Greg Hunt | |
|---|---|
 Hunt in 2013 | |
| Minister for Health and Aged Care | |
| In office 24 January 2017 – 23 May 2022 Serving with Scott Morrison (2020–2022) | |
| Prime Minister | Malcolm Turnbull Scott Morrison |
| Preceded by | Sussan Ley |
| Succeeded by | Katy Gallagher (acting as Minister for Health) Mark Butler |
| 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 theAustralian Parliament forFlinders | |
| In office 10 November 2001 – 11 April 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Reith |
| Succeeded by | Zoe McKenzie |
| Majority | 5.6% |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gregory Andrew Hunt (1965-11-18)18 November 1965 (age 60) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Paula Lindsey |
| Relations | Alan Hunt (father) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | |
| Website | Official website |
Gregory Andrew Hunt (born 18 November 1965) is an Australian former politician who was theMinister for Health between January 2017 and May 2022. He was aLiberal Party member of theHouse of Representatives between November 2001 and 2022, representing theDivision of Flinders inVictoria. He has previously served as aparliamentary secretary in theHoward government (2004–2007),Minister for the Environment (2013–2016),[1]Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science (2016–2017), andMinister for Sport (2017).
From March 2020 until his retirement in May 2022, Hunt had oversight over the Australian government's response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2][3][4] During this period, international analyses reported a decline in global life expectancy of 1.6 years between the start of 2019 and the end of 2021, while Australia was one of a small number of countries to record an increase of 0.2 years over the same period.[5]
In 2016, Hunt was namedBest Minister in the World at theWorld Government Summit in Dubai.[6]
Following his parliamentary career, Hunt has held academic and advisory appointments, including as an Honorary Professor of Practice atUniversity College London’s Global Business School for Health,[7] as an Honorary Enterprise Professor at theUniversity of Melbourne[8] and as Chair of the Advisory Council of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health atMonash University.[9]
Gregory Andrew Hunt was born on 18 November 1965 inFrankston, Victoria.[10] He was born to Kathinka (née Grant, known as Tinka) andAlan Hunt. He had four older half brothers from his father's first marriage. His father was a solicitor by profession who had been elected to theVictorian Legislative Council in 1962, and served as a Liberal state government minister in the 1970s and 1980s.[11] Hunt's maternal grandmother Phyllis Forster was one of the first women to graduate from theVictorian College of Pharmacy.[12] His mother worked as a nurse, but suffered from a form of bipolar disorder and was later temporarily institutionalised.[13] She died of a heart attack at the age of 58, while her son was studying abroad.[14]
Hunt grew up inMornington, Victoria, attending Mornington Primary School and thePeninsula School.[15] He took agap year after leaving high school, travelling through Ireland, the Alps, Spain, and Israel. He lived on akibbutz for several months, learningHebrew and working in amachine shop. After returning to Australia, Hunt studied arts and law at theUniversity of Melbourne, living atOrmond College and graduating with first-class honours in both disciplines.[16] At university he developed friendships withMary Wooldridge andJohn Roskam.[17] He was head of the debating society and partnered withRufus Black at the 1984World Universities Debating Championship inEdinburgh, Scotland, finishing in second place.[16] He won a prize for a final-year thesis he co-authored with Black, titledA Tax to Make the Polluter Pay.[18]
Hunt was one of seven Liberal MPs in the46th Parliament of Australia who have obtained degrees at anOxbridge orIvy League university, the others beingAlan Tudge,Angus Taylor,Andrew Laming,Dave Sharma,Josh Frydenberg andPaul Fletcher.[19]
Hunt joined law firmMallesons Stephen Jaques after completing his undergraduate degree.[16] In 1992 he was anassociate toMichael Black, the chief justice of theFederal Court of Australia.[20] Hunt subsequently completed a Master of Arts in International Relations atYale University as aFulbright Scholar.[10] He also interned at theUN Centre for Human Rights in Geneva, "researching atrocities in the former Yugoslavia".[16]
In 1994, Hunt began working as a senior adviser toAlexander Downer, the federalleader of opposition. He remained in Downer's office until 1998, spanning his resignation as Liberal leader and later appointment as foreign minister in theHoward government. He was the chief of the Australian Electoral Observer Mission at the1998 Cambodian general election.[10] Hunt subsequently worked as a senior fellow at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Comparative Constitutional Law (1998–1999), as engagement manager at management consultantsMcKinsey and Co. (1999–2001), and held the position of Director of Strategy at theWorld Economic Forum (2000–2001).[10] He was a foundation investor in project management software companyAconex, but had to sell his shares in 2013 when he became a government minister.[21]
