Queensland State Government Address

Stephen Robertson is Queensland’s Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, Minister for Trade and the State Member for Stretton. Mr Robertson was first elected to the Queensland Parliament in September 1992 as the Member for the Brisbane electorate of Sunnybank (now Stretton). He served as Secretary of the Parliamentary Labor Party from August 1995 to June 1998. In June 1998, he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Premier and chaired the Queensland Small Business Advisory Council, as well as being a member of the Queensland Innovation Council and the Deputy Premier’s Representative on the Queensland Food Industry Council. He was first appointed to the Beattie Ministry on 16 December 1999, as Minister for Emergency Services. He was sworn in as Minister for Natural Resources and Minister for Mines on 22 February 2001, as Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy on 12 February 2004 and as Minister for Health on 28 July 2005. He was sworn in as Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy and Minister for Trade on 26 March 2009. Mr Robertson was born in Aberdeen, Scotland on 14 February 1962. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Griffith University, graduating with Honours from the School of Modern Asian Studies. Prior to his election to Queensland Parliament, Mr Robertson was State Secretary and National President of the United Firefighters Union of Australia. Mr Robertson’s electorate has a significant business migrant community from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Korea. He has a strong interest in the Asia-Pacific and has visited the region on a number of occasions as a participant on trade missions, Parliamentary Committee delegations and to attend conferences on political, economic and social developments in the region. He has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1978.