The Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP was first elected to the House of Representatives in March of 1996.
In his 18 years as the Member for Hunter Mr Fitzgibbon has held a number of shadow ministerial positions including Mining, Energy & Forestry, Defence, Assistant Treasurer, Banking & Financial Services, Small Business & Competition, and Tourism.
In Government, Mr Fitzgibbon served as Minister for Defence and Minister for Agriculture.Along the way he also served as Chief Government Whip and chaired the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence & Trade.Mr Fitzgibbon is currently the Shadow Minister for Agriculture.
He lives in Cessnock in the Hunter Valley with his wife Dianne and they have three adult children.