Christopher Pyne was sworn in as the Minister for Defence on 28 August 2018. Prior to his appointment, Christopher served as  Minister for Defence Industry where he was responsible for delivering the $200 billion worth of investment in Australia’s defence capabilities outlined in the Defence White Paper and having the nation grasp this once in a generation opportunity to maximise job creation, business development, and economic growth.

Christopher has been Leader of the House since November 2013 was elected to the House of Representatives for the seat of Sturt in 1993 at the age of 25.

In his time in Parliament he has also served as Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, developing and delivering the National Innovation and Science Agenda, a transformative economic plan to encourage Australians to embrace risk and commercialise their ideas.

Christopher also spent two years as Minister for Education and Training, and in this role, amongst other things, he reformed the National Curriculum, introduced compulsory literacy and numeracy testing for Australian teaching graduates and expanded phonics teaching in remote schools in northern Australia.

In addition to these Cabinet positions he has also served as Minister for Ageing and Parliamentary Secretary for Health in the Howard Government. As Parliamentary Secretary for Health he founded “headspace: the Youth Mental Health Initiative” in 2006.
Christopher is the author of the Best Selling book, “A Letter to my Children”, published by Melbourne University Press in 2015.

Before entering Parliament, Christopher practised as a solicitor.

Christopher is a member of many community, social and sporting groups in his electorate, and is an Adelaide Crows Ambassador and supporter of the Norwood Redlegs Football Club!

Christopher is married to Carolyn and is the proud father of Eleanor, Barnaby, Felix and Aurelia.