Hunt was elected to theHouse of Representatives at the2001 federal election, standing in theDivision of Flinders. He had been asked to stand for Liberalpreselection by the retiring MPPeter Reith.[17] In 2003 he supported theinvasion of Iraq and the action to oust Saddam Hussein on the basis of humanitarian relief and served as a spokesman for theHoward government's policies.[22][23]
As a first-term member of Parliament for theDivision of Flinders, Hunt undertook local community initiatives alongside his federal duties. He helped unlock funding for the construction of the Phillip Island Health Hub, a community health facility providing specialist services to residents and visitors on Phillip Island, with Australian Government investment supporting its development in collaboration with local organisations.[24] He supported the establishment of Somerville Secondary College, a fully autonomous secondary school in Somerville that was established after years of community advocacy, including work by Hunt and local stakeholders to retain land and expand educational opportunities.[25]
Hunt also completed multiple 500 km charity walks around his electorate to raise awareness and funds for autism, supporting the Abacus Learning Centre in Hastings and the Light Up Autism Foundation, among other local organisations.[26]
Hunt was first elevated to the ministry following the2004 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 the2007 election, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water.[27] His title was altered to Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage after the2010 election.[10]
After the2013 federal election, Hunt was appointed Minister for the Environment in theAbbott government.[28] One of his first actions as minister was to informTim Flannery, the head of theGillard government'sClimate Commission, that the government was closing this body, as per its election platform.[29] In December 2013, he announceda project to dredge Abbot Point, which was approved by the Marine Park Authority in January 2014.[30].
During his tenure asMinister for the Environment, Hunt oversaw a range ofwater management and reef protection initiatives. In 2015, the government released the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan, a comprehensive framework developed in response to concerns raised byUNESCO regarding theGreat Barrier Reef’sWorld Heritage status. The plan was accompanied by the expansion of the Reef Trust, a funding mechanism for reef protection and water quality improvement projects.[31] Later that year, Hunt announced a permanent ban on the disposal of capital dredge spoil within theGreat Barrier Reef Marine Park.[32]
Hunt also played a role in water reform relating to theMurray–Darling Basin Plan. In September 2015, legislation to cap water buybacks under the Basin Plan passed theSenate, marking a significant milestone in the implementation of theMurray–Darling Basin framework.[33]
In the area ofclimate policy, Hunt was responsible for the establishment of the Emissions Reduction Fund, which committed A$2.55 billion to emissions abatement projects through areverse auction mechanism. The government reported thatAustralia met and exceeded its 2020 emissions reduction targets under theKyoto Protocol during this period.[34] Internationally, Hunt represented Australia in negotiations under theMontreal Protocol and was involved in advancing the “Dubai Pathway”, under which participating countries agreed to begin work on reducinghydrofluorocarbon emissions, a class of potentgreenhouse gases.[35]
Hunt also brokered the National Clean Air Agreement with state and territory governments, establishing a cooperative framework to improveair quality and reduce health impacts associated withparticulate matter pollution, includingPM2.5 andPM10.[36]
In the area ofland and species protection, Hunt established the role of Australia’s first Threatened Species Commissioner to coordinate national conservation efforts and prioritise recovery actions for at-riskflora andfauna.[37] He also renewed the National Environmental Science Program, providing funding for research to support evidence-based environmental decision-making.[38]
In a 2013 public seminar outline later published by theGrattan Institute, Hunt outlined his approach toenvironmental protection andcultural heritage conservation, emphasising the integration of water management, land stewardship and heritage protection within broader environmental governance frameworks.[39]
Followingthe change in Liberal Party leadership in September 2015, Hunt was retained as Minister for the Environment in the newTurnbull government.[40] In February 2016, Hunt was named "Best Minister in the World" by a panel established byThomson Reuters for the 2016 World Government Summit of Dubai.[41]
With the reelection of theTurnbull government in2016, Hunt became theMinister for Industry, Innovation and Science in theSecond Turnbull Ministry.[42] Following the resignation ofSussan Ley as Health Minister in January 2017, Turnbull appointed Hunt as the Minister for Health and the Minister for Sport.[43]
