Jenny Macklin

The Honourable Jenny Macklin BComm (Hons) (Melb), MP
Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 December 2007
Constituency	Jagajaga
Personal details
Born	(1953-09-29) 29 September 1953 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Residence	Ivanhoe, Victoria
Website	JennyMacklin.com

Jennifer Louise Macklin (born 29 December 1953), is an Australian politician. She is Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in the Gillard Ministry. She has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Jagajaga, Victoria.

Early life

Born in Brisbane, Queensland, Macklin grew up in country Victoria. She spent time in Japan as a student before graduating from the University of Melbourne with an honours degree in economics.

Career

Macklin was a researcher at the Australian National University in 1976–78, an economics research specialist with the Parliamentary Library in Canberra 1978–81, Research Coordinator at the Labour Resource Centre in Melbourne 1981–85, an adviser to the Victorian Minister for Health 1985–88, director of the federal government's National Health Strategy 1990–93 and director of the Australian Urban and Regional Development Review 1993–95.

On her election to Parliament, Macklin was immediately elected a member of the Opposition Shadow Cabinet, where she served in a number of roles, including Shadow Minister for Aged Care, Social Security and the Status of Women. After the 1998 election, Macklin became Shadow Minister for Health. She is a member of the Socialist Left faction of the Labor Party.

Jenny Macklin (left) with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd at the apology for the "stolen generations"

After the ALP's defeat at the 2001 election, Macklin was elected Deputy Leader to Simon Crean. She was the first woman to hold a leadership position in either Australian major party. She took on the position of Shadow Minister for Education. Following Crean's replacement as leader by Mark Latham in December 2003, and Latham's subsequent resignation in January 2005, Macklin retained her position. Remaining as deputy leader under Kim Beazley, Macklin became the first person to be deputy to three leaders of the ALP since Frank Forde.

On 1 December 2006, Macklin's position as deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party came under threat after Kim Beazley called for a spill of all the leadership positions in a bid to end growing speculation over the issue. Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Kevin Rudd, and Shadow Minister for Health, Julia Gillard, announced their intentions to run against Beazley and Macklin as a team for the positions of leader and deputy leader respectively of the party. On the day of the ballot, Macklin effectively stepped down from the position, choosing not to contest the deputy leadership after Kevin Rudd was elected as the new party leader. Macklin was once again elected to the Shadow frontbench, and was appointed Shadow Minister for Families & Community Services and Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation. She maintained these portfolios in government after Labor's victory in the 2007 election, overseeing the formal apology to the "stolen generations" delivered by Kevin Rudd in February 2008.

Balgo visit

After visiting Balgo in Western Australia, Macklin was reported to have said, "I do not believe that specific issues regarding CDEP providers or job service providers failing to follow proper procedures and regulations were raised with me during my visit to Balgo," she said. "Now that these issues have been brought to my attention, they will be investigated by my department." Despite, 'Traditional owner Olive Darkie said the community was hurting: "I told Jenny Macklin, I was waiting for the answer but got no answer. They haven't changed anything. It's got worse since they came in. People don't know where to go."'

See also

• First Rudd Ministry

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Mal Brough	Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2007–present	Incumbent
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Peter Staples	Member for Jagajaga 1996–present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Simon Crean	Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party 2001–2006	Succeeded by Julia Gillard