Chris Bowen

The Honourable Chris Bowen MP
Bowen in 2022
Minister for Climate Change and Energy
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 June 2022
Prime Minister	Anthony Albanese
Preceded by	Angus Taylor
Leader of the Opposition
Acting
In office 18 September 2013 – 13 October 2013
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott
Deputy	Anthony Albanese
Preceded by	Tony Abbott
Succeeded by	Bill Shorten
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 theAustralian ParliamentforMcMahon
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 August 2010
Preceded by	New seat
Member of theAustralian ParliamentforProspect
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
Councillor of theCity of Fairfield
In office 1995–2004
Personal details
Born	Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen (1973-01-17)17 January 1973 Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Political party	Labor
Spouse	Rebecca Mifsud ​ ​ (m.2003)​
Children	2
Education	St Johns Park High School
Alma mater	University of Sydney(BEc)
Profession	Politician
Website	www.chrisbowen.net

Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen(born 17 January 1973) is an Australian politician who has beenMinister for Climate Change and Energyin theAlbanese governmentsince June 2022.He is a member of theAustralian Labor Party(ALP) and was first elected to parliament at the2004 federal election.He held ministerial office in theRuddandGillard governmentsfrom 2007 to 2013.

Bowen served on theFairfield City Councilfrom 1995 to 2004, including a term as mayor. He was elected to theHouse of Representativesin the 2004 election, winning the seat ofProspect;he later transferred to the seat ofMcMahonat the2010 federal election,after his former seat was abolished. Bowen was added toKevin Rudd's shadow ministry in 2006, and following the ALP's victory at the2007 electionserved variously asAssistant Treasurer,Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs,Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law,andHuman Services.AfterJulia Gillardreplaced Rudd as prime minister in June 2010, Bowen was made theMinister Immigration and Citizenship,and also served as the Minister forTertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research,Small Businessfor a brief time in 2013.

In June 2013, Rudd replaced Gillard as prime minister in the finalleadership contestbetween the two, and he assigned Bowen the role ofTreasurer.He held this position for less than three months, as the ALP was defeated at the2013 election.Bowen served briefly as the interim leader of the ALP and actingleader of the opposition.He was the shadow treasurer underBill Shortenfrom 2013 to 2019. After the2019 election,he becamea candidateto succeed Shorten as party leader but eventually withdrew in favour ofAnthony Albanese.

After the ALP's victory in the2022 election,Bowen was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Energy. He is regarded as a senior figure in theLabor Rightfaction.

Early years and background

Bowen was born inSydneyto Christine and Ross Bowen. His father worked for theNational Roads and Motorists' Association,while his mother, who was born in the United Kingdom, was a childcare worker.Bowen grew up in the suburb ofSmithfield.He began his education at Smithfield Public School, and later attendedSt Johns Park High Schoolbefore going on to theUniversity of Sydney,where he graduated with aBachelor of Economicsin 1994. One of his tutors was the future Greek finance ministerYanis Varoufakis.

Political career

Bowen was elected toFairfield City Councilin 1995 and was Mayor of Fairfield in 1998 and 1999. He was elected president of theWestern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils(WSROC) in 1999 and served as president until 2001.

In 2004, Bowen was elected to the House of Representatives replacingJanice Crosioafter 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 MinisterKevin Ruddappointed 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; theAustralian Securities and Investments Commission.The reforms were partially a response to the high-profile collapse ofStorm Financial,Westpoint and Opes Prime and the resultant losses for retail investors, but also reflected global concerns with financial governance following the GlobalFinancial crisis of 2007–2010.The reforms are due to be fully implemented on 1 July 2013.

In September 2010, Bowen was appointed Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, succeeding SenatorChris Evans.On 2 February 2013, Bowen replaced Evans as Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research. Evans was also Minister for Small Business.

Chris Bowen resigned his ministerial portfolios on 22 March 2013 after he supportedan unsuccessful attemptto reinstall Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister.

Following theJune 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 was also given responsibility for financial services and superannuation, including carriage of theMySuperand other Simple Super reforms previously held byBill Shorten.

Opposition (2013–22)

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 the2013 federal election.He pledged not to stand in theOctober 2013 leadership spillwhich was contested byAnthony AlbaneseandBill Shorten.Shorten was elected as leader.Bowen was later appointed Shadow Treasurer by Bill Shorten.

After Labor's loss in the2019 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 inthe leadership ballot,but withdrew the following day.He was subsequently replaced as Shadow Treasurer byJim Chalmers,but remained on the frontbench as Shadow Minister for Health.

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.

Government minister (2022–)

Following the2022 federal election,Bowen was appointedMinister for Climate Change and Energyin theAlbanese ministry.

Bowen faced criticism in early 2024 for taking a private jet to a ministerial announcement about clean energy, while the Prime Minister also flew there in another private jet. It was reported that the flights were taken on advice from the RAAF.

Political positions

Bowen supports same-sex marriage.Notably in 2017, his Division of McMahon had the 3rd highest percentage of "No" responses in theAustralian Marriage Law Postal Survey,with 64.9% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "No".

In April 2020, Bowen supported thenForeign MinisterMarise Payne's call for an independent global inquiry into the origins of theCOVID-19 pandemicincluding China's handling of the initial outbreak inWuhan.

Personal life

Bowen is married to Rebecca Mifsud, who as of 2016worked forToll Groupas an industrial relations executive.They met at the 2000 ALP National Conference, where Mifsud was a delegate for theElectrical Trades Union.The couple have two children together and reside inSmithfield,Bowen's childhood suburb.

Bowen's mother lost two baby boys when the family was still living in the United Kingdom - in 1959 and in 1960. Bowen revealed this story in order to raise awareness to the lasting negative effects ofstillbirthson families.

Bowen possesses a Diploma of Modern Language (Bahasa Indonesia) from theUniversity of New England.

Bowen supports theGreater Western Sydney Giantsin theAustralian Football League.

See also

• Rudd government (2007–2010)
• Rudd government (2013)

Bibliography

• Hearts and Minds: A Blueprint for Modern Labor(2013)
• The Money Men: Australia's Twelve Most Notable Treasurers(2015)
• On Charlatans(2021)

External links

• Chris Bowen's official website
• Search or browseHansardforChris Bowenat OpenAustralia.org
• Profile on the Parliament of Australia website
• Summary of parliamentary voting for Chris Bowen MP on TheyVoteForYou.org.au