Bob McMullan

The Honourable Bob McMullan
Manager of Opposition Business in the House
In office 20 October 1998 – 25 November 2001
Leader	Kim Beazley
Preceded by	Simon Crean
Succeeded by	Wayne Swan
Minister for Trade
In office 30 January 1994 – 11 March 1996
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Peter Cook
Succeeded by	Tim Fischer
Minister for the Arts
In office 24 March 1993 – 30 January 1994
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Ros Kelly
Succeeded by	Michael Lee
Minister for Administrative Services
In office 24 March 1993 – 25 March 1994
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Nick Bolkus
Succeeded by	Frank Walker
Member of the Australian Parliament for Fraser
In office 3 October 1998 – 19 July 2010
Preceded by	Steve Dargavel
Succeeded by	Andrew Leigh
Member of the Australian Parliament for Canberra
In office 2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998
Preceded by	Brendan Smyth
Succeeded by	Annette Ellis
Senator for Australian Capital Territory
In office 16 February 1988 – 6 February 1996
Preceded by	Susan Ryan
Succeeded by	Kate Lundy
Personal details
Born	10 December 1947 Perth, Western Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Alma mater	University of Western Australia
Occupation	Trade unionist

Robert Francis "Bob" McMullan (born 10 December 1947) is an Australian former politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. He is the only person to have represented the Australian Capital Territory in both houses of federal parliament

Early life

He was born in Perth, Western Australia, and educated at the University of Western Australia, studying economics and arts. Active in the movement against the Vietnam War, McMullan was conscripted for military service in 1968 but successfully argued in court that he was a conscientious objector.^[1] McMullan became an industrial advocate for the trade unions, joining the Labor Party in 1973.

Labor Party involvement

In 1975, McMullan became the Labor Party's Western Australian State Secretary. In 1981 he became National Secretary, based in Canberra, where he has lived ever since. He played a minor role in the 1983 election, at which Labor under Bob Hawke was successful. .

Parliamentary career

On 16 February 1988,^[2] McMullan was chosen by a joint sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate to fill a casual vacancy in the representation of the Australian Capital Territory in the Senate, caused by the resignation of Susan Ryan.^[3] This was the second (and last) time that a territory senate vacancy was filled in this way.^[4]

McMullan was Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer 1990–93, Minister for the Arts and Minister for Administrative Services 1993–94, Minister for Administrative Services 1994 and Minister for Trade 1994–96 in the government of Paul Keating.

On 6 February 1996 he resigned his Senate seat in order to contest the Division of Canberra in the House of Representatives at the March election; he was successful. The Keating government having been defeated by John Howard, Labor went into opposition and McMullan was elected as a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry. In 1998, following a redistribution, McMullan moved to the neighbouring seat of Fraser.

McMullan became Manager of Opposition Business (opposite number to the Leader of the House) in 1998, and following Labor's 2001 electoral defeat he was made Shadow Treasurer (finance minister). In July 2003 McMullan was replaced as Shadow Treasurer by Mark Latham and relegated to the post of Shadow Minister for Finance, taking on additional responsibility for Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. When Latham became Leader he gave the job of Shadow Treasurer to his predecessor Simon Crean, despite having promised the job to McMullan. McMullan then became Shadow Minister for Finance and Shadow Minister for Small Business.

In Question Time in Parliament, McMullan gained a reputation for repeatedly asking the same question in different words if he did not get a direct answer. After the 2004 election, McMullan did not stand for election to the Shadow Cabinet, in what was widely seen as an expression of lack of confidence in the leadership of Mark Latham.

Following the election of Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2006 as Opposition Leader in place of Kim Beazley, McMullan returned to the front bench in the junior role of Labor spokesperson on Federal-State Relations,^[5] the reform of which was one of Rudd's declared priorities.

In the 2007 federal election McMullan held his seat of Fraser, albeit with a two-party preferred swing to Labor of 3%, less than the national average.^[6]

When the First Rudd Ministry was sworn in on 3 December 2007, McMullan was given the junior post of Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance.^[7] On 19 January 2010, McMullan announced he would not contest the next federal election.^[8] He retired prior to the 2010 federal election.

External links

• Biographical and other Details on Official Labor Party Web Site; accessed 15 September 2008.

References

1. Grattan, Michelle: Labor man for everyman, The Age, 25 March 1981.
2. Parliamentary Handbook: Historical Information on the Australian Parliament
4. Footnote, p.3
5. See Federalism in Australia and Federation of Australia
6. Increased majority for Labor in Canberra, Fraser – News – General – The Canberra Times
7. Rudd hands out portfolios, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 29 November 2007
8. McMullan to quit politics, The Canberra Times, 19 January 2010.