Joel Fitzgibbon

The Honourable Joel Fitzgibbon
Fitzgibbon in 2008
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
In office 2 July 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Joe Ludwig
Succeeded by	Barnaby Joyce
Chief Government Whip in the House
In office 27 September 2010 – 14 May 2013
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Roger Price
Succeeded by	Chris Hayes
Minister for Defence
In office 3 December 2007 – 4 June 2009
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Brendan Nelson
Succeeded by	John Faulkner
Member of the Australian Parliament for Hunter
In office 2 March 1996 – 22 April 2022
Preceded by	Eric Fitzgibbon
Succeeded by	Daniel Repacholi
Personal details
Born	Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon (1962-01-16) 16 January 1962 (age 62) Bellingen, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Labor
Spouse	Dianne
Relations	Eric Fitzgibbon (father)
Children	3
Website	www.joelfitzgibbon.com

Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon (born 16 January 1962) is a retired Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives from 1996 to 2022, representing the New South Wales seat of Hunter. He served as Minister for Defence (2007–2009) in the first Rudd government and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (2013) in the second Rudd government. He was also Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives (2010–2013) in the Gillard government.

Fitzgibbon succeeded his father Eric in federal parliament. He is aligned with the Centre Unity faction in NSW, part of the federal Labor Right faction.^[1][2] Since the 2019 election, he has become a vocal critic of stronger climate change policies, calling a potential 2030 target "delusional",^[3] and claiming that any embrace of more ambitious policies will alienate working-class support of Labor.^[4][5]