Brendan O'Connor - Member for Gorton

Minister for Employment Participation

Parliament House

Suite MG 51
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Tel:

(02) 6277 7630

Fax:

(02) 6273 5188

Email:

Email Brendan

Contact Details

900A Old Calder Highway
KEILOR VIC 3036

Tel:

(03) 8361 6588

Fax:

(03) 8361 6577

Email:

Email Brendan

Web:

http://www.brendanoconnor.com.au

Biography

Brendan O'Connor was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2001 as the Member for Burke. At the 2004 federal election, Brendan was elected to the newly created electoral division of Gorton.

On 10 December 2006 Brendan was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Industrial Relations. Brendan is the Chair of the Federal Labor Parliamentary Industrial Relations Taskforce which reported on the ALP’s assessment of the impact of WorkChoices on Australian workers.

Since the election of a Rudd Labor Government in November 2007, Brendan is now the Minister for Employment Participation.

Prior to entering Parliament, Brendan was a Union official from 1986 to 2001, most recently Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union from 1993 to 2001.

Brendan holds a BA and a LLB from Monash University, and a Diploma in Industrial Relations from Harvard University.

Electorate Profile

State: Victoria

Name Derivation: Named after former Prime Minister Sir John Gorton, who served as Prime Minister between 1968-71.

Area and Location Description: Gorton covers an area of approximately 166 sq km. It includes the suburbs of Albanvale, Ardeer, Burnside, Cairnlea, Caroline Springs, Deer Park, Delahey, Derrimut, Hillside (part), Keilor (part), Keilor Downs, Keilor Lodge, Keilor North, Kings Park, Plumpton (part), Rockbank (part), St Albans (part), Sunshine West, Sydenham, Taylors Hill, Taylors Lakes and Truganina (part).

Products/Industries of the Area: Market gardens along the Maribyrnong River to the north, as well as industrial estates to the south.

First Proclaimed/Election: 2003/2004

Demographic Rating: Outer Metropolitan

Members:

• O'Connor, B (ALP) 2004-