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EARLY CAREER Shorten was born in Melbourne , where his father was a waterside worker and union official. His mother was a lawyer and university academic. He was educated at Xavier College (a leading Catholic school) and Monash University , where he graduated in arts and law. He also holds an MBA from the Melbourne Business School ; an unusual qualification for a trade union official. Shorten began working in the labour movement while still a student, working part-time for Neil Pope , a minister in the Labor state government of John Cain . After graduating he worked for 18 months as a lawyer for the firm of Maurice Blackburn Cashman , a firm which does most of its business representing trade unions. He married Debbie Beale, daughter and granddaughter of Liberal Party politicians Julian Beale and former Australian Ambassador to the United States Sir Howard Beale . UNION OFFICIAL AND LEADER In 1994 Shorten began his career as an employee of the AWU, before being elected Victorian State Secretary in 1998 . Before taking this post Shorten had decided to enter Victorian state politics, and was elected unopposed as the Labor candidate for the state seat of Melton for the 1999 state election, but gave this up to pursue his career with the union. Shorten was responsible for reforming of the union's structure and halting the long-term decline in its membership. Shorten was elected as the AWU's National Secretary in 2001 , and was re-elected in 2005 . He continues to serve as Victorian State Secretary. As a trade union official with a tertiary education, he reflects the changing composition of the AWU's membership, and of the trade union movement. Shorten is an active member of the Labor Party; he is a member of the party's National Executive and of the Administrative Committee of the Victorian Branch. He is a director of the Superannuation Trust Of Australia , GetUp.org.au and the Victorian Funds Management Corporation. In December 2005 he was elected Victorian State President of the Labor Party. He is also a member of the Australian Council Of Trade Unions Executive. ENTERING FEDERAL POLITICS During 2005 there was increasing speculation that Shorten intended entering federal politics at the next election. In February 2006 he announced that he would seek endorsement for the safe Labor seat of Maribyrnong , where the sitting Labor member, Robert Sercombe , belonged to no faction. The AWU is a pillar of the right-wing Labor Unity faction of the party, which has a majority in the Victorian Branch of the party. The political correspondent of '' The Age '', Misha Schubert , wrote, "The ascendancy of the articulate, clever and impressively connected challenger, routinely touted as a future prime minister, seems all but assured." She pointed out that as well as his base in the right-wing unions, Shorten would be supported by some unions normally associated with the left, such as the Communications, Electrical And Plumbing Union . Justifying his challenge to a sitting member and serving shadow minister, Shorten said: "We haven't won a federal election since 1993. When your Footy team loses four consecutive grand finals, you renew the team." On 28 February Sercombe withdrew his candidacy, a few days before the local vote of ALP members in which Shorten was expected to poll very strongly. As a result Shorten was pre-selected unopposed. EXTERNAL LINKS
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