Religion Roman Catholic Role Australian Senator | Occupation Union leader Name Don Farrell Spouse Nimfa Farrell | |
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Office Australian Senator since 2008 | ||
Sen don farrell valedictory speech 2014
Donald Edward Farrell (born 6 June 1954) is a former Australian politician and trade union leader. He was a Labor member of the Australian Senate from 2008 to 2014, representing the state of South Australia. Appointed the Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water on 14 September 2010, Farrell was promoted into the outer ministry on 25 March 2013 as the Minister for Science and Research and the Minister Assisting on Tourism, in the Second Gillard Ministry. On 1 July 2013 Farrell was appointed the Minister for Sport as well as remaining Minister Assisting on Tourism in the Second Rudd Ministry.
Contents
- Sen don farrell valedictory speech 2014
- Albanese demands gender balance in Labor leadership team
- Federal parliament
- Controversy
- State politics
- References
Before entering the Senate, Farrell was the South Australian Secretary and the National President of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) union and a leader of Labor Unity in South Australia.
He was defeated at the 2013 federal election, his term concluding 30 June 2014.
Albanese demands gender balance in Labor leadership team
Federal parliament
Farrell first ran for parliament at the 1988 Adelaide by-election but was unsuccessful.
In June 2007, Farrell won preselection for the first position on Labor's Senate ticket in the 2007 election and he was subsequently the first elected senator for South Australia at the general election.
Following the 2010 Australian Election, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water. On 25 March 2013, Farrell was promoted into the Outer Ministry as the Minister for Science and Research and the Minister Assisting on Tourism. On 1 July 2013 as part of the Second Rudd Ministry, Farrell was appointed the Minister for Sport as well as remaining Minister Assisting on Tourism.
He was defeated at the 2013 federal election. His term in the Senate ended 30 June 2014.
Controversy
Farrell was listed as number six on the top ten political fixers as identified by The Power Index website. Where the article states that Labor's former deputy leader, Ralph Clarke commented:
"He controls the pre-selection directly or indirectly of every MP in South Australia. If you want to get on, you get on with Don."
In 2012, he was again selected as the first candidate on Labor's Senate ticket in the 2013 federal election, causing some controversy as he beat Penny Wong, a senior minister in the Second Gillard Ministry and a member of the Australian Cabinet for the top spot. Anthony Albanese accused union power brokers of not listening to the electorate and instead focusing on its own ructions. He labelled the move as:
"...gross self-indulgent rubbish.... [taken by] ....those who should care more about the party and less about themselves."
He stated that he would demand that Labor's national executive overturn the decision and promote Senator Wong to the number one spot. On 30 October 2012, Farrell stepped aside to give Wong the number one spot on Labor's senate ticket for the 2013 election. He was quoted as saying:
"I was concerned that the issue was damaging the Labor Party. ..... I was prepared to do a swap with Penny. This is a case whereby modern Labor can't be seen to be concentrating on our internals at the expense of what is going on out there in the electorate and what is expected."
Wong later expressed favourable sentiments about Farrell after his decision to stand aside:
"Throughout his career, Don has always put the Labor Party first and he has demonstrated that principle again today."
State politics
It was announced in January 2014 that Michael O'Brien offered his state seat of Napier to Farrell, to contest for Labor at the 2014 South Australian election. Premier Jay Weatherill threatened to resign if Farrell was successfully preselected. A few hours later, Farrell withdrew his nomination.