Robert McClelland is an Australian politician who was born on 26 January 1958, in Sydney, Australia. Robert McClelland studied at the University of New South Wales, where he graduated with a degree in Arts and Law, later gaining a Masters in Law at the University of Sydney. Prior to becoming a politician, Robert McClelland worked as an Associate to Phillip Evatt, who was Justice of the Federal Court of Australia. Robert maintained this role from 1981-1982, before becoming a solicitor and leaving to become a partner with the law firm Turner-Freeman.

Robert McClelland became a member of the Australian Parliament, representing the division Barton, on 2 March 1996. He was selected as a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry two years after entering parliament and was elected Shadow Attorney-General in 1998. Robert McClelland remained in the role of Shadow Attorney-General until 2003, after which he was appointed Shadow Minister for Workplace Relations, followed by Shadow Minister for Homeland Security – a role that he stayed in until 2005.

From 2004 until 2006, Robert McClelland was responsible for the portfolio of Shadow Minister for Defence, and then Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs for the period of 2006-2007. In November 2007 Robert McClelland again took on the position of Attorney-General, a role which he is still currently serving.

Throughout his career, Robert McClelland has come into hot water over some of his comments. In October 2007, he publicly spoke of the Labor Party’s disapproval of death sentences for South Asian countries. The comment sparked uproar in the media and public, considering the statement was made on the eve of the anniversary of the Bali bombings, with many considering Robert as insensitive and the Labor Party as inconsistent.