In June 2017 Hunt,Michael Sukkar andAlan 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.[44][45] They avoided prosecution by, eventually, making an unconditional apology to the Victorian Court of Appeal.[46][47][48] During the run up to theVictorian state elections of 2018, Hunt participated in theAfrican gangs moral panic by stating "We know that African gang crime in some areas [of Victoria] is clearly out of control. [...] The failure is not police, but the Premier."[49]
In Turnbull's 2020 autobiographyA Bigger Picture, he described Hunt as "widely distrusted by his colleagues" and stated that he "all too often used abusive and vulgar language towards others", including to his department secretaryMartin Bowles.[16] Contrastingly, former Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly paid tribute to Hunt upon his retirement, describing him as “an incredibly great member of my team” with “a big brain and a big heart”, reflecting broad cross-bench appreciation for his long service and leadership of the pandemic response.[50]
During theLiberal leadership crisis in August 2018, Hunt tendered his resignation ashealth minister. However, it was not formally accepted and he retained the position in theMorrison government several days later.[51][10] Hunt stood for the deputy leadership of the party, polling 16 votes out of 82 (20 percent) compared with 46 forJosh Frydenberg and 20 forSteven Ciobo; there were three abstentions.[52]
After being appointedMinister for Health, Hunt oversaw reforms across primary care, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, mental health, medical research, digital health and the national response to theCOVID-19 pandemic. In the first six months of his term, the government reached agreements with major health sector organisations including theAustralian Medical Association, theRoyal Australian College of General Practitioners,The Pharmacy Guild of Australia and Medicines Australia, aimed at stabilising funding arrangements and strengthening cooperation across the health system.[53]
Between 2017 and 2022, more than 2,000 new or amended medicines were listed on thePharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, expanding subsidised access to treatments for a range of conditions. These listings included high-cost and novel therapies such asTrikafta forcystic fibrosis,Zolgensma forspinal muscular atrophy, and a range ofcancer immunotherapy medicines.[54]
In 2019, the government implemented reforms to private health insurance in Australia, introducing a four-tier classification system— Gold, Silver, Bronze and Basic —to improve transparency for consumers. In the 2021 private health insurance premium round, Hunt announced that the average industry premium increase would be 2.74 per cent, the lowest average annual rise since 2001.[55]
In 2020, he negotiated major national agreements with thestates and territories to support hospital funding and capacity during theCOVID-19 pandemic, alongside the negotiation of a new Community Pharmacy Agreement to maintain access tomedicines andpharmacy services.[56]
During his term as Minister for Health, Hunt oversaw the establishment and expansion of the government’s Head to Health network of multidisciplinarymental health treatment centres, including funding for adult, youth and children’s Head to Health clinics as part of a national reform package to improve community-based mental health services.[57] In 2021, the government released a long-term National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, supported by approximately A$2.3 billion in funding, with an emphasis on early intervention,suicide prevention and community-based care.[58]
TheMedical Research Future Fund continued as a central mechanism for long-term investment in Australian medical research during Hunt’s tenure. Funding from theMedical Research Future Fund supported research missions including the Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission, which aims to help a million Australians access newmental health research and interventions, as well as strategic research intogenomics andstem cell therapies under broader MRFF research mission frameworks.[59] The first and second ten-year MRFF investment plans were released during this period, structured around four strategic pillars and involving investment commitments totalling approximately A$6 billion.[60]
Hunt had a prominent role during theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia. He was granted authority over Australia's strategy and response to the pandemic afterGovernor-GeneralDavid Hurley enacted theBiosecurity Act 2015 on 23 March 2020.[2] Hunt's leadership over Australia's public health response to the pandemic has received praise for its effectiveness in reducing transmission and following scientific advice.[4][61] In government meetings, Hunt drew comparison's with Australia's shortcomings in responding to the1918 flu pandemic to garner political support for the "suppression" strategy.[61] Hunt also conducted national press briefings[62] and has been prominent in the country'svaccination deployment.[63] Hunt's ban on foreign travel for Australians during the pandemic has faced legal challenges but was upheld in court.[3][64] His handling of the country’s vaccination program has drawn sharp criticism for delays and examples of mis-management, particularly in the aged care sector.[65]. However, Australia’sCOVID-19 vaccination program reached approximately 90 per cent double-dose coverage by October 2021, achieving this milestone earlier than initially anticipated.[66]
