Warren Mundine

Australian politician

Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine (born 11 August 1956) is an Australian businessman, political strategist, advocate for Indigenous affairs, and former politician. Starting his political career in 1995, Mundine became the first Indigenous person to serve on the City Council of Dubbo in New South Wales. He was the national president of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2006 to 2007 but quit the party in 2012. In 2013, Mundine was appointed chairman of the Coalition government's Indigenous Advisory Council by then prime minister, Tony Abbott. Mundine was the Liberal Party's unsuccessful candidate for the marginal seat of Gilmore on the south coast of New South Wales in the 2019 Australian federal election. as of 2023, Mundine was a lead campaigner for the successful "No" campaign in the lead up to the 2023 Australian referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. He holds various roles in Indigenous initiatives, including Andrew Forrest's Generation One, and received the Officer of the Order of Australia in 2016.

In 1995, Mundine began his foray into politics as an independent candidate for the City of Dubbo council in central west New South Wales. He was the first Aboriginal person to serve on the body, and later became deputy mayor of Dubbo.

At the 1999 state election, Mundine stood as the NSW Labor candidate for the seat of Dubbo. At the 2001 federal election, Mundine was placed third on the Labor Senate ticket for NSW. In 2004, he sought to stand as the ALP candidate for the Division of Fowler in the House of Representatives, but lost the preselection battle to sitting Labor MP, Julia Irwin. Mundine succeeded Barry Jones as President of the ALP, beginning his term on 28 January 2006, and became the first indigenous Australian to serve as president of an Australian political party. During his tenure, Mundine pushed for the selection of candidates of Aboriginal background. Mundine served just one term as national president, stepping down in 2007. On 22 January 2019, at the behest of the prime minister, Scott Morrison, the New South Wales state executive of the Liberal Party installed Mundine as candidate for the seat of Gilmore in the 2019 federal election, although he had only joined the party that week. The state executive waived the usual waiting period for new party members, and withdrew the endorsement of Grant Schultz, who had been preselected as the party's candidate eight months previously. Mundine failed to be elected, and Gilmore was one of only three government seats won by the Labor Party at the election.

Mundine supports changing the date of Australia Day and Indigenous treaties in Australia.

In the late 2000s, Mundine emerged as a public supporter of nuclear industrial development in Australia, arguing that, in response to climate change, nuclear power should not be ruled out of Australia's future energy mix. Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, The Sydney Morning Herald named Mundine as a supporter of nuclear power. Mundine wrote in an opinion piece published in The Australian Financial Review in 2012:"By looking after the full life cycle of the uranium, with the support of the traditional owners of the lands on which it is mined and stored, not only will we play a responsible role within the global community, but we can ensure that Australian uranium is not sold to states seeking to produce weapons."

Mundine was a lead campaigner for the successful No vote in the 2023 Australian referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. The campaign, launched in January 2023, was set up by a group called the Voice No Case Committee. The committee included four Indigenous members: Mundine; Price (who later left the group); founder of the Kings Creek Station Ian Conway; and Bob Liddle, owner of Kemara enterprises. Recognise a Better Way then merged into a new campaign, Australians for Unity, which Mundine co founded with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on 11 May 2023.

In 1975, Mundine married his first wife, Jenny Rose, with whom he has two children. After separating from Rose, Mundine gained custody of their two children. In October 2013, Mundine married for a third time, describing it as the beginning of "a new life".