Chris Bowen
Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen (born 17 January 1973) is an Australian politician serving as Shadow Minister for Health since 2019, and has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for McMahon since 2010. Bowen served as Treasurer of Australia in 2013, and was a Cabinet Minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments from 2007 to 2013.
Chris Bowen | |
|---|---|
 Bowen in 2016 | |
| Leader of the Australian Labor Party | |
Acting | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 13 October 2013 | |
| Deputy | Anthony Albanese |
| Preceded by | Kevin Rudd |
| Succeeded by | Bill Shorten |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
Acting | |
| In office 18 September 2013 – 13 October 2013 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Tony Abbott |
| Deputy | Anthony Albanese |
| Preceded by | Tony Abbott |
| Succeeded by | Bill Shorten |
| Shadow Minister for Health | |
| Assumed office 2 June 2019 | |
| Leader | Anthony Albanese |
| Shadowing | Greg Hunt |
| Preceded by | Catherine King |
| Shadow Treasurer of Australia | |
| In office 18 October 2013 – 2 June 2019 | |
| Leader | Bill Shorten Anthony Albanese |
| Shadowing | Joe Hockey Scott Morrison Josh Frydenberg |
| Preceded by | Joe Hockey |
| Succeeded by | Jim Chalmers |
| Treasurer of Australia | |
| In office 27 June 2013 – 18 September 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
| Preceded by | Wayne Swan |
| Succeeded by | Joe Hockey |
| Minister for Small Business | |
| In office 4 February 2013 – 22 March 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Julia Gillard |
| Preceded by | Brendan O'Connor |
| Succeeded by | Gary Gray |
| Minister for Immigration and Citizenship | |
| In office 14 September 2010 – 4 February 2013 | |
| Prime Minister | Julia Gillard |
| Preceded by | Chris Evans |
| Succeeded by | Brendan O'Connor |
| Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law | |
| In office 9 June 2009 – 14 September 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard |
| Preceded by | Nick Sherry |
| Succeeded by | Bill Shorten |
| Assistant Treasurer of Australia | |
| In office 3 December 2007 – 8 June 2009 | |
| Prime Minister | Kevin Rudd |
| Preceded by | Peter Dutton |
| Succeeded by | Nick Sherry |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for McMahon | |
| Assumed office 21 August 2010 | |
| Preceded by | New seat |
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Prospect | |
| In office 9 October 2004 – 21 August 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Janice Crosio |
| Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
| Mayor of Fairfield | |
| In office September 1998 – September 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Anwar Khoshaba |
| Succeeded by | Anwar Khoshaba |
| Member of the Fairfield Council | |
| In office 1995 – September 1998 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen 17 January 1973 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Political party | Labor |
| Spouse(s) | Rebecca Mifsud
(m. 2003) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | St Johns Park High School |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney (BEc) |
| Profession | Politician |
| Website | chrisbowen |
He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2004 for Prospect, however the seat was abolished and he has represented McMahon since 2010. Bowen is a senior Labor Right figure.[1]
Bowen previously served as Shadow Treasurer from 2013 to 2019, and was briefly the Interim Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition in 2013 after the 2013 federal election.[2] He previously served as Minister for Financial Services, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, and Treasurer.
Early years and background
Bowen was born in Sydney to Christine and Ross Bowen. His father worked for the National Roads and Motorists' Association, while his mother, who was born in the UK, was a childcare worker.[3][4] Bowen grew up in the suburb of Smithfield, where one of his neighbours was soccer player Harry Kewell. He began his education at Smithfield Public School, and later attended St Johns Park High School before going on to the University of Sydney, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics in 1994. One of his tutors was the future Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.[5]
Bowen was elected to Fairfield City Council in 1995 and was Mayor of Fairfield in 1998 and 1999. He was elected president of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) in 1999 and served as president until 2001.
Political career
In 2004, Bowen was elected to the House of Representatives replacing Janice Crosio after she retired after 25 years in both state and federal politics. In 2006, Bowen was appointed to the Labor front bench as Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Revenue and Competition Policy.
Government minister (2007–13)
In December 2007 Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appointed him Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs. In June 2009 Bowen was promoted to cabinet as Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law and Minister for Human Services.
In April 2010 Bowen announced significant reforms to the financial services sector including banning of commissions for financial planners giving advice on retail investment products including superannuation, managed investments and margin loans; instituting a statutory fiduciary duty so that financial advisers must act in the best interests of their clients, and increasing the powers of the corporate regulator; the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.[6] The reforms were partially a response to the high-profile collapse of Storm Financial, Westpoint and Opes Prime and the resultant losses for retail investors, but also reflected global concerns with financial governance following the Global Financial crisis of 2007–2010.[7] The reforms are due to be fully implemented on 1 July 2013.
