Mathias Cormann

Vocation

Australian politician of Belgian descent. Cormann graduated with a Bachelor of Law degree from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. As part of his university studies Corrmann participated in a one-year student exchange program at the University of East Anglia in Norwich in 1993-94, where he first learnt to speak English. Following a visit to Perth in 1994, he migrated to Australia permanently. He joined the Liberal Party in Western Australia and took on a job as ministerial chief-of-staff, then senior adviser to then-Premier of Western Australia, Richard Court. He then moved to federal politics, working for two years as a senior adviser to then Minister for Justice and Customs Chris Ellison. Between 2003 and 2008, Cormann was the state senior vice-president of the Liberal Party in Western Australia. When Senator Ian Campbell unexpectedly announced his planned resignation on 4 May 2007, Cormann was quickly preselected by the party to fill the resulting casual vacancy. Campbell formally resigned on 31 May 2007. Cormann was sworn in on 20 June 2007 and served the remaining four years of Ian Campbell's term until 2011. On 8 December 2009 he was appointed Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training and on 14 September 2010 (after the 2010 election) he was appointed Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation. Corman has been the Minister for Finance since 18 September 2013. Link to Wikipedia biography