Murray Watt

Murray Patrick Watt (born 20 January 1973) is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for the Environment and Water in the Albanese government since May 2025. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been a Senator for Queensland since the 2016 federal election. He previously served in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 2009 to 2012.

Early life Watt was born in Brisbane on 20 January 1973. His parents were both schoolteachers from working-class backgrounds. He grew up in Brisbane's southern suburbs.

Watt was educated at Brisbane State High School where he was school captain in 1989. In 1996 he graduated from the University of Queensland with the degrees of Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws. He practised as a solicitor from 1997 to 2002, and was a judge's associate from 1999 to 2000. He was then a public servant in the Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of State Development from 2007 to 2009, and chief of staff to Anna Bligh from 2002 to 2007, and again in 2008. He had long been active in the Australian Labor Party, as president of Queensland Young Labor in 1998 and delegate to various state conferences.

Watt was also a senior associate with the Brisbane office of the legal firm Maurice Blackburn.

State politics In 2009, Watt was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Everton, succeeding Rod Welford, who had retired. He was defeated at the 2012 state election.

Federal politics Following the retirement of Senator Jan McLucas in 2015, Watt was endorsed by the Labor Party as a Senate candidate for Queensland at the 2016 federal election and was subsequently elected.

After the 2019 election Watt was included in Anthony Albanese's shadow ministry as Shadow Minister for Northern Australia and Shadow Minister for Disaster and Emergency Management. In 2021 he was also appointed to the role of Shadow Minister for Queensland Resources. He was also Deputy Opposition Whip in the Senate.

Re-elected at the 2022 election, Watt became Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister for Emergency Management. In the July 2024 reshuffle, he was appointed Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.

After the re-election of the Albanese government in the 2025 federal election, Watt was moved to the role of Minister for the Environment and Water in the second Albanese ministry.

In 2026, it was revealed that Australian ISIS Doctor Tareq Kamleh wants to come back to Australia. Watt has refused him assistance.