In September 2010, Bowen was appointed Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, succeeding Senator Chris Evans.[8] On 2 February 2013, Bowen replaced Evans as Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research. Evans was also Minister for Small Business.[9]
Chris Bowen resigned his ministerial portfolios on 22 March 2013 after he supported an unsuccessful attempt to reinstall Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister.
Following the June 2013 leadership spill, Bowen was reinstated as a Cabinet Minister and given the portfolio of Treasurer. He was sworn in on 27 June 2013. He also has been given responsibility for financial services and superannuation, including carriage of the MySuper and other Simple Super reforms previously held by Bill Shorten.
Opposition (2013–present)
Bowen was appointed Interim Leader of the Labor Party on 13 September 2013 following the resignation of Kevin Rudd in the wake of the party's defeat in the 2013 federal election. Bowen pledged not to stand in the October 2013 leadership spill which was contested by Anthony Albanese and Bill Shorten.[10] Shorten was elected as leader.[11][12] Bowen was later appointed Shadow Treasurer by Bill Shorten.
After Labor's shock loss in the 2019 federal election, Shorten announced his pending resignation as leader of the party. Bowen was considered a frontrunner to succeed him. On 21 May, Bowen announced his candidacy in the leadership ballot,[13] but withdrew the following day.[14] He was subsequently replaced as Shadow Treasurer by Jim Chalmers, but remained on the frontbench as Shadow Minister for Health.[15]
As Shadow Treasurer after his stint as Treasurer, he was shadow to his three immediate successors as Treasurer, Joe Hockey, Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg.
Political positions
Bowen supports same-sex marriage.[16] Notably in 2017, his Division of McMahon had the 3rd highest percentage of "No" responses in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 64.9% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "No".[17]
Bowen has supported Foreign Minister Marise Payne's call for an independent global inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic including China's handling of the initial outbreak in Wuhan.[18]
Personal life
Bowen is married to Rebecca Mifsud, who as of 2016 worked for Toll Holdings as an industrial relations executive.[19] They met at the 2000 ALP National Conference, where Mifsud was a delegate for the Electrical Trades Union. The couple have two children together and they currently reside in Smithfield, Bowen's childhood suburb.[5]
Bowen and his older brother Paul had two siblings who died shortly after being born. Bowen's mother, Christine, lost two baby boys when the family was still living in the UK - once in 1959 and in 1960. Bowen revealed this story in order to raise awareness to the lasting negative effects of stillbirths on families.[20]
Bowen possesses a Diploma of Modern Language (Bahasa Indonesia) from the University of New England.[21]
Bibliography
References
- "Bowen backs out of Labor leadership race, leaving spot open to Shorten and Albanese". ABC News. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
- "Chris Bowen named interim Labor leader". 13 September 2013.
- "Labor's Chris Bowen: Paul Keating protégé and would-be treasurer". The Australian Financial Review. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- Citizenship Register – 45th Parliament
- "Chris Bowen: The man most likely". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- Chris Bowen. "Overhaul of Financial Advice [26/04/2010]". Ministers.treasury.gov.au. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- "PM – Changes to financial planning laws will inject billions into the economy 26/04/2010". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- Archived 22 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Chris Bowen named interim Labor leader". 13 September 2013.
- Harrison, Dan. "Bill Shorten elected Labor leader". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
- Griffiths, Emma (13 October 2013). "Bill Shorten elected Labor leader over Anthony Albanese after month-long campaign". Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- "Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen to run for Labor leader". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- "Chris Bowen pulls out of Labor leadership battle after party's election defeat". ABC News. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- "Labor leader Anthony Albanese announces frontbench in wake of federal election 2019". 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- Gothe-Snape, Jackson (14 September 2017). "SSM: Electorates with lowest support for same-sex marriage may be ignored by MPs despite postal survey". ABC News. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- "Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey 2017 Response Final". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019.
- Worthington, Brett (19 April 2020). "Marise Payne calls for global inquiry into China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak". ABC News. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
- "MPs quick to declare interests". The Australian. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- "Couriermail.com.au | Subscribe to The Courier Mail for exclusive stories". www.couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- Coorey, Phillip. "Albanese is targeting jobs, not unions". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- https://www.mup.com.au/items/128283
- https://www.mup.com.au/items/159546
External links
- Chris Bowen's official website
- Search or browse Hansard for Chris Bowen at OpenAustralia.org
- Profile on the Parliament of Australia website
- Summary of parliamentary voting for Chris Bowen MP on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
Prime Minister: Kevin Rudd | ||
 The Honourable Kevin Rudd MP, 26th Prime Minister of Australia 2007-2010 | ||
Prime Minister: Julia Gillard | ||
|  The Honourable Julia Gillard MP, 27th Prime Minister of Australia 2010-2013 | |
Prime Minister: Kevin Rudd | ||
 The Honourable Kevin Rudd MP, 26th Prime Minister of Australia, 2007–2010, 2013 | ||