Mark Butler

Mark Butler

Mark Butler (born 8 July 1970) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2007. He was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd governments and also served as national president of the ALP from 2015 to 2018.

Butler studied arts and law at the University of Adelaide and international relations at Deakin University. Prior to entering parliament he was the South Australian secretary of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU). He was elected to the seat of Port Adelaide at the 2007 federal election, later switching to Hindmarsh in 2019. Butler was made a parliamentary secretary in 2009, becoming a minister after the 2010 election and winning promotion to cabinet the following year. He subsequently held the portfolios of Minister for Mental Health and Ageing (2010–2013), Social Inclusion (2011–2013), Housing and Homelessness (2013), Environment and Water (2013), and Climate Change (2013).

After the ALP's defeat at the 2013 election, Butler was a member of shadow cabinet under opposition leaders Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, He is a senior member of the Labor Left faction and was elected to a three-year term as national president in 2015.

Early life

Butler was born in Canberra on 8 July 1970, the son of Lindsay Nicholson andDavid Butler. His mother was a peace and anti-nuclear activist and campaigned to elect the Hawke and Keating governments.

He graduated from the University of Adelaidewith a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws with first class honours. While at university he worked as a paralegal at Duncan Basheer Hannon (DBH). He was short-listed for a Rhodes Scholarship, and later completed a Master of International Relations degree at Deakin University.

Butler was active in student politics while at university. He was a housemate of future state MP Patrick Conlon and developed friendships with future premier Jay Weatherill and future federal minister Penny Wong.

LEAN connections

LEAN Australia - Labor Environment Action Network February 24, 2021

Our national organiser Lou handing over 500 signatures and messages of thanks for Mark Butler MP. So many appreciated his advocacy for action on climate as well as his preparedness to genuinely engage with Labor rank and file. He was chuffed.

Mark Butler with Peter Nisbet, Sean Kelly and Peter Casey.

LEAN Australia - Labor Environment Action Network May 16, 2018

Albo in full flight at LEAN Inner West’s public forum, with Mark Butler MP talking climate change in Sydney’s Balmain Town Hall. So great to see such a great crew and two of our favourite climate change advocates in the Federal parliamentary party. Yay to local LEAN branches springing up all over the country! Anthony Albanese MP.

LEAN meeting

Young Labor Left - NSW April 2014.

It was great to be at LEAN Australia - Labor Environment Action Network's event last night to discuss Labor's response to climate change with Shadow Climate Change Minister Mark Butler and Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Tanya Plibersek.

— with David Bailey-Mckay, Erin Watt, Elsa Kohane, Steven Moore, Mark Butler, Lyndal Butler, Neha Madhok, Penny Sharpe, Darcy Byrne.

Left backing

Renewable Energy Superpower

June 2016, Australian Greens Senator Robert Simms will be speaking at Renewable Energy Superpower, the fifth part in the acclaimed Zero Carbon Australia series. Zero Carbon Australia is a joint project betweenBeyond Zero Emissions and The University of Melbourne's Energy Research Institute.

The Renewable Energy Superpower report highlights the feedbacks anticipated by the global transition to clean energy and the opportunities this presents for Australia.

While Australia's emissions intensive exports face declining prospects, the global build out of clean energy is a once in a lifetime industrial opportunity.

The presentation by BZE CEO Dr Stephen Bygrave will be introduced by Friends of the Earth Adelaide's Roman Orszanski, and is supported and organised by FoE Adelaide and the Conservation Council of South Australia.

The Adelaide Superpower panelists include:

Senator Robert Simms - Australian Greens - Federal Senator for South Australia, Lisa Lumsden - Repower Port Augusta, the Hon Mark Butler MP - ALP - Labor Shadow Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water and National President of the Australian Labor Party, Professor Hugh Saddler - Adjunct Associate Professor, Crawford School, ANU, Darrin Spinks - Executive Chair, HeliostatSA, Andrew Bray - National Coordinator, Australian Wind Alliance.

Trade union career

In 1992, Butler joined the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union (LHMU) as a legal officer through his connections with Conlon. He made appearances before industrial tribunals, "pushing for cleaners and hospital workers to get better pay". In 1996 he was elected state secretary of the LHMU.