Joel Fitzgibbon

Joel Fitzgibbon

Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon (born 16 January 1962) is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since the 1996 federal election, representing the New South Wales seat of Hunter. He served as Minister for Defence (2007–2009) in the first Rudd Government and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (2013) in the second Rudd Government. He was also Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives (2010–2013) in the Gillard Government. Fitzgibbon succeeded his father Eric in federal parliament. He is aligned with the Centre Unity faction in NSW, part of the federal Labor Right faction. Since the 2019 election, he has become a vocal critic of stronger climate change policies, calling a potential 2030 target "delusional", and claiming that any embrace of more ambitious policies will alienate working-class support of Labor.

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