John Robertson (New South Wales politician)
Encyclopedia
John Cameron Robertson MP (born 16 November 1962), an Australian politician, is the Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales
and the Leader of the Opposition
. Robertson is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
representing Blacktown for Labor
since 2011
. He is a former Minister for Transport
and served as a member of the Legislative Council
between 2008 and 2011.
in New South Wales to parents Don and Rowena Robertson, the elder of two boys. Don Robertson conscripted his son into handing out how to vote cards in the 1972 Australian elections.
He was educated at Denistone
East Primary School and Ryde High School. His first job was working for Woolworths
packing shopping bags for shoppers at the age of 15.
He left school at 16 and began an apprenticeship as an electrician. He worked as one from 1979 until 1987, even working on the New South Wales Parliament building to which he has now been elected. He claims to be the only person to have worked on the construction of that building, as well as being voted into office.
He is married to Julie McLeod and they have three children.
in 1986. In 1991 he became an Industrial Officer with the Labor Council of New South Wales
, and then its Executive Officer in 1998.
Later in life, he took up tertiary studies, and studied at the University of Technology, Sydney
and graduated with a Graduate Diploma of Human Resources.
In 1998 he became the Assistant Secretary of the Labor Council. As Assistant Secretary, he had responsibility for the building and construction industry, breweries, local government, public sector policy, the oil industry and Sydney Water
. In 2000, he ran the State Wage Case for the Labor Council before the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales. The case was historic in that it was the first one heard in Wollongong, New South Wales
rather than Sydney. The Commission granted workers a $15 per week pay rise.
In 2001 he was elected unopposed as the Secretary of Unions NSW (formerly the Labor Council of New South Wales) replacing Michael Costa. One of his first acts as Secretary was to organize a blockade of the New South Parliament to protest against the introduction of workers compensation law reforms. The blockade did not change the government's plans. During his term as secretary, he headed the organisation as it sold its holiday property “Currawong” to finance a campaign to stop the implementation of WorkChoices
by the Federal Howard Government
. The deal was said to have benefited the developers as the purchase was at "about half the price" of other bids for the property. Currawong had been established in 1949 to allow the union movement to provide poor kids with decent holidays. Robertson denied the deal was at less than value as it was an unconditional sale compared to other bids which were conditional on building approval.
He has been on the Administrative Committee of the Australian Labor Party since 2005 and he became the Vice-President of Australian Council of Trade Unions
(ACTU) in 2006. As member of the group Labor for Refugees, Robertson fought in 2002 to overturn the Labor Party's policy on asylum seekers, which mimicked the policy of the Howard Government
at the time.
Robertson has held other roles. In 1993 he was a member of the Building and Construction Industry Long Service Payments Corporation. He was a Director of WorkCover NSW between 2001 and 2007. In 2002 he was appointed a Director of the Parramatta Stadium Trust. In 2006 he became a member of the New South Wales Heritage Council. Robertson was a director of Energy Australia between 1998 and 2003, as well as a Director of 2KY
Broadcasters between 1998 and 2001.
He has co-authored the book Your Rights at Work, which was published in 1993.
Columnist Piers Akerman
alleges that Robertson played the greatest role in elevating Nathan Rees
to State Premier following Morris Iemma
’s resignation in 2008. He was also regarded as a pivotal player in the campaign to replace Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley
with Kevin Rudd
.
Shortly after his swearing in, former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating
sent a scathing letter to Robertson stating that Keating was "ashamed to share membership of the same party" as him. Keating's view of Robertson was that his opposition to the privatisation bid would cost Labor dearly at the next State election.
Robertson won the seat of Blacktown in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the March 2011 election that resulted in Labor losing government. After Keneally declined to contest the leadership of the party, a caucus meeting on 31 March 2011 elected Robertson as leader and Leader of the Opposition.
Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales
The leader of the ALP in the New South Wales Parliament is elected from and by the members of the party caucus, comprising all party members in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. When the Labor party forms a government the leader is the Premier and when the party is in opposition...
and the Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales)
The role of the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in New South Wales is a title held by the leader of the largest minority party in the state lower house, the New South Wales Legislative Assembly...
. Robertson is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
representing Blacktown for Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
since 2011
New South Wales state election, 2011
Elections to the 55th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal-National coalition opposition led by Barry O'Farrell.New South Wales has...
. He is a former Minister for Transport
Minister for Transport (New South Wales)
The New South Wales Minister for Transport has responsibilities which includes bus and ferry policy, contracting and regulation, rail policy, fares and concessions, and taxi and hire car policy and regulation...
and served as a member of the Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
between 2008 and 2011.
Early life and personal background
Robertson was born at Ryde HospitalRyde, New South Wales
Ryde is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Ryde is located 13 km north-west of the Sydney central business district and 8 km east of Parramatta. Ryde is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Ryde and part of the Northern Suburbs area...
in New South Wales to parents Don and Rowena Robertson, the elder of two boys. Don Robertson conscripted his son into handing out how to vote cards in the 1972 Australian elections.
He was educated at Denistone
Denistone, New South Wales
Denistone is a suburb in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Denistone is located 16 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Ryde...
East Primary School and Ryde High School. His first job was working for Woolworths
Woolworths Limited
Woolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
packing shopping bags for shoppers at the age of 15.
