Greg Hunt | |
|---|---|
.jpg) 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 |
| Political 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]
Gregory Andrew Hunt was born on 18 November 1965 inFrankston, Victoria.[5] He was one of five sons born to Kathinka (née Grant, known as Tinka) andAlan Hunt. 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.[6] Hunt's maternal grandmother Phyllis Forster was one of the first women to graduate from theVictorian College of Pharmacy.[7] His mother worked as a nurse, but suffered from a form of bipolar disorder and was later institutionalised.[8] She died of a heart attack at the age of 58, while her son was studying abroad.[9]
Hunt grew up inMornington, Victoria, attending Mornington Primary School and thePeninsula School.[10] 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.[11] At university he developed friendships withMary Wooldridge andJohn Roskam.[12] He was head of the debating society and partnered withRufus Black at the 1984World Universities Debating Championship inEdinburgh, Scotland, finishing in second place.[11] He won a prize for a final-year thesis he co-authored with Black, titledA Tax to Make the Polluter Pay.[13]
Hunt is 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.[14]
Hunt joined law firmMallesons Stephen Jaques after completing his undergraduate degree.[11] In 1992 he was anassociate toMichael Black, the chief justice of theFederal Court of Australia.[15] Hunt subsequently completed a Master of Arts in International Relations atYale University as aFulbright Scholar.[5] He also interned at theUN Centre for Human Rights in Geneva, "researching atrocities in the former Yugoslavia".[11]
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.[5] 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).[5] He was a foundation investor in project management software companyAconex, but had to sell his shares in 2013 when he became a government minister.[16]
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.[12] In 2003 he supported theinvasion of Iraq by coalition forces and served as a spokesman for theHoward government's policies.[17][18]
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.[19] His title was altered to Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage after the2010 election.[5]
After the2013 federal election, Hunt was appointed Minister for the Environment in theAbbott government.[20] 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.[21] In December 2013, he announceda project to dredge Abbot Point, which was approved by the Marine Park Authority in January 2014.[22]
Followingthe change in Liberal Party leadership in September 2015, Hunt was retained as Minister for the Environment in the newTurnbull government.[23] 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.[24]
With the reelection of theTurnbull government in2016, Hunt became theMinister for Industry, Innovation and Science in theSecond Turnbull Ministry.[25] Following the resignation ofSussan Ley as Health Minister in January 2017, Turnbull appointed Hunt as the Minister for Health and the Minister for Sport.[26]
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.[27][28] They avoided prosecution by, eventually, making an unconditional apology to the Victorian Court of Appeal.[29][30][31] 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."[32]
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.[11]
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.[33][5] 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.[34]
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][35] 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.[35] Hunt also conducted national press briefings[36] and has been prominent in the country'svaccination deployment.[37] Hunt's ban on foreign travel for Australians during the pandemic has faced legal challenges but was upheld in court.[3][38] 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.[39]
The pace of national vaccination program brought the word strollout to the national vernacular. A blend ofrollout andstroll, the word refers to the "perceived lack of speed" in Australia's vaccine rollout. On November 17, Canberra's Australian National Dictionary Centre announcedstrollout as its pick for the word of the year, Two Australian dictionaries — and, in one poll, the Australian public — have chosenstrollout as their word of the year for 2021.[40][41]
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.[42] 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.[43] 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.[44]
On 2 December 2021, Hunt announced his intention to retire from politics in the2022 federal election.[45]
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.[46]
Hunt was described in 2017 as a "'small-l liberal' from the party's progressive wing".[8] 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".[12] However, according toThe Sydney Morning Herald in 2021, Hunt is a member of the centre-right faction of the Liberal Party.[47]
Hunt voted for removing the ban on the abortion drugRU-486 and supported the legalisation ofsame-sex marriage.[8]
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".[48]
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".[11]
Hunt is a qualified recreational diver.[11] He had completed seven marathons as of 2012,[12] and in 2020, it was reported that he runs 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) a day.[11] In March 2021, he was hospitalised for several days withcellulitis.[49]
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| Parliament of Australia | ||
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| 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 | ||
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Prime Minister:Malcolm Turnbull | ||
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Prime Minister:Malcolm Turnbull | ||
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| Resigned | ||
Prime Minister:Scott Morrison | ||
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Prime Minister:Scott Morrison | ||
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