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Jim Chalmers

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For other people named Jim Chalmers, seeJim Chalmers (disambiguation).

The Honourable
Dr Jim Chalmers
MP
Chalmers in 2020
Treasurer of Australia
Assumed office
23 May 2022
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
Preceded byJosh Frydenberg
Minister for Home Affairs
Acting
In office
23 May 2022 – 1 June 2022
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
Preceded byKaren Andrews
Succeeded byClare O'Neil
Member of theAustralian Parliament
forRankin
Assumed office
7 September 2013
Preceded byCraig Emerson
Shadow Treasurer
In office
5 June 2019 – 23 May 2022
MinisterJosh Frydenberg
LeaderAnthony Albanese
Preceded byChris Bowen
Succeeded byAngus Taylor
Shadow Minister for Finance
In office
23 July 2016 – 5 June 2019
MinisterMathias Cormann
LeaderBill Shorten
Preceded byTony Burke
Succeeded byKaty Gallagher
Shadow Minister for Sport
In office
13 October 2015 – 23 July 2016
MinisterSussan Ley
LeaderBill Shorten
Preceded byBernie Ripoll
Succeeded byStephen Conroy
Personal details
Born(1978-03-02)2 March 1978(age 46)
Brisbane,Queensland,Australia
Political partyLabor
Spouse
Laura Anderson
​
(m.2013)​
Children3
Alma mater
Websitewww.jimchalmers.org

James Edward Chalmers(born 2 March 1978) is an Australian politician. He has beenTreasurer of Australiain theAlbanese governmentsince May 2022. He is a member of theAustralian Labor Party(ALP) and has served as amember of parliamentfor thedivision of Rankinsince 2013.

Chalmers was born inBrisbaneand attended theAustralian National University,where he completed a doctorate inpolitical science.At the2013 Australian federal election,Chalmers won the seat of Rankin in Brisbane's south, entering theHouse of Representatives.He served in theshadow ministriesofBill ShortenandAnthony Albanese,before assuming the role of Treasurer after Labor's victory in the2022 federal election.

Early life and education[edit]

Chalmers was born inBrisbane,[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 inLogan Cityin Brisbane's south.[3]He attended Catholic schools before going on toGriffith University,where he completed the degrees of Bachelor of Arts andBachelor of Communicationand attained a First Class honours degree in public policy.[4]He went on to complete a PhD in political science at theAustralian National University,writing his doctoral thesis on the prime ministership ofPaul Keating,[1][2]titled "Brawler statesman: Paul Keating and prime ministerial leadership in Australia".[5]

Early political involvement[edit]

From 1999 to 2001, Chalmers worked under Queensland premierPeter Beattieas 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 TreasurerWayne Swanfrom 2005 to 2006, deputy chief of staff to Opposition LeaderKim Beazleyin 2006, and a senior adviser to New South Wales premierMorris Iemmafrom 2006 to 2007. After Labor won the2007 federal election,Chalmers returned to work for Wayne Swan in theDepartment 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 theChifley Research Centrein 2013.[6]In the same year he publishedGlory Daze,a book about the disconnect between Australia's strong economic performance and popular discontent with government.[7]

Member of Parliament[edit]

Opposition (2013–2022)[edit]

Chalmers (right) in 2016

Chalmers was elected to parliament at the2013 federal election,replacing the retiring ALP memberCraig Emersonin theDivision of Rankin.He defeated former MPBrett Ragusefor Labor preselection.[8]Chalmers was made a shadowparliamentary secretaryin October 2013, a shadow minister in October 2015, and promoted to theshadow cabinetafter the2016 electionas Shadow Minister for Finance.[1]

After the2019 federal election,Chalmers publicly considered running to succeedBill Shortenas party leader andLeader of the Opposition.His relative youth and status as a Queenslander were seen as potential assets, as well as his membership of theLabor Rightfaction. However, some within his faction had already chosen to support theLabor LeftcandidateAnthony Albanese.[9][10]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.[11]He was subsequently appointed Shadow Treasurer in Albanese's cabinet.[12]

Albanese government (2022–present)[edit]

Labor was victorious in the2022 Australian federal election,[13]and two days later, Albanese had himself, Chalmers and three other senior Labor frontbenchers sworn in as an interim five-person government, with Chalmers becoming theTreasurer of Australia.He was also the interimMinister for Home Affairsuntil the full ministry was sworn in after theQuadrilateral Security Dialogue.[14]In October 2022, Chalmers handed down hisfirst budget.[15]

