Timothy Graham Watts (born 8 June 1982) is an Australian politician. 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 member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

since the 2013 federal election, representing the Victorian seat of Gellibrand. Since May 2025, he has served as the Special Envoy for Indian Ocean Affairs in the second Albanese ministry. From June 2022 to May 2025, Watts served as Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs in the

first Albanese ministry The first Albanese ministry was the 73rd ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 31st Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. The Albanese ministry succeeded the second Morrison ministry, which resigned on 23 May 2022 ...

Early life

Watts was born on 8 June 1982 in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

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 ...

. He is a descendant of John Watts, an immigrant from England who was a member of the first

parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

. Watts attended Centenary Heights State High School in Toowoomba. He holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours from

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private university, private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Queensland, Robina on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teachi ...

, a Master of Public Policy and Management from

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

and a Master of Science in Politics and Communications from the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public university, public research university in London, England, and a member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the University ...

Career

Watts worked as a solicitor with Mallesons Stephen Jaques from 2003 to 2005. He subsequently worked for Senator

Stephen Conroy Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...

as deputy chief of staff from 2005 to 2009, and briefly as a senior adviser to Victorian premier

John Brumby John Mansfield Brumby (born 21 April 1953) is the current Chancellor of La Trobe University and former Victorian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became leader of the Victorian Labor Party and premier ...

. In 2009 he was recruited by

Telstra Telstra Group Limited is an Australian telecommunications company that builds and operates telecommunications networks and markets related products and services. It is a member of the S&P/ASX 20 stock index, and is Australia's largest telecomm ...

to advise on the company's relationship with the new

National Broadband Network The National Broadband Network (NBN) is Australia’s national wholesale open-access data network. It includes wired and radio communication components rolled out and operated by NBN Co, a government-owned corporation. Internet service provid ...

, with the title of corporate relations manager. His appointment was seen as part of a strategy by the new CEO David Thodey to repair Telstra's relationship with the federal government, which had deteriorated under his predecessor Sol Trujillo.

Politics

In April 2013, Watts won ALP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

for the Division of Gellibrand, following the retirement of the incumbent MP

Nicola Roxon Nicola Louise Roxon (born 1 April 1967) is an Australian former politician. After politics, she has worked as a company director and academic. Roxon represented the lower house seat of Gellibrand in Victoria for the Australian Labor Party; ...

. He was initially one of five candidates for preselection, including future senator Kimberley Kitching and Roxon's preferred candidate Katie Hall. However, the others withdrew prior to the final ballot. He reportedly had the support of Stephen Conroy's Centre Unity faction. Watts didn't live in the seat then. Watts retained Gellibrand for the ALP at the 2013 federal election. In parliament he has served on a number of standing committees. Following the 2019 election, he was appointed to new leader

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 ...

's shadow ministry as an assistant shadow minister with the portfolios of communications and cyber security. In February 2021 he announced plans for a national

ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware that Encryption, encrypts the victim's personal data until a ransom is paid. Difficult-to-trace Digital currency, digital currencies such as paysafecard or Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, cryptocurrencies are com ...

strategy. In 2020, Watts was mentioned in secret recordings made of ALP powerbroker

Adem Somyurek Adem Kubilay Somyurek (born 25 September 1967) is an Australian politician. He has served as a member of the Victorian Legislative Council currently representing the Northern Metropolitan Region. Somyurek was a member of the Australian Labor P ...

, who described him as "bowing to me".

Political positions

Family violence

Following the murder of Fiona Warzywoda in the electorate in 2014, Watts campaigned for preventing and removing family violence across Melbourne's West and Australia. In 2014, Watts launched the bipartisan "Parliamentarians against Family Violence" with Coalition MPs Andrew Broad and

Ken Wyatt Kenneth George Wyatt (born 4 August 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives from 2010 to 2022, representing the Division of Hasluck for the Liberal Party of ...

. Australian of the Year,

Rosie Batty Rosemary Anne "Rosie" Batty (born 1962) is an Australian domestic violence campaigner. She became a campaigner in 2014, after her 11-year-old son Luke Batty was murdered by his father, Greg Anderson. As a campaigner, she has spoken publicly ab ...

addressed a meeting of the group in 2015, expressing that "Cross-party commitment is important to the issue of family and domestic violence". In response, former 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 ...

used a column in the ''

Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

'' to label Watts as "symptomatic of the decline in Labor's thinking" and argue that "Watts has fallen for the feminist line on domestic violence". In 2015, Watts and fellow Labor MP

Terri Butler Terri Megan Butler (born 28 November 1977) is an Australian public servant and former politician. She was a member of the House of Representatives from 2014 to 2022, representing the seat of Griffith for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She wor ...

introduced a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

to criminalise the non-consensual sharing of private sexual material. In an opinion piece published by the

Chifley Research Centre The Chifley Research Centre is the Australian Labor Party’s official think tank. Objectives and activities Progressive Australia Conference Progressive Australia is a bi-annual conference and series of events that the Centre has run sinc ...

, Watts called for action in response to the issue of family violence. He has written on the importance of engaging with the states, territories and relevant stakeholders, as well as the use of effective communication in achieving successful policy outcomes to the issue.

Foreign affairs

Watts has been an outspoken advocate of Australian Aid in the Parliament and has travelled to Cambodia and Papua New Guinea to visit Australian funded development programs in those countries. Watts has been an advocate of greater Australian engagement in Asia, speaking frequently about Asian-Australian diaspora communities. He has been a delegate to a number of bilateral events such as the Australian Chinese Youth Dialogue, Australian Indian Youth Dialogue and CAUSINDY. He was also a program participant for the Asialink Leaders Course in 2017. Watts has also written on the economic growth of Indonesia in recent years, stating "there is no other nation in Asia more important to our future than Indonesia". Subsequently, he has called for an increase to the cap on working holiday visas for Indonesians and argued that it is time Australians consider Indonesia as "critical" to both the economic prosperity and security of the country.

New Australian flag

Watts has written on the importance of multiculturalism in modern Australian society, and in doing so has called for a new Australian flag which does not bear the

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

. He described the importance of national symbols and the importance in ensuring they are reflective of the "modern, multicultural, Southeast Asian nation we have become".

Publications

In 2015, Watts and Labor MP

Clare O'Neil Clare Ellen O'Neil (born 12 September 1980) is an Australian politician who is the Minister for Housing and Minister for Homelessness since July 2024, Minister for Cities since May 2025 and was the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister f ...

released ''Two Futures: Australia at a critical moment'' through

Text Publishing Text Publishing is an Australian publisher of fiction and non-fiction, based in Melbourne, Victoria. Company background Text Media was founded in Melbourne in 1990 by Diana Gribble and Eric Beecher, along with designer Chong Weng Ho and oth ...

, which sought to address long-term policy challenges facing Australia. In 2019 he released another book, ''The Golden Country: Australia's Changing Identity''.

Personal life

Watts lives in Footscray with his wife and two children. He has an investment property in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

. From about 2006 to 2013, Watts was the author of a blog entitled "Blogging the Bookshelf", in which he discusses the books that he has been reading. Watts supports the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

References

External links

Official websiteParliamentary biography
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Tim 1982 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Right politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gellibrand Members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian solicitors Bond University alumni Monash University alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics People from Toowoomba Telstra people Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019 Australian MPs 2019–2022 Australian MPs 2022–2025