He left school at 16 and began an apprenticeship as an electrician. He worked as one from 1979 until 1987, even working on the New South Wales Parliament building to which he has now been elected. He claims to be the only person to have worked on the construction of that building, as well as being voted into office.
He is married to Julie McLeod and they have three children.
Union career
During his time as electrician he became an organizer for the Electrical Trades UnionElectrical Trades Union of Australia
The Electrical Trades Union of Australia is a trade union in Australia which has a history stretching back over 100 years. In its modern form the ETU is a division of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union , although it is possibly the most well known of the three divisions...
in 1986. In 1991 he became an Industrial Officer with the Labor Council of New South Wales
Labor Council of New South Wales
The Labor Council of New South Wales is a representative body of Trade union organisations in the State of New South Wales, Australia. As of 2005 there are 67 unions and 8 Rural and Regional Trades & Labor Councils affiliated to the Labor Council, representing 800,000 workers in NSW...
, and then its Executive Officer in 1998.
Later in life, he took up tertiary studies, and studied at the University of Technology, Sydney
University of Technology, Sydney
The University of Technology Sydney is a university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1981, although its origins trace back to the 1870s. UTS is notable for its central location as the only university with its main campuses within the Sydney CBD...
and graduated with a Graduate Diploma of Human Resources.
In 1998 he became the Assistant Secretary of the Labor Council. As Assistant Secretary, he had responsibility for the building and construction industry, breweries, local government, public sector policy, the oil industry and Sydney Water
Sydney Water
Sydney Water is a New South Wales government owned corporation that provides drinking water, wastewater and some stormwater services to Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains, in Australia...
. In 2000, he ran the State Wage Case for the Labor Council before the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales. The case was historic in that it was the first one heard in Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
rather than Sydney. The Commission granted workers a $15 per week pay rise.
In 2001 he was elected unopposed as the Secretary of Unions NSW (formerly the Labor Council of New South Wales) replacing Michael Costa. One of his first acts as Secretary was to organize a blockade of the New South Parliament to protest against the introduction of workers compensation law reforms. The blockade did not change the government's plans. During his term as secretary, he headed the organisation as it sold its holiday property “Currawong” to finance a campaign to stop the implementation of WorkChoices
WorkChoices
The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...
by the Federal Howard Government
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
. The deal was said to have benefited the developers as the purchase was at "about half the price" of other bids for the property. Currawong had been established in 1949 to allow the union movement to provide poor kids with decent holidays. Robertson denied the deal was at less than value as it was an unconditional sale compared to other bids which were conditional on building approval.
He has been on the Administrative Committee of the Australian Labor Party since 2005 and he became the Vice-President of Australian Council of Trade Unions
Australian Council of Trade Unions
The Australian Council of Trade Unions is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions.-History:The ACTU was formed in 1927 as the "Australian Council of Trade Unions"...
(ACTU) in 2006. As member of the group Labor for Refugees, Robertson fought in 2002 to overturn the Labor Party's policy on asylum seekers, which mimicked the policy of the Howard Government
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
at the time.
Robertson has held other roles. In 1993 he was a member of the Building and Construction Industry Long Service Payments Corporation. He was a Director of WorkCover NSW between 2001 and 2007. In 2002 he was appointed a Director of the Parramatta Stadium Trust. In 2006 he became a member of the New South Wales Heritage Council. Robertson was a director of Energy Australia between 1998 and 2003, as well as a Director of 2KY
2KY
2KY is a commercial radio station based in Sydney, broadcasting throughout New South Wales and Canberra on a network of over 140 narrowcast transmitters as well as the main 1017 AM frequency in Sydney. 2KY broadcasts live commentary of thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing...
Broadcasters between 1998 and 2001.
He has co-authored the book Your Rights at Work, which was published in 1993.
Columnist Piers Akerman
Piers Akerman
Piers Akerman is a right-wing commentator and columnist for The Daily Telegraph.-Brief biography:Born in Wewak, Papua New Guinea, Piers Akerman was raised in Perth by his parents, John, an Australian Government doctor, and Eve Akerman , a newspaper columnist and reviewer in Western Australia. He...
alleges that Robertson played the greatest role in elevating Nathan Rees
Nathan Rees
Nathan Rees MP, , an Australian politician, was the 41st Premier of New South Wales and parliamentary leader of the New South Wales division of the Australian Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009...
to State Premier following Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma , is a former Australian politician and 40th Premier of New South Wales, succeeding Bob Carr after he resigned on 3 August 2005. Iemma led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 2007 election before resigning as Premier on 5 September 2008, and as a Member of Parliament on 19...
’s resignation in 2008. He was also regarded as a pivotal player in the campaign to replace Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley
Kim Beazley
In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
with Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
.
Political career
On 18 October 2008 he was endorsed to be the Labor Party candidate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of former State Treasurer Michael Costa. He was subsequently appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council to fill that casual vacancy. Costa was Robertson’s predecessor at Unions NSW, and ironically, was one of the causes that led to Costa’s resignation due to blocking of the privatisation of the NSW power industry.Shortly after his swearing in, former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
sent a scathing letter to Robertson stating that Keating was "ashamed to share membership of the same party" as him. Keating's view of Robertson was that his opposition to the privatisation bid would cost Labor dearly at the next State election.
Robertson won the seat of Blacktown in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the March 2011 election that resulted in Labor losing government. After Keneally declined to contest the leadership of the party, a caucus meeting on 31 March 2011 elected Robertson as leader and Leader of the Opposition.