Greg Hunt

Gregory Andrew Hunt (born 18 November 1965) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Health since January 2017. He is a member of the Liberal Party and has served in the House of Representatives since November 2001, representing the Division of Flinders in Victoria. He has previously served as a parliamentary secretary in the Howard Government (2004–2007), Minister for the Environment (2013–2016),[1] Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science (2016–2017), and Minister for Sport (2017).

The Honourable Greg Hunt MP
Hunt in 2015
Minister for Health and Aged Care
Incumbent
Assumed office 24 January 2017
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison
Preceded by	Sussan Ley
Minister for Sport
In office 24 January 2017 – 20 December 2017
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Sussan Ley
Succeeded by	Bridget McKenzie
Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science
In office 19 July 2016 – 24 January 2017
Prime Minister	Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Christopher Pyne
Succeeded by	Arthur Sinodinos
Minister for the Environment
In office 18 September 2013 – 19 July 2016
Prime Minister	Tony Abbott Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded by	Mark Butler
Succeeded by	Josh Frydenberg
Member of the Australian Parliament for Flinders
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 November 2001
Preceded by	Peter Reith
Majority	5.6%
Personal details
Born	Gregory Andrew Hunt 18 November 1965 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Paula Lindsey
Relations	Alan Hunt (father)
Children	2
Alma mater	University of Melbourne Yale University
Website	Official website

Early life

Hunt was born in Melbourne.[2] He was one of five sons born to Alan Hunt, who was a Liberal state government minister in the 1970s and 1980s.[3] He attended the Peninsula School,[2] and went on to Melbourne Law School where he won a prize for a final-year thesis he co-authored, titled A Tax to Make the Polluter Pay.[4] Hunt was an associate to the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia in 1992, and subsequently attended Yale University as a Fulbright Scholar, where he obtained a Master of Arts in International Relations.[2]

Beginning in 1994, Hunt served as a senior adviser to Alexander Downer, during both his periods as Leader of the Opposition (1994 to 1995) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (1995 to 1998). He then worked for McKinsey & Company from 1999 to 2001, and was also Director of Strategy at the World Economic Forum in Geneva from 2000 to 2001.[2]

Political career

Early career

A member of the Liberal Party since 1994, Hunt was first elected to parliament at the 2001 federal election, replacing the retiring Peter Reith in the Division of Flinders. He was first elevated to the ministry following the 2004 federal election, when he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage. In January 2007, Hunt was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Following the Coalition's defeat at the 2007 election, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water.[5] His title was altered to Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage after the 2010 election.[6]

Government minister

After the 2013 federal election, Hunt was appointed Minister for the Environment in the Abbott Government.[7] One of his first actions as minister was to inform Tim Flannery, the head of the Gillard government's Climate Commission, that the government was closing this body, as per its election platform.[8] In December 2013, he announced a project to dredge Abbot Point, which was approved by the Marine Park Authority in January 2014.[9] Following the change in Liberal Party leadership in September 2015, Hunt was retained as Minister for the Environment in the new Turnbull Government.[10]

In February 2016, Hunt was named "Best Minister in the World" by a panel established by Thomson Reuters for the 2016 World Government Summit of Dubai.[11]

With the reelection of the Turnbull Government in 2016, Hunt became the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science in the Second Turnbull Ministry.[12]

Following the resignation of Sussan Ley as Health Minister, Turnbull appointed Hunt as the Minister for Health and the Minister for Sport.[13]

During the Liberal leadership crisis in August 2018, Hunt tendered his resignation as health minister. However, it was not formally accepted and he retained the position in the Morrison Government several days later.[14][15] Hunt stood for the deputy leadership of the party, polling 16 votes out of 82 (20 percent) compared with 46 for Josh Frydenberg and 20 for Steven Ciobo; there were three abstentions.[16]

Controversy

In June 2017 Hunt, Michael Sukkar and Alan Tudge faced the possibility of being prosecuted for contempt of court after they made public statements criticising the sentencing decisions of two senior judges while the government was awaiting their ruling on a related appeal.[17][18] They avoided prosecution by, eventually, making an unconditional apology to the Victorian Court of Appeal.[19][20][21]

In June 2020, Hunt announced that he would ask the Governor-General in Council to make regulations from 1 July 2020 prohibiting the importation of e-cigarettes containing vaporizer nicotine and nicotine-containing refills unless on prescription from a doctor.[22] Hunt stated on Twitter that the Australian Government committed to shutting down the importation of vaping products on 1 July. By 27 July a petition endorsed by Senator Matthew Canavan and George Christensen and other backbenchers was signed by over 70,000 people, causing Hunt to extend this deadline.[23] Hunt stated in a media release that he will now ask the Governor-General in Council to sign off on these regulations on 1 January 2021 to allow time for a more streamlined process for patients obtaining nicotine through their GP.[24]

Personal life

Hunt is married and has a daughter and a son. His father, Alan Hunt, was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 1961 and 1992.

References

1. "Tony Abbott's cabinet and outer ministry". The Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
2. "The Hon Greg Hunt MP". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
3. "Vale Alan Hunt. 9 October 1927 – 19 July 2013". Greg Hunt MP. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
4. "Greg's on desperate Hunt for credibility". dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
5. "About Greg". Greghunt.com.au. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
6. "The Hon Greg Hunt MP". Ministerial appointments Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage from 26.10.04 to 30.1.07. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 30.1.07 to 3.12.07. Minister for the Environment from 18.9.13. Australian Government. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
7. "Commonwealth Government – Abbott Ministry". Parliament of Australia. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
8. "Abbott shuts down Climate Commission". Melbourne: theage.com.au. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
9. "Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority approves plan to dump Abbot Point spoil". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
10. "Malcolm Turnbull's Cabinet reshuffle: Who's going where?". ABC. Australia. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
11. "Greg Hunt named 'best minister in the world'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
12. Anderson, Stephanie (20 July 2016). "Election 2016: Malcolm Turnbull unveils ministry with Christopher Pyne, Greg Hunt on the move". ABC News. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
13. "Greg Hunt announced as new Health Minister". ABC News. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
14. "Greg Hunt to stay on". Australian Journal of Pharmacy. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
15. "Hon Greg Hunt MP". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
16. "Scott Morrison selected as Australia's 30th Prime Minister". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 August 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
17. "Greg Hunt, Alan Tudge, Michael Sukkar face contempt charge". Financial Review. 15 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
18. Hutchens, Gareth (14 June 2017). "Greg Hunt declines to say if he'll be in court for hearing over potential contempt charges". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
19. Wahlquist, Calla (23 June 2017). "Coalition ministers will not face contempt charges after court accepts apology". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
20. Bucci, Nino; Massola, James (23 June 2017). "Ministers escape contempt charges after 'unconditional apology' to Supreme Court". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
21. "An Executive and Judicial tussle: Is this healthy for our democracy?". Constitution Education Fund Australia. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
22. gail.bird (18 June 2020). "Australian Government proposes strengthening its stance against e-cigarettes containing vaporiser nicotine". odc.gov.au. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
23. Harris, Fergus Hunter, Rob (25 June 2020). "Greg Hunt faces backbench revolt over vaping import ban". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
24. Health, Australian Government Department of (26 June 2020). "Prescription Nicotine Based Vaping". Australian Government Department of Health. Retrieved 26 June 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Search or browse Hansard for Greg Hunt at OpenAustralia.org