Joseph Warrington Bullock (born 13 April 1955) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

for the state of Western Australia from 2013 to 2016, representing the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

Education and career

Bullock was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and was educated at Trinity Grammar, an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

school, and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. He was a friend of former Australian Prime Minister

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is an Australian former politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia and was the member of parli ...

and suggested Abbott join the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

. Bullock moved to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and became Assistant Secretary of the

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is a private sector trade union in Australia, representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and has branches in each state and territory. Its membership is predominantly ...

(SDA) in 1986. He became Western Australian state secretary of the union in 1996. He was National Vice-president of the union from 2004 to 2014. The SDA is one of the largest unions affiliated to the Labor Party and is influential in the party's right-wing faction.

Political career

As state secretary of the SDA, Bullock wielded considerable power in the WA branch of the Labor Party. He was influential in blocking Labor support of Sunday trading in WA, which the SDA opposes. He also unsuccessfully opposed changing Labor's policy to support

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. Bullock ran for the state Legislative Assembly at the 1994 Helena by-election, caused by the resignation of former Labor minister Gordon Hill. The Labor Party suffered a negative swing of 2.3 points, which was enough to cost them the seat.

Richard Court Richard Fairfax Court (born 27 September 1947) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001 and as Australian Ambassador to Japan from 2017 to 2020. A member of the Liberal Party ...

's Liberal government became the first state government since 1943 to increase their majority at a by-election. In the lead-up to the

2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Coalition (Australia), Liberal/National Coalition Opposition (Australia), opposition led by ...

Bullock reportedly secured a deal with the secretary of

United Voice United Voice was an Australian trade union from 1992 to 2019. It merged with the National Union of Workers to form the United Workers Union in 2019. United Voice was part of the Labor Left faction of the Australian Labor Party. The union was ...

, Dave Kelly, whereby Bullock would take the number one position from left-aligned Senator

Louise Pratt Louise Clare Pratt (born 18 April 1972) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2016 and will leave office on 30 June 2025, She was previously a Senator from 2008 to 2014. She is a member of the Labor Part ...

in exchange for Kelly's choice of

Sue Lines Susan Lines (born 15 December 1953) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2013, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the current President of the Australian Senate, having previously bee ...

to fill the Senate seat vacated by Chris Evans. Bullock was elected to the Senate as the lead candidate on Labor's ticket in Western Australia, but in February 2014 the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

ruled the election void. A special election to elect Western Australia's senators was held on 5 April 2014, with Bullock again being elected. His term commenced on 1 July 2014. Bullock was blamed by figures from Labor's left faction for the party's poor showing in the Senate re-vote.

, a left-wing union, called for Bullock to resign his Senate place. The Labor member for Bassendean, Martin Whitely, quit the Labor party in 2013 in protest over Bullock's pre-selection for the federal Senate election that year. During the campaign for the 2014 WA Senate election, details of Bullock's speech given at a function in November 2013 were made public. In the speech, Bullock criticised fellow senate candidate Louise Pratt and described some members of the Labor Party as "untrustworthy" and "mad." Bullock issued an apology before the election. On 1 March 2016, Bullock announced that he was resigning from the Senate after less than two years in the parliament. He cited the Labor Party's policy to bind parliamentary members to voting to support

after 2019, among other reasons, for his resignation. Bullock tendered his resignation to Senate President Stephen Parry on 13 April 2016.

Personal life

Bullock is a member of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

. His wife, Helen Bullock, represented the Mining and Pastoral region in the

Legislative Council of Western Australia The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

from 2009 to her retirement in 2013. Unusually for a Labor Party politician, Bullock is opposed to

Australian republicanism Republicanism in Australia is a movement to change Australia's system of government from a constitutional monarchy to a republic; presumably, a form of parliamentary republic that would replace the monarch of Australia (currently King Charle ...

, and spoke at the 2014 national conference of the

Australian Monarchist League The Australian Monarchist League (AML) is a voluntary association that advocates for the retention of Australia's constitutional monarchy. The organisation supported the "No" vote in the 1999 republic referendum, which asked citizens whether t ...

.Nick Butterly (13 November 2014)
"Bullock speaks against republic push"
– ''The West Australian''. Retrieved 18 February 2015. In May 2018, Bullock moved to

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

and joined the

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Joe Bullock on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullock, Joe 1955 births Living people People educated at Trinity Grammar School (New South Wales) University of Sydney alumni Australian Anglicans Australian monarchists Trade unionists from Western Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians