Matthew James Thistlethwaite (born 6 September 1972) is an Australian politician. He has been an

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 ...

member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

since 2013, representing the electorate of Kingsford Smith. Since 29 July 2024, Thistlethwaite has served as the Assistant Minister for Immigration in the ministry of

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

. He is also serving as Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade since May 2025. Thistlethwaite is a senior figure in the

Labor Right The Labor Right (LR), also known as Labor Forum, Labor Unity or simply Unity, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social democratic to Third Way economic policies ...

faction and stands as the current convenor of the NSW branch. Before joining Parliament, he was the general secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party. He served as 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 ...

from 2011 to 2013. From 1 June 2022 to 29 July 2024, Thistlethwaite served as Assistant Minister for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and the Republic.

Early life

Thistlethwaite 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 ...

on 6 September 1972. He grew up in the suburb of Maroubra in a Catholic family. His father was a Qantas steward. He is the eldest of three siblings. He graduated from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

with a Bachelor of Economics, and also holds diplomas in law and legal practice from the

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The university was founded in its current form in 1988, though its origins as a Institute of technology, ...

. He was the first member of his family to attend university.

Career

In 1995, Thistlethwaite began working at 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 pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 members. Acc ...

as an industrial officer. In 2001 he was elected as a state vice-president of the union. He joined the ALP at the age of 22 and was president of NSW Young Labor from 1997 to 1998. Thistlethwaite was involved in the Australian republic referendum in 1999, and was the campaign manager for the Australian Republican Movement in his electorate of Kingsford Smith. From 2001 to 2008 he was Chair of the Australian Labor Party Law Reform Committee. From 2004 to 2008 he was Charity of the Australian Labor Party Review Tribunal. In 2004, Thistlethwaite was elected Deputy Secretary of

Unions NSW The Labor Council of New South Wales, branded Unions NSW, is the peak body for trade unions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. As of 2005 there are 67 unions and 8 Rural and Regional Trades & Labor Councils affiliated to the Labor Cou ...

. In this role he represented workers in public sector enterprise agreement negotiations and in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission. He was a co-ordinator of the

Your Rights at Work WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard government#Fourth term: 2004–2007, Howard government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the '' ...

campaign in New South Wales against the Howard Government's

WorkChoices WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard government#Fourth term: 2004–2007, Howard government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the '' ...

laws. Thistlethwaite is a former director of the

State Transit Authority The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...

of NSW and the NSW Manufacturing Council. Before entering Parliament, Thistlethwaite worked as a senior consultant with law firm

Mallesons Stephen Jaques King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) is the largest international commercial law firm based in the Asia-Pacific. It has 26 offices and over 3,000 legal professionals across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United States. Prior to KW ...

Political career

Thistlethwaite sought to become the endorsed Labor candidate for the House of Representatives seat of Kingsford Smith in Sydney's eastern suburbs, for the

2004 election The following elections occurred in the year 2004. Africa * 2004 Algerian presidential election * 2004 Botswana general election * 2004 Cameroonian presidential election * 2004 Comorian legislative election * 2004 Equatorial Guinean legislativ ...

. However, Peter Garrett was chosen by the then Labor leader

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (; born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator who is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...

. Thistlethwaite worked as Garrett's campaign adviser. He was elected general secretary of NSW Labor from 2008 to 2010. During his time as NSW ALP secretary Thistlethwaite backed

Frank Sartor Francesco Ernest Sartor (born 9 November 1951) is an Australian former politician who served as New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer) between 2009 and 2011. He wa ...

's unsuccessful candidacy to replace premier

Nathan Rees Nathan Rees (; born 12 February 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 41st Premier of New South Wales and leader of the New South Wales Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009. Rees was a Member of the New South Wal ...

and Rees was instead replaced by

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who served as the first female Premier of New South Wales from 2009 to 2011 and was later a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 u ...