In May 2023, Chalmers handed down hissecond budget.After being initially predicted to deliver a surplus of over $4 billion, the budget ended up significantly exceeding expectations by delivering a surplus of $22.1 billion (equivalent to 0.9% of Australia's GDP); this is Australia's first budget surplus in 15 years, and the largest ever Australian budget surplus.[16][17][18][19][20][21]

Political positions[edit]

Chalmers is a member of theLabor Rightfaction.[22][23]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".[24]

According to political scientistCarol Johnson,Chalmers' 2013 bookGlory Daze"defined Labor as standing forintergenerational mobility,aspiration and the Fair Go, while emphasising the importance of sound economic management ". His 2017 bookChanging Jobs: The fair go in the new machine age,co-authored with telecommunications executiveMike Quigley,argued that future governments should consider arobot taxto reduce the impact oftechnological unemployment.He has also expressed positive views on the concept of auniversal basic income.In the lead-up to the 2022 election, Chalmers stated that an ALP government would not increase taxes other than on multinational corporations. He also rejected new taxes. His campaigning focused oncost of livingissues but also emphasised the need to work co-operatively with business.[25]

In a long-form essay published inThe Monthlyin 2023, Chalmers argued for more active involvement by the government in capital markets to collaborate with enterprises that suit the government's social and environmental priorities, describing it as "values-based capitalism".[26][27][28]

Electoral history[edit]

House of Representatives[29][30][31][32]
Year Electorate Party First Preference Result Two Candidate Result
Votes % ±% Position Votes % ±% Result
2013 Rankin Labor 35,098 42.18 Decrease  2.97 First 45,580 54.78 Decrease  0.63 Elected
2016 42,147 49.34 Increase  7.16 First 52,362 61.30 Increase  6.52 Elected
2019 35,156 41.43 Decrease  7.91 First 47,893 56.44 Decrease  4.86 Elected
2022 38,596 43.95 Increase  2.52 First 51,892 59.09 Increase  2.65 Elected
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Personal life[edit]

In March 2013, Chalmers married Laura Anderson, a journalist and writer who worked as a staffer toPenny WongandJulia Gillard.The couple have three children. Their wedding, attended by Gillard andWayne Swanamong others, occurred two days afteran ALP leadership spill.While in attendance Gillard "convened a council of war in a specially set-aside room to frame a new ministry".[2]

Chalmers identifies as aCatholic,though more "tribal than Bible", his three children having been baptised in the same church as himself.[33][34]His interests have been listed to include running,rugby leagueand basketball.[35]He is a fan ofhip-hop music,with some of his favourite artists includingTupac Shakur,The Notorious B.I.G.andNas.[36]

In theNational Rugby League(NRL), Chalmers supports theBrisbane Broncos.[37]

Publications[edit]

  • Chalmers, Jim (2013)Glory Daze: How a world-beating nation got so down on itself,Melbourne University Press,ISBN978-0-522-86413-7
  • Chalmers, Jim (2017)Changing Jobs, The Fair go in the New Machine Age(with M Quigley) Redback,ISBN978-1-86395-944-5

References[edit]