Under Hunt’s leadership,telehealth services were rapidly expanded and subsequently made permanent withinMedicare. Between 13 March 2020 and 16 March 2022, more than 100 million telehealth services were delivered to around 17 million Australians, with over $5 billion in Medicare benefits paid and more than 92,000 health practitioners using telehealth items.[67] The government also pursued reforms to strengthen digital health infrastructure, including enhancements toMy Health Record.[68]
In June 2020 Hunt announced that he would ask theGovernor-General in Council to make regulations from 1 July 2020 prohibiting the importation ofe-cigarettes containing vaporizernicotine and nicotine-containing refills unless on prescription from a doctor.[69] Hunt stated onTwitter that the Australian Government committed to shutting down the importation of vaping products on 1 July. By 27 July a petition endorsed by SenatorMatthew Canavan andGeorge Christensen and other backbenchers was signed by over 70,000 people, causing Hunt to extend this deadline.[70] 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.[71]
On 2 December 2021, Hunt announced his intention to retire from politics in the2022 federal election.[72]
Hunt was described in 2017 as a "'small-l liberal' from the party's progressive wing".[13] In 2012 he was described as "a moderate who is part ofTony Abbott's inner circle, and arguably the pre-eminent federal Liberal from Victoria".[17] However, according toThe Sydney Morning Herald in 2021, Hunt is a member of the centre-right faction of the Liberal Party.[73]
Hunt voted for removing the ban on the abortion drugRU-486 and supported the legalisation ofsame-sex marriage.[13]
In 2006 Hunt and three other Liberal MPs put forward a proposal to fund full-timechaplains in state schools, in what eventually became theNational School Chaplaincy Programme. He reportedly described state schools as "anti-religious" and said there was "a clear need in our schools for the mentoring and personal development, counselling and crisis management, the opportunity for values-based guidance and religious education that a chaplain could provide".[74]
Following his retirement from federal politics in 2022, Hunt has undertaken a variety of academic, advisory and private sector roles. He was appointed an Honorary Melbourne Enterprise Professor at theUniversity of Melbourne, where he provides strategic advice on health policy, innovation and leadership across faculties including medicine and economics.[75] Hunt also serves as a Senior Advisor with global professional services firmAlvarez and Marsal in their Government, Health & Human Services practice following his ministerial career.[76] In addition, he joined the board of biotechnology company HaemaLogiX Ltd as a non-executive director, contributing his experience in health systems and innovation to the company’s development of novel therapies.[77]
In October 2022,Monash University announced the appointment of Hunt as the foundation Chair of the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health’s Advisory Council.[78]
Hunt lives inMount Martha, Victoria. He has two children from his marriage to Paula Lindsey, a formernurse educator. His first marriage "to a university sweetheart, ended amicably during his 20s".[16]
Hunt is a qualified recreational diver.[16] He had completed seven marathons as of 2012,[17] and in 2020, it was reported that he runs 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) a day.[16] In March 2021, he was hospitalised for several days withcellulitis.[79]
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| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member for Flinders 2001–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Health 2017–2022 | Incumbent |
| Minister for Sport 2017 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byas Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Water | Minister for the Environment 2013–2016 | Succeeded byas Minister for the Environment and Energy |
Prime Minister:Tony Abbott | ||
| Cabinet |  | |
| Outer Ministry | ||
| Parliamentary Secretaries | ||
| Dismissed/resigned | ||
Prime Minister:Malcolm Turnbull | ||
| Cabinet |  | |
| Outer Ministry | ||
| Assistant Ministers | ||
| Dismissed/resigned/lost seat | ||
Prime Minister:Malcolm Turnbull | ||
| Cabinet | | |
| Outer Ministry | ||
| Assistant Ministers | ||
| Resigned | ||
Prime Minister:Scott Morrison | ||
| Cabinet |
|  |
| Outer Ministry | ||
| Assistant Ministers | ||
| Resigned | ||
Prime Minister:Scott Morrison | ||
| Cabinet |  | |
| Outer Ministry | ||
| Assistant Ministers | ||
| Dismissed/resigned | ||
