The Hon Greg Combet AM MP

Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement

September 4, 2008

"Address to the National Press Club"

The Hon Greg Combet AM MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement and Member for Charlton, is married to Petra and they have 3 children.

Mr Combet grew up in western Sydney and worked as a trades assistant, in coal mining, and in a range of community organisations.

He has university degrees in mining engineering and economics. He also has a graduate diploma in labour relations and the law.

Mr Combet joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in 1993 and was leader of the ACTU from 1999 to 2007. In his work at the ACTU, Mr Combet oversaw numerous national wage cases to secure pay rises for low-paid Australian workers.

Mr Combet also led the union movement in the high profile 1998 waterfront dispute, the union campaign that secured employee entitlements for 16,000 workers after the collapse of Ansett, and the campaign that secured a multi-billion dollar settlement for Australian asbestos victims from James Hardie.

Mr Combet is a former director of Members Equity Bank and the $30 billion fund Australian Super. He was awarded a member of the Order of Australia in 2006.

Greg is Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Procurement in the Rudd Labor Government.