John Faulkner

The Honourable John Faulkner
Father of the Australian Senate
In office 1 July 2014 – 6 February 2015
Preceded by	Ron Boswell
Succeeded by	Ian Macdonald
Minister for Defence
In office 9 June 2009 – 13 September 2010
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Joel Fitzgibbon
Succeeded by	Stephen Smith
Vice-President of the Executive Council
In office 3 December 2007 – 13 September 2010
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Nick Minchin
Succeeded by	Robert McClelland
National President of the Labor Party
In office 10 January 2007 – 27 February 2008
Preceded by	Warren Mundine
Succeeded by	Mike Rann
Special Minister of State
In office 3 December 2007 – 9 June 2009
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Gary Nairn
Succeeded by	Joe Ludwig
Minister for the Environment
In office 25 March 1994 – 11 March 1996
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Graham Richardson
Succeeded by	Robert Hill
Minister for Defence Science and Personnel
In office 24 March 1993 – 25 March 1994
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Gordon Bilney
Succeeded by	Gary Punch
Minister for Veterans' Affairs
In office 24 March 1993 – 25 March 1994
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Ben Humphreys
Succeeded by	Con Sciacca
Senator for New South Wales
In office 4 April 1989 – 6 February 2015
Preceded by	Arthur Gietzelt
Succeeded by	Jenny McAllister
Personal details
Born	(1954-04-12) 12 April 1954 (age 70) Leeton, Australia
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Alma mater	Macquarie University

John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments.

After his election to the Senate in 1989, Prime Minister Paul Keating appointed Faulkner as Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister for Defence Science and Personnel in 1993. In 1994, Faulkner was moved to the position of Minister for the Environment, which he held until Labor's defeat in 1996. He later served as the Leader of the Labor Party in the Senate from 1996 to 2005, and returned to Cabinet upon Labor's election in 2007, after Kevin Rudd made him Vice-President of the Executive Council and Special Minister of State. He later served as Minister for Defence from 2009 to 2010, when he retired from frontline politics.^[1] He became the Father of the Australian Senate in 2014, and retired from Parliament altogether a year later by way of resignation,^[2][3] and is considered by some as an elder statesman.^[4] Faulkner has since been a member of the board of the Global Panel Foundation – Australasia – an NGO that works global in crisis areas.^[5]