Jim Chalmers

Chalmers was born in Brisbane,[1] the youngest of three children born to Graham and Carol Chalmers. His father worked as a courier and his mother worked as a nurse. They divorced when he was 14, by which time his older sisters had left home.[2]

Chalmers grew up in Logan City in Brisbane's south.[3] He attended Catholic schools before going on to Griffith University, where he completed the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Communications. He went on to complete a PhD in political science at the Australian National University, writing his doctoral thesis on the prime ministership of Paul Keating.[1][2]

From 1999 to 2001, Chalmers worked under Queensland premier Peter Beattie as a research officer in the Department of Premier and Cabinet. He was the ALP's national research manager from 2002 to 2004, media adviser to Shadow Treasurer Wayne Swan from 2005 to 2006, deputy chief of staff to Opposition Leader Kim Beazley in 2006, and a senior adviser to New South Wales premier Morris Iemma from 2006 to 2007. After Labor won the 2007 federal election, Chalmers returned to work for Wayne Swan in the Department of the Treasury, as deputy chief of staff and principal adviser (2007–2010) and then as chief of staff (2010–2013).[1] He briefly served as the executive director of the Chifley Research Centre in 2013.[4] In the same year he published Glory Daze, a book about the disconnect between Australia's strong economic performance and popular discontent with government.[5]

Chalmers was elected to parliament at the 2013 federal election, replacing the retiring ALP member Craig Emerson in the Division of Rankin. He defeated former MP Brett Raguse for Labor preselection.[6] Chalmers was made a shadow parliamentary secretary in October 2013, a shadow minister in October 2015, and promoted to the shadow cabinet after the 2016 election as Shadow Minister for Finance.[1] In 2016 he co-founded the Courtyard Group, a roundtable linking Labor MPs with "Australia's leading progressive thinkers from business, academia, media, and consumer advocacy bodies".[7]

After the 2019 federal election, Chalmers publicly considered running to succeed Bill Shorten as party leader and Leader of the Opposition. His relative youth and status as a Queenslander were seen as potential assets, as well as his membership of the Labor Right faction. However, some within his faction had already chosen to support the Labor Left candidate Anthony Albanese.[8][9] Chalmers eventually chose not to stand for the position, allowing Albanese to become leader unopposed. He subsequently also ruled out standing for the deputy leadership.[10] He was subsequently appointed Shadow Treasurer in Albanese's cabinet.[11]

In March 2013 Chalmers married Laura Anderson, a journalist and writer who worked as a staffer to Penny Wong and Julia Gillard. The couple has three children. Their wedding, attended by Gillard and Wayne Swan among others, occurred two days after an ALP leadership spill. While in attendance Gillard "convened a council of war in a specially set-aside room to frame a new ministry".[2]

• Summary of parliamentary voting for Jim Chalmers MP on TheyVoteForYou.org.au