William Richard Shorten was born on 12 May 1967 and is an Australian politician and former trade unionist currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022.
51 Facts About Bill Shorten
2.
Bill Shorten previously served as leader of the opposition and leader of the Australian Labor Party from 2013 to 2019.
3.
Bill Shorten has served as a member of parliament for the division of Maribyrnong since 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the Gillard and Rudd governments from 2010 to 2013.
4.
Bill Shorten worked in politics and in law before becoming an organiser with the Australian Workers' Union in 1994.
5.
Bill Shorten was elected state secretary of the Victorian Branch of the AWU in 1998 before becoming AWU national secretary in 2001.
6.
Bill Shorten was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2007 federal election, winning the seat of Maribyrnong, before being immediately appointed a Parliamentary Secretary.
7.
Bill Shorten led Labor to a narrow loss at the 2016 election, before later leading Labor to an unexpected defeat at 2019 election, after which he announced his resignation as leader, with Albanese being elected unopposed to replace him.
8.
Bill Shorten was born on 12 May 1967 at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, the son of Ann Rosemary and William Robert Bill Shorten.
9.
Bill Shorten's mother was a university academic and lawyer who completed a doctorate at Monash University and ended her career there as a senior lecturer in education.
10.
Bill Shorten completed a law degree later in life and practised as a barrister for six years.
11.
Bill Shorten was originally from Ballarat, descended from "a long line of Irish Australians" who arrived during the Victorian gold rush.
12.
Bill Shorten's father was a marine engineer born in Tyneside, England.
13.
Bill Shorten's parents divorced in 1988 and his father remarried a few years later.
14.
Bill Shorten subsequently became estranged from his father, who died in 2000.
15.
Bill Shorten attended St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Malvern East.
16.
Bill Shorten was chosen for the state debating team in 1984, his final year at the school.
17.
Bill Shorten excelled at fencing and was the state under-15 champion in the sabre division.
18.
In 1985, Bill Shorten began studying at Monash University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1992.
19.
Bill Shorten was active in student politics, both in the university's ALP Club and in Young Labor.
20.
Bill Shorten helped establish Network, a Labor Right-aligned faction of Young Labor; in 1986 it "took control of Young Labor from the Left for the first time".
21.
Bill Shorten briefly worked in a butcher's shop during his first years at university, and was a member of the Australian Army Reserve from 1985 to 1986, holding the rank of private.
22.
Bill Shorten volunteered in Senator Gareth Evans' office, and then after the 1988 Victorian state election was employed as a youth affairs adviser to Neil Pope, a Victorian government minister.
23.
Bill Shorten took a gap year in 1990, travelling overseas for the first time and backpacking through Central Europe.
24.
Bill Shorten was involved in Network's abortive attempt to take over the state branch of the Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association.
25.
Bill Shorten was elected as the AWU's national secretary in 2001 and was re-elected in 2005.
26.
Bill Shorten resigned as Victorian state secretary of the AWU in August 2007.
27.
Bill Shorten was an active member of the Labor Party and was a member of the party's national executive until 2011, as well as the administrative committee of the Victorian branch.
28.
Bill Shorten was director of the Superannuation Trust of Australia and the Victorian Funds Management Corporation.
29.
Bill Shorten was a member of the Australian Council of Trade Unions executive.
30.
Bill Shorten served on the advisory board of the Australian Cricketers' Association.
31.
Bill Shorten was defeated by Bob Sercombe, who went on to retain the seat for Labor at the election.
32.
In February 1998, Bill Shorten won preselection for the safe Labor seat of Melton at the 1999 state election.
33.
Bill Shorten subsequently resigned as a candidate in order to become state secretary of the AWU.
34.
In 2005, Bill Shorten announced that he would again seek preselection for the Division of Maribyrnong, challenging Bob Sercombe.
35.
On 28 February 2006, Sercombe announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy for re-selection, a few days before the vote of local members in which Bill Shorten was expected to poll very strongly.
36.
At the 2007 federal election, Bill Shorten was elected to the House of Representatives as the Labor MP for Maribyrnong.
37.
Bill Shorten denied this speculation, and was promoted to the Cabinet as Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation.
38.
Bill Shorten is considered a moderate member of the Labor Party.
39.
Bill Shorten subsequently announced his candidacy to be his successor, in a contest with Anthony Albanese that would be the first time party members would be eligible to vote.
40.
Bill Shorten distanced himself from Tony Abbott's social conservatism, saying "I reject the assumption that merit is more located in the brains of men than women" and highlighting the proportion of women in Labor's leadership, with Tanya Plibersek as Deputy Leader and Penny Wong as Senate Opposition Leader.
41.
Bill Shorten had been consistently polling better than Abbott and Labor better than the Abbott Coalition government from the July 2014 Australian federal budget until the September 2015 Liberal leadership ballot when Malcolm Turnbull succeeded Abbott as Prime Minister.
42.
In early 2015, leading up to Australia Day, Bill Shorten called for a new push for Australia to become a republic.
43.
In July 2017, Bill Shorten revealed that should the Labor Party be elected to government at the 2019 federal election, they would legislate for a compulsory plebiscite on the issue.
44.
In 2015, Bill Shorten said that the voting age should be lowered to 16.
45.
In 2016, Bill Shorten led Labor to gain 14 seats at the federal election when Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal-National Coalition retained majority government by a single seat.
46.
Bill Shorten led Labor into the Australian federal election in 2019.
47.
Bill Shorten conceded defeat on election night and subsequently announced he would step down as the leader of the Labor Party.
48.
Bill Shorten announced his resignation as Leader of the Labor Party on 18 May 2019, following Labor's defeat in the 2019 election.
49.
In March 2000, Bill Shorten married Debbie Beale, daughter of businessman and former Liberal MP Julian Beale.
50.
In 2009, Bill Shorten married Chloe Bryce, daughter of then Governor-General Quentin Bryce.
51.
Bill Shorten strongly denied the allegations in a statement, which was made after Victoria Police were advised from the Office of Public Prosecutions that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.