Joe Hockey

Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott government from 18 September 2013 until September 2015 when he resigned from Cabinet, having refused an alternative offer from the incoming prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. He previously served as the Minister for Human Services and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in the Howard government. He also served as Ambassador of Australia to the United States from January 2016 until January 2020.

Hockey's parliamentary resignation triggered a 2015 North Sydney by-election where he was succeeded by Trent Zimmerman, who had previously worked for Hockey as a staffer. His appointment as Ambassador of Australia to the United States was announced on 8 December 2015 to replace Kim Beazley, whose term ended in early 2016, and he assumed that position on 29 January 2016. His term as ambassador ended on 30 January 2020, and he was succeeded by Arthur Sinodinos the week after.

Hockey was born the youngest of four siblings in North Sydney to an Australian mother, Beverley, and a Palestinian-Armenian father, Richard Hokeidonian, who was born in Mandatory Palestine. His father's surname was anglicised to "Hockey" in 1948 after his arrival in Australia. He was named after Joseph Benedict Chifley, the post-war prime minister whose immigration policies allowed for his father to enter Australia.

Hockey attended St Aloysius' College, Milsons Point and the University of Sydney, residing at St John's College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. While at university he was President of the University of Sydney Students' Representative Council, and assisted in inviting Pope John Paul II to visit the University of Sydney during the 1986 Australian papal visit. In 1987, Hockey protested at Bob Hawke's introduction of university fees. Hockey's term as SRC president, besides the protests, included the renovation of the club's headquarters, a cutback on the expenses of Honi Soit, the closure of the SRC Women's Room, but the opening of a free legal advice service. Towards the end of his term as SRC President, the Australian Labor Party's Deputy Prime Minister Lionel Bowen phoned Hockey and invited him to join the ALP. Hockey researched the philosophies of John Stuart Mill and decided to join the Liberal Party. Upon graduating, Hockey worked as a banking and finance lawyer at Corrs Chambers Westgarth and subsequently as the Director of Policy to the Premier of New South Wales, before entering politics.

Hockey worked as a policy advisor to Premier John Fahey before the 1995 New South Wales state election. Hockey became the president of the NSW Young Liberals and had a position in Nick Greiner's state government, reforming the financial and business structure of the state.

Hockey was preselected as a Liberal Party of Australia candidate for the 1996 election in the Division of North Sydney when aged just 29. He faced little preselection competition, since the seat's incumbent independent, Ted Mack, was thought to be unbeatable. However, Mack did not renominate; had his intentions been known earlier, it was widely believed at the time that Hockey would have faced a more rigorous preselection contest for what has traditionally been a "blue ribbon" Liberal seat. As it was, Hockey all but assured himself of becoming the seat's next member with his preselection victory. "Traditional" two-party matchups during Mack's tenure had shown North Sydney as a fairly safe Liberal seat, and it had been a foregone conclusion that the seat would revert to the Liberals once Mack retired. In 1993, for instance, the Liberals would have held the seat on a traditional two-party margin of 9.5 percent–just on the edge of being safe. As expected, Hockey regained the seat for the Liberals on 65.6 percent of the two-party preferred vote. He actually won 57.8 percent of the primary vote, more than enough to win the seat outright without the need for preferences.

When contesting the 1996 election, Hockey purchased a bus and painted it in the colors of the North Sydney Bears. This move positioned him as an Independent and emphasized his local connections. Hockey would park the bus everywhere in his electorate to raise awareness. Robert Orrell, Hockey's campaign manager in 1995, states that Hockey presented himself as a Liberal in "John Howard" areas like Lane Cove which had recently been redistributed from Howard's seat of Bennelong. He branded himself as an independent in areas like North Sydney and McMahons Point. Hockey made use of his parents’ reputation within the local community and his business connections to successfully connect with supporters and volunteers - giving out umbrellas and other souvenirs. A key issue in the 1996 election was the issue of aircraft noise: Laurie Brereton, the ALP transport minister, had closed east–west runways and opened north–south runways at Sydney Airport, diverting aircraft noise from Labor seats to Liberal seats.

Soon after his election in 1996, He was appointed the chair of the Sydney Airport Community Forum. During this time, Hockey formed a friendship with Anthony Albanese, and Albanese took Hockey to his electorate to see the inequalities of the airport routing. Following this, Hockey worked to address inconsistencies in the airport noise amelioration program. Hockey and fellow "small-l liberals" Chris Gallus and Susan Jeanes founded the short-lived John Stuart Mill Society to combat the conservative Lyons Forum. Hockey made his maiden speech in September 1996, highlighting modern liberalism, composed of recognition of the rights of the individual, parliamentary democracy, and committing to improve society through reform. Hockey highlighted his father's heritage, and highlighted barriers against women achieving success. In the lead-up to the 1998 election, which Hockey characterised as "the GST election", despite being the minister in charge of the GST, Hockey stopped campaigning shortly before the election because he felt that talking about the GST was losing him votes. He was appointed as the first Minister for Financial Services and Regulation portfolio from 1998 to 2001 and Minister for Small Business and Tourism (2001–04).