Career
The Honorable Stephen Smith was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry from March 1996 until the November 2007 elections, which were won by the Labor party. He was Shadow Minister for Trade 1996–97, for Resources and Energy 1997–98, for Communications 1998–2001, Health and Ageing 2001–03 and Immigration 2003–04. He was Shadow Minister for Industry, Infrastructure and Industrial Relations from October 2004 until December 2006, when he was appointed to the position of Shadow Minister for Education and Training.
During the leadership crisis in the Labor Party in 2003, Smith was a prominent supporter of his fellow Western Australian, Kim Beazley. As early as 2002 his name had been mentioned as a possible future leader. He again supported Beazley in the leadership contest which followed the resignation of Mark Latham in January 2005, which saw Beazley return to the leadership.
Smith was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in Kevin Rudd's cabinet on 3 December following Labor's win in the 2007 election, and when Julia Gillard took over from Kevin Rudd as prime minister in June 2010, she added Minister for Trade to Smith's portfolio. After the 2010 Federal election Smith was appointed to the vacant Defence Minister post, while Rudd and Craig Emerson were appointed to the foreign affairs and trade ministries, respectively.
Read more about this topic: Stephen Smith (Australian Politician)
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“A black boxer’s career is the perfect metaphor for the career of a black male. Every day is like being in the gym, sparring with impersonal opponents as one faces the rudeness and hostility that a black male must confront in the United States, where he is the object of both fear and fascination.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)
“It is a great many years since at the outset of my career I had to think seriously what life had to offer that was worth having. I came to the conclusion that the chief good for me was freedom to learn, think, and say what I pleased, when I pleased. I have acted on that conviction... and though strongly, and perhaps wisely, warned that I should probably come to grief, I am entirely satisfied with the results of the line of action I have adopted.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)