Andrew Robb

Infobox Politician
name =Andrew Robb


caption =
birth_date =Birth date and age|1951|8|20|df=y
birth_place = Epping, Victoria
residence =
death_date =
death_place =
office = Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs
term_start = Dec 2007
predecessor = Robert McClelland
successor =
party = Liberal Party of Australia
constituency = Goldstein
majority = 6%
website = [http://www.andrewrobb.com.au andrewrobb.com.au]
footnotes =

Andrew John Robb AO (born 20 August 1951), Australian politician, was elected to the House of Representatives as member for the Division of Goldstein, Victoria for the Liberal Party of Australia at the 2004 federal election.

Robb, one of nine children, was born on a dairy farm in Epping which lies 18km north of Melbourne. He was educated at Dookie Agricultural College and La Trobe University, and has qualifications in economics and agricultural science. He was an agricultural economist with the Victorian Department of Agriculture and a Tutor in Economics at La Trobe University before being an economist for the National Farmers' Federation, and later Executive Director of both the National Farmers' Federation and the Cattle Council of Australia.

Robb became Deputy Director of the Liberal Party before being appointed Chief of Staff to Andrew Peacock, then Leader of the Opposition, in 1989. In 1990, following Peacock's resignation after his election defeat, Robb was appointed Federal Director of the Liberal Party.

In this capacity Robb worked with the next Leader of the Liberal Party, John Hewson, in the unsuccessful 1993 federal election campaign. He was a Federal Director and campaign manager for John Howard in the 1996 federal election campaign, which defeated the Keating government and brought the Liberals to power after 13 years in Opposition.

Robb resigned in 1997 (he was replaced by Lynton Crosby) and became a business consultant based in Sydney. He was Honorary Finance Director for the NSW Division of the Liberal Party and a member of the NSW State Executive. In that time Robb also sat on the boards of numerous Australian companies including Australia's largest consulting engineering company, Sinclair Knight Merz. Robb was also a board member of community organisations including the Garvan Medical Research Foundation and the 'Big Brothers Big Sisters' organisation. In 2003, Robb was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to politics, agriculture and the community. [ [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1042129&search_type=quick&showInd=true It's an Honour] - Officer of the Order of Australia]

By 2004, when he sought Liberal endorsement for the safe Liberal seat of Goldstein in Melbourne, he had not lived in Melbourne for 14 years, a source of some controversy in the local press. Nevertheless he was comfortably elected, and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs on 27 January 2006.

His term as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs was marked by introducing a Citizenship discussion paper which encouraged public debate about whether Australia required a formal citizenship test. Robb also focused on dealing with settlement issues for refugees and the challenges of multi-faith relations in Australia.

In 2007, Robb was elevated to the Ministry and took on the role as Minister for Vocational and Further Education.

Robb is also the co-publisher of "The Party Room" alongside Senator Mitch Fifield, a journal designed to promote new policy discussion within the Federal Coalition.

Following the Liberal Party's defeat at the 2007 federal election, Robb put himself forward as a candidate for Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party. In a ballot of Liberal caucus members, Julie Bishop prevailed with 44 votes, ahead of Robb who won 25 votes and Christopher Pyne 18 votes. [cite news | title=Nelson's victory puts Turnbull on deck | publisher=Sydney Morning Herald | date=20 November 2007 | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nelsons-victory-puts-turnbull-on-deck/2007/11/29/1196037074481.html?page=fullpage] The new Leader of the Liberal Party, former Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson, announced that Robb would be Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs in the new Coalition Shadow Cabinet.

References

External links

* [http://www.publicaffairsasia.com/publicaffairsasia/AnalysisView.do?id=118 Andrew Robb writes for PublicAffairsAsia]
* [http://www.andrewrobb.com.au Official Site]

s-ttl|title=Member for Goldstein
years=2004 – presents-ttl|title=Minister for Vocational and Further Education
years=2007 – 2007