House of Representatives
Brendan O'Connor
Brendan O'Connor was the Australian Labor Party MP for Gorton. First elected 10 November 2001.
- 2001 Won Burke, entered parliament
- 2004 Won Gorton, changed seat
- 2009 Became home affairs minister
- 2012 Promoted to cabinet minister
- 2013 Became immigration minister
- 2013 Became employment minister
- 2013 Left federal ministry
- 2022 Returned to cabinet
- 2024 Left cabinet, announced retirement
- 2025 Left parliament
- Australian Labor Party
What do they focus on?
His 13 tracked speeches concentrate on vocational education, training and skills shortages. He supported the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment, which established a national body for skills data and workforce planning. He also supported the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Data Streamlining) Amendment National Vocational Education and Training Regulator (Data Streamlining) Amendment, which streamlined training-sector data reporting, and the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Amendment (Strengthening Quality and Integrity in Vocational Education and Training No. 1), which strengthened action against dishonest providers.
His 292 tracked votes across 118 bills cover a broader range of parliamentary business. Examples include workplace rules in the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes), industrial-emissions limits in the Safeguard Mechanism (Crediting) Amendment Safeguard Mechanism (Crediting) Amendment, and housing funding in the Housing Australia Future Fund Housing Australia Future Fund.
Bars show tracked speeches and amendments by policy area.
How do they vote?
Share of recorded votes on the same side as each party's majority.
292 tracked votes while with Labor.
How do they compare?
- Years in parliament i Total time served across every stint in either chamber, up to the end of the tracked record. 23.4 yrs 0.2 avg 8.5 yrs 33.3
- Votes against their party i Recorded votes cast against their own party's majority side. The average is across party members only. 0 avg 0.6 26
- Bills introduced i Bills they introduced to Parliament, counted across the tracked record. 7 avg 2.8 46
- Amendments sponsored i Amendments to bills they put forward during debate, counted across the tracked record. 0 avg 7.9 226
The marker starts at their party’s position and shifts only for floor-crossings towards a neighbouring party. No topic strip is shown because their economic, social and environment votes followed the party line.
What have they done lately?
Brendan O'Connor left parliament on 28 Mar 2025. This card covers their full tracked record.
When do they vote against their party?
Brendan recorded no votes against the Labor position across 292 recorded votes.
What do they say in debate?
13 tracked speeches across 10 bills.
- 13 backing a bill
- 0 with reservations
- 0 against
- 0 no clear position
Go deeper
Every figure links to a cited page.
About these numbers
Based on 766 tracked bills from the 47th and 48th Parliaments, current to 6 July 2026. This is a sample of parliamentary activity, not the complete record.
Career markers come from dated public records. Voting figures use division lists only. For party members, the left-to-right marker begins at the party position. It moves only when the member votes against that party and on the same side as a neighbouring party; other cross-party combinations do not affect it. Independents and minor-party members are placed by their votes in divisions where the Greens and the Coalition took opposite sides. If this position differs from a member’s broader public politics, a note appears below the strip.