Jim Chalmers

Biography

James Edward Chalmers is an Australian politician and the current Treasurer of Australia in the Albanese government since May 2022. Chalmers was born in Brisbane in 1978 to Graham and Carol Chalmers. He grew up in Logan City in Brisbane’s south and attended Catholic schools before going on to complete a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Communication at Griffith University. He then completed a PhD in political science at the Australian National University, focusing on the prime ministership of Paul Keating.

Chalmers has been involved in politics since 1999 when he worked as a research officer in the Department of Premier and Cabinet under Queensland Premier Peter Beattie. He later worked for the ALP as national research manager, media adviser to Shadow Treasurer Wayne Swan, and deputy chief of staff to Opposition Leader Kim Beazley. After Labor won the 2007 federal election, Chalmers worked for Wayne Swan in the Department of the Treasury, first as deputy chief of staff and principal adviser and later as chief of staff. In 2013, he briefly served as the executive director of the Chifley Research Centre and published a book titled “Glory Daze” about the disconnect between Australia’s strong economic performance and popular discontent with government.

Chalmers entered parliament at the 2013 federal election, winning the seat of Rankin in Brisbane’s south. He was appointed to the shadow ministry of Bill Shorten in 2013, promoted to shadow cabinet in 2016, and became Shadow Minister for Finance after the 2016 election. In 2022, he was appointed Treasurer of Australia in the Albanese government after Labor’s victory in the federal election.

Chalmers is a member of the Labor Right faction and co-founded the Courtyard Group in 2016, which links Labor MPs with progressive thinkers from business, academia, media, and consumer advocacy bodies. He has authored several books, including “Changing Jobs: The fair go in the new machine age,” which he co-authored with telecommunications executive Mike Quigley. In the book, he argued for a robot tax to reduce the impact of technological unemployment and has expressed positive views on the concept of a universal basic income.

Chalmers is married to Laura Anderson, a journalist and writer who worked as a staffer to Penny Wong and Julia Gillard. They have two children together.