Chris Bowen MP, Member for McMahon (NSW)

The Hon. Chris Bowen MP is the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.

He was elected to the Federal Parliament as Member for Prospect in October 2004. Following an electoral redistribution, he is now the Member for McMahon.

Chris was educated at Smithfield Public School and St Johns Park High School. He graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Economics and won the Australian Transport Officers Federation Prize for the best industrial relations student at the university.

He was elected to Fairfield Council in 1995 and has been chairman of the City Outcomes Committee, the Fairfield Town Centre Management Committee and the Community, Recreation and Development Committee.

Chris was elected Mayor of Fairfield for 1998 and 1999, and became president of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils from 2000 to 2002.

Immediately before being elected to Parliament, Chris was chief-of-staff to Carl Scully, then NSW Minister for Roads, Housing and Leader of the House.

Since being in Parliament, Chris has been elected as Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration.

He was also a member of the Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services.

In December 2006, Chris was appointed to the Federal Labor Party's frontbench as the Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Revenue and Competition Policy.

Following the election in 2007, Chris took on two portfolios as Assistant Treasurer, and Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs.

In June 2009, Chris was elevated to Cabinet as Minister for Human Services. He also served as Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law before taking on the portfolio of Immigration and Citizenship.