BIOGRAPHY
The Hon. Matt Thistlethwaite MP is the Assistant Minister for Defence, Assistant Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Assistant Minister for the Republic and the Federal Member for Kingsford Smith. Matt was an Australian Senator from 2011-2013 and elected to the House of Representatives in 2013. Matt was a Senator for New South Wales in the Australian Senate from 2011 to 2013 during which time he served as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Transport. Matt grew up in Maroubra and completed high school at Marist Brothers Pagewood. He is an active community volunteer and passionate advocate for advancing the interests of vulnerable and disadvantaged people. Matt has extensive experience representing workers as a lawyer and trade union official in a range of industries. He is a former General Secretary of NSW Labor and was an Assistant Secretary at Unions NSW, as well as a former Vice President of the Australian Workers Union. Matt has worked as a Senior Consultant with law firm King and Wood Mallesons. Matt is a former director of the State Transit Authority of NSW. He has been an active surf lifesaver for over 38 years and served four years as President of Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club. He was also the President of Maroubra PCYC and received a distinguished service award from PCYC NSW. Matt holds a Bachelor of Economics from UNSW, Diploma of Law, and a Diploma of Modern Languages in Chinese. He has a HSK 3 Chinese language qualification. Matt lives in Matraville with his wife Rachel and their four daughters.

BIOGRAPHY
Mr Yannopoulos commenced as the Associate Secretary of the Department of Defence on 5 October 2021. In this position he is responsible for leading Defence’s Transformation Program. His role encompasses the integration of the Defence enterprise, and leading the delivery of enterprise planning, performance and risk management functions, finance, facilities and estate security, information and communications technology, data and information management, human resources, legal, audit and security vetting services. Mr Yannopoulos first worked in Defence from 2008 to 2013 as the first Chief Technology Officer. Prior to his appointment as the Associate Secretary of Defence, Mr Yannopoulos was the Deputy Secretary Budget and Financial Reporting at the Department of Finance where he was responsible for providing policy and financial advice to Government on expenditure and non-taxation revenue policy issues. Mr Yannopoulos has held previous government positions including Chief Operating Officer in the Department of Health and Deputy Secretary, Senior Responsible Officer for the Child Care Reform Implementation at the Department of Education. Mr Yannopoulos was awarded a Public Service Medal in January 2019 for his substantial achievements in this role. Other positions include First Assistant Secretary, Portfolio Investment Division and Chief Information Officer at the Department of Health as well as other significant roles such as Portfolio CIO of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Mr Yannopoulos has an accounting and information technology background and is an accredited FCPA.