Read the complete write-up Mark Butler net worth, age, wife, children, height, family, parents, politics, salary, party, office as well as other information you need to know.
Introduction
Mark Butler is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since 2007. He was a minister in the Gillard and Rudd Governments and also served as national president of the ALP from 2015 to 2018.
Butler studied arts and law at the University of Adelaide and international relations at Deakin University. Prior to entering parliament, he was the South Australian secretary of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU). He was elected to the seat of Port Adelaide at the 2007 federal election, later switching to Hindmarsh in 2019. Butler was made a parliamentary secretary in 2009, becoming a minister after the 2010 election and winning promotion to cabinet the following year.
He subsequently held the portfolios of Minister for Mental Health and Ageing (2010–2013), Social Inclusion (2011–2013), Housing and Homelessness (2013), Environment and Water (2013), and Climate Change (2013). Since the ALP’s defeat at the 2013 election, Butler has been a member of the shadow cabinet under opposition leaders Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese. He is a senior member of the Labor Left faction and was elected to a three-year term as national president in 2015.
Early life
| Name | Mark Butler |
| Net Worth | $4 million |
| Salary | $270,000+ |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Age | 51 years |
| Height | 1.78m |
Mark Christopher Butler was born on July 8, 1970 (age 51 years) in Canberra, Australia. He is the son of Lindsay Nicholson and David Butler. His mother was a peace and anti-nuclear activist and campaigned to elect the Hawke and Keating governments. His father, a public servant and Vietnam conscript was the grandson of conservative South Australian premier Richard Layton Butler but was not politically active himself.
Butler’s parents divorced when he was five years old, after which he and his brother moved to Adelaide with their mother. He attended Unley High School, taking a gap year in Italy before enrolling at the University of Adelaide.
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence and a Bachelor of Laws with first-class honours. While at university he worked as a paralegal at Duncan Basheer Hannon (DBH). He was short-listed for a Rhodes Scholarship, and later completed a Master of International Relations degree at Deakin University.
Mark Butler was active in student politics while at university. He was a housemate of future state MP Patrick Conlon and developed friendships with future premier Jay Weatherill and future federal minister Penny Wong; he and Weatherill were best men at each other’s weddings.
Trade union career
Mark Butler joined the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers’ Union (LHMU) in 1992 as a legal officer through his connections with Conlon. He made appearances before industrial tribunals, “pushing for cleaners and hospital workers to get better pay”. In 1996 he was elected state secretary of the LHMU, winning by a single vote.
Butler developed a close working relationship with his NSW counterpart Anthony Albanese. He would later be Albanese’s campaign manager in the October 2013 election for the Federal ALP Leadership.
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He was also noted for his constructive relationship with the Labor Right faction in South Australia, particularly then-secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, Don Farrell.
Political career
Mark Butler joined the ALP at a young age and became a delegate to a state conference in South Australia in 1993. At the age of 23, he was a candidate for ALP preselection in the seat of Ross Smith prior to the 1993 South Australian state election. He subsequently was preselected for the seat of Hanson prior to the 1997 state election but resigned to become state secretary of the LHMU.
Butler served as state president of the Australian Labor Party (South Australian Branch) from 1997 to 1998, the youngest president in the party’s history. He was elected as a delegate to a national conference in 1998 and elected to the national executive in 2000, representing the Left faction.
Government
Mark Butler was elected as the Labor member for the electoral division of Port Adelaide at the 2007 federal election. In a 2009 First Rudd Ministry reshuffle, Butler was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Health. On 14 September 2010, he was sworn in as Minister for Mental Health and Ageing in the Second Gillard Ministry.
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Butler was given the additional responsibility of Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Mental Health Reform on September 12, 2011. On 14 December 2011, Butler’s ministry was renamed Mental Health and Aged Care, and he became a member of the Cabinet.
Opposition
After the 2013 election, Bill Shorten named Mark Butler as the Shadow Minister for the Environment. On 17 June 2015, Butler was elected National President of the Australian Labor Party and was succeeded by Wayne Swan on 18 June 2018, becoming senior vice-president to Swan. In a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on 28 January 2021, Butler was moved from shadow Climate Change spokesperson to shadow spokesperson for Health.
Wife
Mark Butler is married to Daniela Ritorto, they had their wedding in 2021. His wife is a former SBS, BBC World News and ABC journalist. is an Australian journalist, presenter and communications consultant. Daniela Ritorto was previously the Chief Political Correspondent and Parliament House Bureau Chief for the Special Broadcasting Service.
Butler’s wife Ritorto returned to Adelaide in 2018 and was the media and communications manager for energy company Santos Limited before leaving in 2019. Mark Butler has two children from his marriage to his first wife and one from his second wife. Butler supports the Port Adelaide Football Club. Butler is a vegan.
Mark Butler net worth
How much is Mark Butler worth? Mark Butler net worth is estimated at around $4 million. His main source of income is from his career as a politician. Butler salary is $270,000+ per month and with other earnings are over $2.5 million annually. His successful career has earned him some luxurious lifestyles and some fancy car trips. He is one of the richest and influential politicians in Australia.