John Faulkner

John Faulkner

John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian former politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate from 1989 to 2015, representing the state of New South Wales. Following a period serving on various Senate Committees and as Deputy Whip, he was a Minister in the Keating Labor government 1993–96. Following several years in opposition as a Shadow Minister, he was appointed in 2007 as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Special Minister of State in the First Rudd Government. He was Minister for Defence from June 2009 to September 2010.Faulkner sat on the backbench from the 2010 election until his resignation, and is considered by some as an elder statesman. On 1 July 2014, he became the Father of the Australian Senate until he resigned on 6 February 2015, with the title passing to Senator Ian Macdonald. Faulkner is a Member of the Board of the Global Panel Foundation – Australasia – an NGO that works behind the scenes in crisis areas around the world.

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