John Thwaites

John Thwaites is a Professorial Fellow, Monash University, and Chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and ClimateWorks Australia. He is also the Interim Chair of the McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership based at Monash University. John is the Chair of Melbourne Water, and a Director of Fairtrade Australia New Zealand.

John is a Co-Chair of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (“SDSN”) launched by the Secretary General of the United Nations to provide expert advice and support to the development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. In 2020, John was appointed to the Lancet Covid-19 Commission, which aims to speed up global, equitable and lasting solutions to the pandemic.

John was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for “significant service to the environment and to the people and Parliament of Victoria” in the 2021 Australia Day Honours. John Thwaites was Deputy Premier of Victoria from 1999 until his retirement in 2007. During this period he held various Ministerial portfolios including Minister of Health, Minister of Environment and was Victoria’s first Minister for Climate Change. In these portfolios he was responsible for major reforms in social policy, health, environment and water.