Sterle (official website) at Parliament of Australia


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