The Honourable Joel Fitzgibbon, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1996 served as Minister for Defence and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the Rudd Governments. He also served as Chief Government Whip in the Gillard Government.

Over the course of his 26 years in the Parliament Joel held a number of Shadow Ministerial positions including Assistant Treasury, Financial Services, Defence, Mining, Energy, Agriculture, Small Business, Tourism and Regional Australia. He was also the Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence & Trade.

Since leaving the Parliament Joel has served as Co-Chair of the AUKUS Forum, Chair of the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) and as a non-executive director on the Board of ASX listed company Brickworks. He is currently Chair of Silver Mines (SVL) and serves on a number of corporate advisory boards.

Joel holds honorary positions with the Trademark Group of Companies, the Commando Welfare Trust, The Crawford Fund for Food Security, the Australian Saudi Business Forum, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia.

He is also an Adjunct Professor within the School of Business, Government & Law at the University of Canberra.