Bob McMullan

McMullan was born in Perth on 10 December 1947.{{cite news|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=5I4|title=Hon Bob McMullan|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=10 July 2024}} He attended Guildford Primary School and Governor Stirling Senior High School.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/120887050|title=Senator with a long Labor history|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=22 March 1990}} He was raised in a working-class family; his older brothers left school prematurely to support the family, but he was able to continue to Year 12 after receiving a state government bursary.{{cite news|url=https://www.govo.wa.edu.au/alumni/|title=Bob McMullan AM|work=Our Alumni|publisher=Governor Stirling Senior High School|access-date=10 July 2024}}

McMullan graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and a Bachelor of Economics in industrial relations. He was the first member of his family to attend university. He was active in the movement against the Vietnam War and was conscripted for military service in 1968 but successfully argued in court that he was a conscientious objector.Grattan, Michelle: [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19810325&id=fwARAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZZIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4152,4101079 Labor man for everyman], The Age, 25 March 1981. After university he tutored in industrial relations and worked as a freelance industrial advocate from 1971 to 1973.

McMullan joined the Australian Labor Party in 1967 while at university. Active in student politics, he was elected to the ALP state executive the following year and in 1971 became the state president of Young Labor.

McMullan was appointed state secretary of the Western Australian branch of the ALP in 1975. He was elected national secretary in 1981, and moved to Canberra.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127201015|title=McMullan opposes ACT job cuts|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=11 March 1993}} His tenure included the ALP's victory at the 1983, 1984 and 1987 federal elections. In December 1987 he announced he would seek ALP preselection to fill the casual vacancy caused by Susan Ryan's resignation from the Senate.{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/122418910|title=McMullan spurns the factions|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=31 December 1987}}

On 16 February 1988,[http://www.aph.gov.au/library/handbook/historical/senate/kirk.quirke.htm Parliamentary Handbook: Historical Information on the Australian Parliament] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080521170706/http://www.aph.gov.au/library/handbook/historical/senate/kirk.quirke.htm |date=21 May 2008 }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?ID=282882&TABLE=HANSARDS |title=SavedQuery |access-date=2007-10-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524191219/http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/view_document.aspx?ID=282882&TABLE=HANSARDS |archive-date=24 May 2011 |df=dmy-all }} This was the second (and last) time that a territory senate vacancy was filled in this way.[http://www.aph.gov.au/house/pubs/practice/5Atjs.pdf Footnote, p.3] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101016222924/http://www.aph.gov.au/house/pubs/PRACTICE/5Atjs.pdf |date=16 October 2010 }}

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.

As Arts Minister he was shadowed by Opposition leader John Hewson who had appointed himself as Shadow Arts Minister.{{Cite web|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22library/prspub/3758981%22|title = ParlInfo - Search Results}}

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. He was the first person to represent the Australian Capital Territory in both houses of federal parliament. 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. {{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

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. 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. McMullan then became Shadow Minister for Finance and Shadow Minister for Small Business. {{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

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.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}}

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,See Federalism in Australia and Federation of Australia the reform of which was one of Rudd's declared priorities.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}}

In the 2007 federal election McMullan held his seat of Fraser, albeit with a two-party preferred swing to Labor of less than 2%, one-third of the national average swing to Labor.[http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/increased-majority-for-labor-in-canberra-fraser/1092487.html Increased majority for Labor in Canberra, Fraser – News – General – The Canberra Times] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071222182522/http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/increased-majority-for-labor-in-canberra-fraser/1092487.html |date=22 December 2007 }}

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.[https://web.archive.org/web/20071201080838/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/29/2105169.htm Rudd hands out portfolios], Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 29 November 2007 On 19 January 2010, McMullan announced he would not contest the next federal election.[http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/mcmullan-to-quit-politics/1728635.aspx McMullan to quit politics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120082225/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/mcmullan-to-quit-politics/1728635.aspx |date=20 January 2010 }}, The Canberra Times, 19 January 2010. He retired prior to the 2010 federal election.

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080908061644/http://alp.org.au/people/act/mcmullan_bob.php Biographical and other Details on Official Labor Party Web Site]; accessed 15 September 2008.

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Category:1947 births

Category:Living people

Category:Australian conscientious objectors

Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia

Category:Members of the Australian Senate

Category:Members of the Australian Senate for the Australian Capital Territory

Category:Members of the Cabinet of Australia

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Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Canberra

Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Fraser (ACT)

Category:Australian Labor Party officials

Category:People educated at Governor Stirling Senior High School

Category:Australian MPs 1996–1998

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