Chris Bowen was elected to the Federal Parliament as Member for Prospect in October 2004.
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.
He joined the Labor Party in 1988 and has held many honorary positions in the party.
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 Hon. Carl Scully, 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 Reps 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 & Competition Policy.
Following the historic election of the Labor Government in 2007, Chris was appointed to the new Ministry. 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.
Following the re-election of the Labor Government in 2010, Chris was appointed as Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.
In February 2013 Chris was appointed Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research and Minister for Small Business.
In June of the same year, Chris was appointed Treasurer by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Following the 2013 election, he served as Interim Labor Party Leader and Leader of the Opposition while the Labor leadership ballot was underway. He was later appointed Shadow Treasurer by Bill Shorten.
