Jim Chalmers

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The Honourable
Jim Chalmers
MP
Chalmers in 2020
Treasurer of Australia
Assumed office
23 May 2022
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
Preceded byJosh Frydenberg
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Rankin
Assumed office
7 September 2013
Preceded byCraig Emerson
Personal details
Born (1978-03-02) 2 March 1978 (age 46)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
Spouse
Laura Anderson
​
(m. 2013)​
Children3
Alma mater
Websitewww.jimchalmers.org

James Edward Chalmers (born 2 March 1978) is an Australian politician, currently serving as the 41st treasurer of Australia since 23 May 2022.[1] He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and has served as a member of parliament for the division of Rankin since 2013.

Chalmers was born in Brisbane, and attended the Australian National University, where he achieved a PhD in political science. At the 2013 Australian federal election, Chalmers won the seat of Rankin in Brisbane's south, entering the House of Representatives. He served in the shadow ministries of Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, before assuming the role of treasurer after Labor's victory in the 2022 federal election.

Early life

Chalmers was born in Brisbane,[2] 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.[3]

Chalmers grew up in Logan City in Brisbane's south.[4] He attended Catholic schools before going on to Griffith University, where he completed the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Communications. He went on to complete a PhD in political science at the Australian National University, writing his doctoral thesis on the prime ministership of Paul Keating,[2][3] titled "Brawler statesman: Paul Keating and prime ministerial leadership in Australia".[5]

Chalmers was one of eleven Parliamentarians in the 46th Parliament of Australia who possesses a PhD, the others being Katie Allen, Fiona Martin, Anne Aly, Andrew Leigh, Daniel Mulino, Jess Walsh, Adam Bandt, Mehreen Faruqi, Anne Webster and Helen Haines.[6]

Early political involvement

From 1999 to 2001, Chalmers worked under Queensland premier Peter Beattie as 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 Treasurer Wayne Swan from 2005 to 2006, deputy chief of staff to Opposition Leader Kim Beazley in 2006, and a senior adviser to New South Wales premier Morris Iemma from 2006 to 2007. After Labor won the 2007 federal election, Chalmers returned to work for Wayne Swan in the Department of the Treasury, as deputy chief of staff and principal adviser (2007–2010) and then as chief of staff (2010–2013).[2] He briefly served as the executive director of the Chifley Research Centre in 2013.[7] In the same year he published Glory Daze, a book about the disconnect between Australia's strong economic performance and popular discontent with government.[8]

Member of Parliament

Opposition (2013–2022)

Chalmers (right) in 2016

Chalmers was elected to parliament at the 2013 federal election, replacing the retiring ALP member Craig Emerson in the Division of Rankin. He defeated former MP Brett Raguse for Labor preselection.[9] Chalmers was made a shadow parliamentary secretary in October 2013, a shadow minister in October 2015, and promoted to the shadow cabinet after the 2016 election as Shadow Minister for Finance.[2]

After the 2019 federal election, Chalmers publicly considered running to succeed Bill Shorten as party leader and Leader of the Opposition. His relative youth and status as a Queenslander were seen as potential assets, as well as his membership of the Labor Right faction. However, some within his faction had already chosen to support the Labor Left candidate Anthony Albanese.[10][11] 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.[12] He was subsequently appointed Shadow Treasurer in Albanese's cabinet.[13]

Albanese government (2022–present)

Labor was victorious in the 2022 Australian federal election,[14] 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 Treasurer of Australia. He was also the interim Minister for Home Affairs until the full ministry was sworn in after the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.[15] In October 2022, Chalmers handed down his first budget.[16]

Political positions

Chalmers is a member of the Labor Right faction.[17][18] 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".[19]

According to political scientist Carol Johnson, Chalmers' 2013 book Glory Daze "defined Labor as standing for intergenerational mobility, aspiration and the Fair Go, while emphasising the importance of sound economic management". His 2017 book Changing Jobs: The fair go in the new machine age, co-authored with telecommunications executive Mike Quigley, argued that future governments should consider a robot tax to reduce the impact of technological unemployment. He has also expressed positive views on the concept of a universal 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. His campaigning focused on cost of living issues but also emphasised the need to work co-operatively with business.[20]

Personal life

In March 2013 Chalmers married Laura Anderson, a journalist and writer who worked as a staffer to Penny Wong and Julia Gillard. The couple have three children. Their wedding, attended by Gillard and Wayne Swan among others, occurred two days after an ALP leadership spill. While in attendance Gillard "convened a council of war in a specially set-aside room to frame a new ministry".[3]

References

  1. ^ Wu, David (22 May 2022). "Five Labor MPs to be immediately sworn in ahead of key Quad trip". Sky News Australia. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Dr Jim Chalmers MP". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Walker, Jamie (6 June 2020). "Chalmers plays the long game". Weekend Australian Magazine. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  4. ^ "Member for Rankin". Australian Labor Party. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  5. ^ Chalmers, Jim. "Brawler statesman: Paul Keating and prime ministerial leadership in Australia". Australian National University. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  6. ^ "Pathways to Parliament". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Jim Chalmers". Chifley Research Centre.
  8. ^ "Former Swan advisor Jim Chalmers sees the glass as half full". www.abc.net.au. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  9. ^ "Labor candidate Jim Chalmers doesn't deny writing Wayne Swan's blistering criticism of Kevin Rudd". ABC News. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Labor MPs 'fuming' as Jim Chalmers told to clear the way for Albanese or face payback". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  11. ^ "Labor leadership: Queensland MP Jim Chalmers still considering run against Albanese". Guardian Australia. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Jim Chalmers out of Labor's deputy race". The Australian. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Labor leader Anthony Albanese announces frontbench in wake of federal election 2019". 2 June 2019. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  14. ^ "Votes for Labor and the Coalition plummet to all-time low as Australia swings away from major parties". The Guardian. London. 28 May 2022. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Jim Chalmers indicates 'substantial progress' on returning Murugappan family to Biloela". The Guardian. 25 May 2022.
  16. ^ "Jim Chalmers just handed down his first federal budget, but did he get his facts straight?". ABC News. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Jim Chalmers willing to battle Anthony Albanese for Labor leadership in federal election 2019 aftermath". ABC News. 20 May 2019.
  18. ^ Massola, James (14 February 2021). "What are Labor's factions and who's who in the Left and Right?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  19. ^ Walker, Tony (1 February 2016). "New Labor Courtyard Group tries to find a third way". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  20. ^ 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 Conservation. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

External links

 

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