Mark Robert Buttigieg (born 11 June 1966) is an Australian politician and trade unionist, currently serving Parliamentary Secretary for

Industrial Relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor union, labor/trade unions, employer organ ...

, Work Health and Safety, and

Multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

in the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

. He was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

at the

2019 New South Wales state election The 2019 New South Wales state election was held on Saturday 23 March 2019 to elect the 57th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the Legislative Council. The election was ...

Early life

Buttigieg was born in Sydney to Maltese parents who immigrated to Australia in the 1950s. At fifteen, Mark began an electrical apprenticeship with

Sydney County Council The Sydney County Council (SCC) was a County council (New South Wales), county council established in 1935 to produce electricity and operate the electricity network in a number of municipalities in metropolitan Sydney. SCC was established by t ...

and later became an electrical systems operator then training manager for Energy Australia. He has a certificate in electrical engineering and an electrical trade certificate. He also holds an arts degree in political science and an economics degree with first-class honours.

Politics

Buttigieg stood for the Labor Party in the

Division of Cook The Division of Cook is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, State of New South Wales. History Cook was created in 1969, mostly out of the Liberal ...

at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and 2007 federal elections. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he was elected as a councillor on the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire is located approximately south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and comprises an area of . As at the ...

Council, representing C Ward and serving a single term. He did not seek re-election in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. He later moved to

Kyeemagh Kyeemagh ( ) is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, on the western shore of Botany Bay. Kyeemagh is in the local government area of the Bays ...

and became Secretary of the Rockdale branch of the Labor Party. He also worked as an organiser for the

Electrical Trades Union of Australia The Electrical Trades Union of Australia (ETU) is an Australian trade union. The ETU is a division of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union of Australia, Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU), and is the largest of t ...

(ETU). In 2015, Buttigieg criticised calls from

Kogarah Kogarah () is a suburb of Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kogarah is located 14 kilometres (9 miles) south-west of the Sydney central business district and is considered to be the centre of the St George area. Loc ...

MP,

Chris Minns Christopher John Minns (born 17 September 1979) is an Australian politician serving as the 47th and current premier of New South Wales since March 2023. He has been the leader of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) si ...

to reduce union influence in the Labor Party. In 2016, Buttigieg sought Labor preselection for the federal seat of Barton. Ultimately,

Linda Burney Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian Labor Party (ALP) politician who was the member of Parliament (MP) for the division of Barton from 2016 to 2025. She was the minister for Indigenous Australians from 2022 to July 2024. S ...

was preselected and won the seat. He was elected to the

at the

. He was appointed Opposition Legislative Council Whip and as Deputy Chair of the Selection of Bills Committee on 2 July 2019. In 2021, he was appointed as Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Issues. He served in these roles until the 2023 election. Following the election of the Minns government, Buttigieg was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for

, Work Health and Safety, and

. On 19 October 2023, Buttigieg signed an open letter which condemned attacks against Israeli and Palestinian civilians during the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttigieg, Mark Living people Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Australian electricians Australian trade unionists Australian people of Maltese descent 1966 births 21st-century Australian politicians