Joseph William Ludwig (born 21 July 1959) is an Australian

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and retired 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 Queensland from July 1999 to May 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 ...

. Ludwig served in a range of portfolios in the first Rudd and the second Gillard ministries until his resignation from Cabinet as the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister Assisting the Attorney-General on Queensland Floods Recovery, in 2013.

Background and early career

Ludwig was born in

Longreach Longreach is a rural town and locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and I ...

and has lived and worked in various locations throughout regional Australia. He is married and lives in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

with his wife and two daughters. His father,

Bill Ludwig William Patrick Ludwig (25 May 1934 – 11 April 2022) was an Australian trade union official, who served as National President of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), with a brief interruption, from 1989 to 2017. He served two terms from ...

, was National President of the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoralism, pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 ...

, one of Australia's largest trade unions, and a powerful figure in the Queensland branch of the Labor Party. Ludwig (junior) was educated at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, and the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, where he completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. Ludwig began his career as an Industrial Inspector and Training Consultant, before moving to the Queensland Branch of the Australian Workers' Union. Prior to entering the Australian Senate, Ludwig was a barrister and served with the Australian Army Reserve.

Parliamentary career

A member of the Australian Labor Party since 1978, Ludwig was elected to the Senate in 1998, 2004 and 2010. Senator Ludwig was a Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate 2000–01, and was elected to the Opposition Shadow Ministry in October 2004 as Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs and Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate. He was promoted to Shadow Attorney-General and Manager of Opposition Business in March 2007 following the resignation of

Kelvin Thomson Kelvin John Thomson (born 1 May 1955) is a former Australian politician. He served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Australian Labor Party, representing the Division of Wills in Victoria, from March 1996 until Ma ...

. Ludwig was appointed Minister for Human Services following the 2007 federal election. He was the Manager of Government Business in the Senate, under both the Rudd and Gillard governments until 2012. Ludwig was promoted to Cabinet Secretary and Special Minister of State in June 2009. Following the 2010 federal election, Ludwig was appointed as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. As Minister he has been responsible for significant reforms to the industry. Following the airing of animal cruelty to Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs, the Government temporarily suspended the live export trade while strict animal welfare standards to the trade were introduced. On 5 January 2011 he was given the added responsibility of Minister Assisting the Attorney-General on Queensland Floods Recovery. In that role Ludwig has overseen the Commonwealth's response to major natural disasters in Queensland, including the 2010-11 floods,

Cyclone Yasi Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi () was a powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that made landfall in northern Queensland, Australia in early 2011, causing major damage to the affected areas. Originating as a tropical low near Fiji on 26 Janu ...

and the

January 2013 Eastern Australia floods Tropical Cyclone Oswald was a tropical cyclone that passed over parts of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia over a number of days, causing widespread impact including severe storms, flooding, and water spouts. Coastal regions of Queen ...

. He has been responsible for negotiating additional assistance measures directly with the Queensland Government and local councils. Following those discussions, the Queensland Support Package was announced by the Prime Minister in February 2013. In 2013 Ludwig unveiled three policies for agriculture, fisheries and forestry. The Farm Finance package was released in Townsville with the Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan after direct meetings with farm groups and finance providers. In May the National Drought Reform Program agreement was signed between the Federal Government and all states and territories, bringing long standing discussions to a close. Ludwig said that it would end an old system that was unfair. Finally, Ludwig launched the National Food Plan in late May 2013, providing a roadmap for Australia's future food to support increased exports and global demand for Australian food. Ludwig resigned from the Cabinet following the June 2013 leadership spill after supporting Julia Gillard. He issued a statement to advise that he would not take an appointment to the Cabinet under the leadership of

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

in 'good faith' to the party and the leadership. Ludwig stated that he was proud of his achievements and the achievements of the Labor government. On 9 March 2015 Ludwig announced he would not contest the next Senate election.ABC online
Retrieved 31 March 2015 His Senate term ended at the

double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolutio ...

of 9 May 2016.

References

External links

*
Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Joe Ludwig on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwig, Joe 1959 births Living people Australian people of German descent People from Longreach, Queensland Queensland University of Technology alumni Australian National University alumni Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Members of the Cabinet of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian politicians

Background and early career

Parliamentary career

See also

References

External links