Thursday, 16 June, 2022 - 12:37
Republican push out of left field
Australians are too concerned with cost-of-living pressures to give much thought to replacing the Queen with an Australian head of state.
Matt Thistlethwaite
Assistant Minister for Defence, Veterans' Affairs, and for the Republic / Parliament of Australia
Most Notable Role
Matt Thistlethwaite is an Australian politician and a member of the Australian Labor Party, representing the electorate of Kingsford Smith since 2013.
Mr Thistlethwaite was a member of the Australian Senate from 2011 to 2013, as the Senator for New South Wales. 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 government from July to September 2013. Following the Labor Party's victory at the 2022 federal election, Mr Thistlethwaite became the Assistant Minister for Defence, Veterans' Affairs, and for the Republic under the Albanese government.
Prior to entering Parliament, Mr Thistlethwaite was the general secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party. In 1995, he began working at the Australian Workers Union as an industrial officer, and was elected state vice-president in 2001.
