Bill Shorten facts for kids

Bill Shorten
The Honourable ; Bill Shorten ; MP
Leader of the Opposition
	In office; 13 October 2013 – 27 May 2019
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott; Malcolm Turnbull; Scott Morrison
Deputy	Tanya Plibersek
Preceded by	Chris Bowen
Succeeded by	Anthony Albanese
Leader of the Labor Party
	In office; 13 October 2013 – 27 May 2019
Deputy	Tanya Plibersek
Preceded by	Kevin Rudd
Succeeded by	Anthony Albanese
Minister for Education
	In office; 1 July 2013 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Peter Garrett
Succeeded by	Christopher Pyne
Minister for Workplace Relations
	In office; 14 December 2011 – 18 September 2013
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard; Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Chris Evans
Succeeded by	Eric Abetz
Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation
	In office; 14 September 2010 – 1 July 2013
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard; Kevin Rudd
Preceded by	Chris Bowen
Succeeded by	David Bradbury
Assistant Treasurer of Australia
	In office; 14 September 2010 – 14 December 2011
Prime Minister	Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Nick Sherry
Succeeded by	Mark Arbib
Member of the Australian Parliament; for Maribyrnong
	Incumbent
	Assumed office; 24 November 2007
Preceded by	Bob Sercombe
Personal details
Born	William Richard Shorten ; 12 May 1967 (age 52); Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
Political party	Labor
Spouse(s)	Debbie Beale; (m. 2000; div. 2008) ; Chloe Bryce (m. 2009)
Children	1
Relatives	Michael Bryce (father-in-law); Quentin Bryce (mother-in-law)
Education	Monash University (BA, LLB); University of Melbourne (MBA)
Website	Official website

William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician who was the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labor Party from October 2013 to May 2019.

Born in Melbourne, Shorten studied law at Monash University. He worked in politics and in law before becoming an organiser with the Australian Workers' Union (AWU) in 1994. He was elected State Secretary of the Victorian Branch of the AWU in 1998 before becoming AWU National Secretary in 2001. In this role, Shorten played a prominent role as a negotiator following the Beaconsfield Mine collapse in 2005, which first brought him to national prominence.

Shorten was elected to the House of Representatives in 2007 for the Division of Maribyrnong and was immediately appointed a Parliamentary Secretary. Following the 2010 election, he was promoted to the Cabinet, serving first as Assistant Treasurer, then as Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation and Minister for Workplace Relations in the Gillard Government. In 2013, he was briefly Minister for Education until the defeat of the Rudd Government that year.

Shorten stood in the subsequent leadership election against Anthony Albanese, the first such election that allowed a vote of party members as well as Members of Parliament, and was declared the winner on 13 October 2013. Shorten led Labor to gain 14 seats at the 2016 election, when the Coalition retained its majority by just one seat.

On the night of 18 May 2019, Shorten announced he would step down as the leader of the Labor Party after he conceded Labor's defeat in the 2019 Federal Election. The next day, Shorten clarified that he would remain leader of the Labor Party until a new leader is elected in an upcoming leadership ballot.

Personal life

In March 2000, Shorten married Debbie Beale, daughter of businessman and former Liberal MP Julian Beale. They divorced in 2008. In 2009, Shorten married Chloe Bryce, daughter of then Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

The Shortens live in Moonee Ponds, Victoria with their daughter, as well as Chloe Shorten's other two children from her previous marriage to Brisbane architect Roger Parkin, who shares their parental responsibility.

Shorten speaking at an anti-WorkChoices rally in 2006
Shorten (right) meeting with United States Secretary of State John Kerry, in 2014
Shorten in Parliament in 2016
Shorten in August 2010.