  1. ^abcd"Dr Jim Chalmers MP".Senators and Members of theParliament of Australia.Retrieved12 November2021.
  2. ^abcWalker, Jamie (6 June 2020)."Chalmers plays the long game".Weekend Australian Magazine.Retrieved7 June2020.
  3. ^"Member for Rankin".Australian Labor Party.Retrieved25 May2017.
  4. ^"Biography | Treasury Ministers".23 May 2022.
  5. ^Chalmers, Jim (2004).Brawler statesman: Paul Keating and prime ministerial leadership in Australia(PhD thesis). Australian National University.doi:10.25911/5d78d7aebdf5c.Retrieved7 April2022.
  6. ^"Jim Chalmers".Chifley Research Centre.
  7. ^"Former Swan advisor Jim Chalmers sees the glass as half full".abc.net.au.2 July 2013.Retrieved8 February2019.
  8. ^"Labor candidate Jim Chalmers doesn't deny writing Wayne Swan's blistering criticism of Kevin Rudd".ABC News. 22 August 2013.Retrieved28 May2019.
  9. ^"Labor MPs 'fuming' as Jim Chalmers told to clear the way for Albanese or face payback".The Sydney Morning Herald.23 May 2019.Retrieved28 May2019.
  10. ^"Labor leadership: Queensland MP Jim Chalmers still considering run against Albanese".Guardian Australia.23 May 2019.Retrieved28 May2019.
  11. ^"Jim Chalmers out of Labor's deputy race".The Australian.24 May 2019.Retrieved28 May2019.
  12. ^"Labor leader Anthony Albanese announces frontbench in wake of federal election 2019".2 June 2019.Retrieved2 June2019.
  13. ^"Votes for Labor and the Coalition plummet to all-time low as Australia swings away from major parties".The Guardian.London. 28 May 2022.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved1 June2022.
  14. ^"Jim Chalmers indicates 'substantial progress' on returning Murugappan family to Biloela".The Guardian.25 May 2022.
  15. ^"Jim Chalmers just handed down his first federal budget, but did he get his facts straight?".ABC News.25 October 2022.Retrieved27 October2022.
  16. ^McGuirk, Rod (21 September 2023)."Australia's government posts $14.2 billion budget surplus after 15 years in the red".Associated Press News.Retrieved3 January2024.
  17. ^Roberts, Georgia (21 September 2023)."Government reveals $22 billion budget surplus in final outcome figures".ABC News.Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Retrieved3 January2024.
  18. ^Vidler, Adam (22 September 2023)."'Biggest surplus ever': Chalmers announces $100 billion budget turnaround ".Nine News.Nine Network.Retrieved3 January2024.
  19. ^Qiu, Stella (21 September 2023). Wong, Jacqueline; Feast, Lincoln (eds.)."Australia posts first budget surplus in 15 years as tax revenues soar".Reuters.Retrieved3 January2024.
  20. ^Karp, Paul (21 September 2023)."Budget surplus up to $22bn thanks to strong jobs market and higher commodities prices".The Guardian.Retrieved3 January2024.
  21. ^Clun, Rachel (21 September 2023)."Record $22b surplus to come from 'war and inflation'".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved3 January2024.
  22. ^Belot, Henry (20 May 2019)."Jim Chalmers willing to battle Anthony Albanese for Labor leadership in federal election 2019 aftermath".ABC News.Archivedfrom the original on 24 December 2022.
  23. ^Massola, James (14 February 2021)."What are Labor's factions and who's who in the Left and Right?".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved19 April2022.
  24. ^Walker, Tony (1 February 2016)."New Labor Courtyard Group tries to find a third way".The Australian Financial Review.Retrieved12 June2020.
  25. ^Johnson, Carol(19 April 2022)."If Labor wins the election, he is set to become the next federal treasurer. So who is Jim Chalmers?".The Conversation.Retrieved19 April2022.
  26. ^Murphy, Katharine (3 February 2023)."Fury over Chalmers' essay is a reminder to Labor: change won't get an easy ride".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved8 February2023.
  27. ^"The only thing new about Jim Chalmers' economic model is the name".Australian Financial Review.2 February 2023.Retrieved8 February2023.
  28. ^Chalmers, Jim (1 February 2023)."Capitalism after the crises".The Monthly.Retrieved13 February2023.
  29. ^"House of Representatives Division First Preferences".AEC Virtual Tally Room.24 September 2013.Retrieved13 December2023.
  30. ^"Rankin, QLD - AEC Tally Room".AEC Tally Room.21 July 2016.Retrieved12 December2023.
  31. ^"Rankin, QLD - AEC Tally Room".AEC Tally Room.7 June 2019.Retrieved12 December2023.
  32. ^"Rankin, QLD - AEC Tally Room".AEC Tally Room.14 June 2022.Retrieved12 December2023.
  33. ^Law, Benjamin (15 November 2019)."Jim Chalmers: 'I don't think much of the Prime Minister'".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved8 February2023.
  34. ^Overington, Caroline (30 January 2021)."Can a bloke from Logan be Labor's saviour?".The Australian.
  35. ^Who's Who in Australia 2022.Southbank, Victoria: Directories. 2021. p. 351.ISBN978-1-74095-470-9.
  36. ^Massola, James (2 March 2023)."The Boss PM versus Teen Spirit treasurer: The generational divide at the heart of government".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved15 May2023.
  37. ^Snow, Deborah (17 November 2023)."'I don't do moderation, in anything': Why Treasurer Jim Chalmers went on the wagon ".The Sydney Morning Herald.Retrieved7 June2024.

External links[edit]

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member of Parliamentfor Rankin
2013–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Treasurer of Australia
2022–present 		Incumbent
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