Senate

He was endorsed for a seat in the Senate, representing New South Wales, at the 2010 election. He was successful, and his term began on 1 July 2011. On 18 July 2011 he gave his first speech in the Senate. Soon after his term began, Thistlethwaite was appointed to serve on five Parliamentary Committees. In August 2012, Thistlethwaite became Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Electricity Prices. He served as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs in the Gillard government from March to July 2013, and as Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport in the

Rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. The fishes in this genus are commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without ...

government from July to September 2013. Following the announcement by Peter Garrett that he would not recontest the seat of Kingsford Smith at the next federal election, Thistlethwaite announced on 2 July 2013 that he would again seek Labor preselection; and gained endorsement on 20 July 2013, defeating Tony Bowen, the mayor of

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

and son of former Kingsford Smith MP

Lionel Bowen Lionel Frost Bowen (28 December 1922 – 1 April 2012) was an Australian politician. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1977 to 1990 and served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Australia in the Hawke g ...

. Thistlethwaite was elected as the member for Kingsford Smith at the election held on 7 September 2013. He was one of three people to move from the Senate to the House of Representatives at that election (the others were his ALP colleague

David Feeney David Ian Feeney (born 5 March 1970) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for the division of Batman in the House of Representatives from 7 September 2013 to 1 February 2018. Before that, he was a member of the Australian ...

in Batman and former Nationals Senate leader

Barnaby Joyce Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce (born 17 April 1967) is an Australian politician who was the leader of the National Party of Australia from 2016 to 2018 and again from 2021 to 2022. Joyce was the 17th deputy prime minister of Australia during both ...

in New England).

Opposition

From 18 October 2013 to 23 July 2016, Thistlethwaite served as Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Immigration. From 23 July 2016 to 2 June 2019 he served as Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury. In 2017 the

announced a national vote on the republic during the first term of a future Labor government, and appointed Matt Thistlethwaite as the first 'Shadow Assistant Minister for an Australian Head of State'. From 2 June 2019 to 28 January 2021 he served as Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services. In 2020, he was elected to replace

Joel Fitzgibbon Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon (born 16 January 1962) is a retired Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1996 to 2022, represen ...

as the

convenor within the ALP. ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' reported that "by becoming the NSW factional boss, Thistlethwaite de facto takes the title of national Right convener". From 28 January 2021 to 23 May 2022 he served as Shadow Assistant Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation.

Assistant minister

On 1 June 2022 Thistlethwaite was appointed Assistant Minister for Defence, Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs, and Assistant Minister for the Republic in the

Albanese ministry Albanese ministry may refer to: *First Albanese ministry (2022–2025), the 73rd ministry of the Government of Australia *Second Albanese ministry The second Albanese ministry is the 74th ministry of the Australian Government, Government of A ...

. A freedom of information request revealed that as of October 2023, only two documents had been produced and one meeting held in relation to Thistlethwaite's portfolio as Assistant Minister for the Republic. Thistlethwaite had not delivered any speeches, press releases, or ministerial statements. On 29 July 2024, as part of the Albanese Government's first ministry reshuffle, Thistlethwaite was made Assistant Minister for Immigration. The role of Assistant Minister for the Republic is no longer held by anyone in the Albanese Government. After the re-election of the Labor government in the

2025 Australian federal election The 2025 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 3 May 2025, to elect members of the 48th Parliament of Australia. All 150 seats in the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives were up for election, along with 40 ...

, Thistlethwaite remained as Assistant Minister for Immigration, while also appointed as Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Thistlethwaite has ambitions of becoming a cabinet minister in the future.

Personal life

Thistlethwaite lives in

Matraville Matraville is located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately by road south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. History M ...

with his wife Rachel, a nurse, and their four daughters Amelie, Scarlett, and twins Eliza and Camilla. He has been an active surf lifesaver for over 30 years. He was signed up as a member of the Maroubra surf club at the age of 13 by his father. He has served as the president of the

Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club The Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club is one of Australia's oldest Surf Life Saving Clubs, founded in 1906. The club was established in 1906 the Club is situated at the northern end of Maroubra Beach in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney Sydney is ...

for four years. Thistlethwaite met former Premier of New South Wales and State Member for Maroubra,

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the A ...

through the Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club. He has described Carr as a mentor.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Thistlethwaite, Matt 1972 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Kingsford Smith Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Politicians from Sydney Australian solicitors Australian trade unionists Australian Labor Party officials Australian republicans People from the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) University of Technology Sydney alumni University of New South Wales alumni Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019 Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025