Senator The Hon. Arthur SINODINOS AO

Arthur Sinodinos was born in Australia of Greek parents, Dionysios and California, who migrated to Australia from the island of Cephalonia in the nineteen forties and fifties, respectively.
He grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales. His first language was Greek, he learnt English when he went to school. He continued Greek language studies at the Greek afternoon school of his local Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles.
Arthur attended public schools and graduated from the University of Newcastle with a Commerce degree and first class honours in Economics.
Arthur was an active member of his church community in Newcastle and Canberra. In 1979, he joined the committee of the St Nicholas Church of Canberra. He served for many years as Treasurer and President. Proud achievements during his tenure include the establishment of the St Nicholas Pre-school and the St Nicholas Home for the Aged. He was also a member of AHEPA and a life member of the Hellenic Club of Canberra.
Senator Sinodinos is known for his open, consultative approach, and for his focus on substantive topics affecting Australia’s increasingly complex economic and financial landscape.
He is an expert on public policy, financial markets and economics, reflecting his experience gained through previous roles as an economist with the Commonwealth Treasury and Department of Finance. He worked for former Prime Minister the Hon John Howard AC, whilst he was Opposition Leader as his Senior Economic Adviser from 1987-89, and again in 1995-96.
In 1997, Senator Sinodinos became Prime Minister Howard’s Chief of Staff, a position he held for nine years. In this role, he was the Prime Minister’s most senior adviser and responsible for the running of his office and providing high level policy and political advice across the whole of government.
In 2006 he went to work with Goldman Sachs J B Were, followed by the National Australia Bank and various corporate appointments. Senator Sinodinos was a member of various pro-bono boards including: the Mary Mackillop Foundation, a charity which funds ‘small life changing projects’ for the underprivileged; the Aboriginal Employment Strategy Pty Ltd; the Australia and New Zealand School of Government; and the Australian Institute of Management.
In 2008, Senator Sinodinos was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to politics through the executive function of government, to the development of economic policy and
reform, and to the Greek community. He returned to politics in October 2011, when he succeeded Liberal Senator, the Hon Helen Coonan from NSW.
Arthur Sinodinos first entered the Australian Senate in October 2011 and was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition in September 2012, a position he held until the election of the Abbott Government.
In December 2011, the then Opposition Leader, the Hon Tony Abbott announced the creation of the Coalition Deregulation Taskforce to cut Government red and green tape by $1 billion a year and appointed Senator Sinodinos as chairman of the taskforce.
Senator Sinodinos has served as a member of various Senate Committees covering economics, education and employment, communications and the environment.
He served as Assistant Treasurer from September 2013 to December 2014 with responsibility for tax administration, financial services and corporate regulation.
In September 2015, Senator Sinodinos was sworn in as Cabinet Secretary in the Turnbull Government. In this role, Senator Sinodinos was a Cabinet-level minister assisting the Prime Minister in ensuring the proper process and functioning of the Government.
In January 2017 he became Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science. His duties included industry policy, implementing the National Innovation and Science Agenda and oversight of the major science agencies CSIRO, ANSTO and AIMS. He served in this position till December 2017 when he resigned as Minister due to ill-health.
He remains a Senator for New South Wales.