26 Facts About Mark Butler

Mark Butler is a member of the Australian Labor Party and has served in the House of Representatives since 2007.

Mark Butler was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd governments and served as national president of the ALP from 2015 to 2018.

Mark Butler was elected to the seat of Port Adelaide at the 2007 federal election, later switching to Hindmarsh in 2019.

Mark Butler was made a parliamentary secretary in 2009, becoming a minister after the 2010 election and winning promotion to cabinet the following year.

Mark Butler subsequently held the portfolios of Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Social Inclusion, Housing and Homelessness, Environment and Water, and Climate Change.

Mark Butler is a senior member of the Labor Left faction and was elected to a three-year term as national president in 2015.

Mark Butler was born in Canberra on 8 July 1970, the son of Lindsay Nicholson and David Mark Butler.

Mark Butler's mother was a peace and anti-nuclear activist and campaigned to elect the Hawke and Keating governments.

Mark Butler's parents divorced when he was five years old, after which he and his brother moved to Adelaide with their mother.

Mark Butler attended Unley High School, taking a gap year in Italy before enrolling at the University of Adelaide.

Mark Butler graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws with first class honours.

Mark Butler was short-listed for a Rhodes Scholarship, and later completed a Master of International Relations degree at Deakin University.

Mark Butler was a housemate of future state MP Patrick Conlon and developed friendships with future premier Jay Weatherill and future federal minister Penny Wong; he and Weatherill were best man at each other's weddings.

In 1992, Mark Butler joined the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union as a legal officer through his connections with Conlon.

Mark Butler made appearances before industrial tribunals, "pushing for cleaners and hospital workers to get better pay".

Mark Butler developed a close working relationship with his NSW counterpart Anthony Albanese.

Mark Butler was noted for his constructive relationship with the Labor Right faction in South Australia, particularly then-secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, Don Farrell.

Mark Butler joined the ALP at a young age and became a delegate to state conference in South Australia in 1993.

Mark Butler subsequently was preselected for the seat of Hanson prior to the 1997 state election, but resigned to become state secretary of the LHMU.

Mark Butler served as state president of the Australian Labor Party from 1997 to 1998, the youngest president in the party's history.

Mark Butler was elected as a delegate to national conference in 1998 and elected to the national executive in 2000, representing the Left faction.

Mark Butler was elected as the Labor member for the electoral division of Port Adelaide at the 2007 federal election.

On 14 December 2011, Mark Butler's ministry was renamed Mental Health and Aged Care, and he became a member of Cabinet.

On 17 June 2015, Mark Butler was elected National President of the Australian Labor Party and was succeeded by Wayne Swan on 18 June 2018, becoming senior vice-president to Swan.

At the 21 May 2022 election, Mark Butler was elected for Labor in the expanded seat of Hindmarsh, which included most of the area of the former seat of Port Adelaide, which had been abolished as part of the 2018 boundary redistribution.

Mark Butler has two children from a previous marriage and one from his second marriage.