Murray Patrick Watt (born 20 January 1973) is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for the Environment and Water in the Albanese government since May 2025. He is a member of 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 ...

(ALP) and has been a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

since the 2016 federal election. He previously served in the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

from 2009 to 2012.

Early life

Watt was born in Brisbane on 20 January 1973. His parents were both schoolteachers from working-class backgrounds. He grew up in Brisbane's southern suburbs. Watt was educated at Brisbane State High School where he was school captain in 1989. In 1996 he graduated from 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 ...

with the degrees of

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

. He practised as a solicitor from 1997 to 2002, and was a

judge's associate A judge's associate is an individual who provides assistance to a judge or court. In Australia, a judge's associate (not to be confused with a tipstaff) is a recent law graduate or lawyer who performs various duties to assist a specific judge, s ...

from 1999 to 2000. He was then a public servant in the Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of State Development from 2007 to 2009, and chief of staff to

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is an Australian lobbyist and former politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Queensland Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party. ...

from 2002 to 2007, and again in 2008. He had long been active in the

, as president of Queensland Young Labor in 1998 and delegate to various state conferences. Watt was also a senior associate with the Brisbane office of the legal firm Maurice Blackburn.

State politics

In 2009 Watt was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

for Everton, succeeding Rod Welford, who had retired. He was defeated at the 2012 state election. When Meaghan Scanlon was preselected as the Labor candidate for Gaven at the 2017 state election, it was claimed that Watt was the deciding factor and that it was against the wishes of the branch members. One member of the branch claimed "factional politics prior to Murray coming to the Gold Coast didn't happen".

Federal politics

Following the retirement of Senator Jan McLucas in 2015, Watt was endorsed by the Labor Party as a Senate candidate for Queensland at the 2016 federal election and was subsequently elected. After the 2019 election Watt was included in Anthony Albanese's shadow ministry as Shadow Minister for Northern Australia and Shadow Minister for Disaster and Emergency Management. In 2021 he was also appointed to the role of Shadow Minister for Queensland Resources. He is also Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate. Watt is a member of

Labor Left The Labor Left (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...

. Re-elected at the 2022 election, Watt became Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management. In the July 2024 reshuffle, he was appointed Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. After the re-election of the Albanese government in the 2025 federal election, Watt was moved to the role of Minister for the Environment and Water in the second Albanese ministry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt, Murray 1973 births Living people People educated at Brisbane State High School University of Queensland alumni Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians Labor Left politicians Albanese government