seat was challenged by Aly, to make accusations against her. However, prior to Aly becoming a Labor candidate, Simpkins had written to her in admiration of her counter-terrorism work. As justice minister, Keenan oversaw the first national firearms amnesty since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre. It ran from July to September 2017, allowing people to hand in unregistered or unwanted firearms. The amnesty had been approved in March 2017 by the Firearms and Weapons Policy Working Group (FWPWG) to reduce the number of unregistered firearms in Australia that were being used in Islamic terrorist attacks. In a ministerial reshuffle in December 2017, Keenan was promoted to cabinet as Minister for Human Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Transformation. On 25 January 2019 he announced that he would not contest the 2019 election to spend more time with his family, after 15 years in parliament. He and his wife have four sons born while he was a member of parliament. On Wednesday 13 February 2019, one of Keenan's office staffers was implicated in conspiring with Michaelia Cash's office staff in making strategic media leaks about AFP raids on the offices of the AWU. References External links |- 1972 births Abbott Government Australian National University alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Government ministers of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Stirling Murdoch University alumni People educated at Trinity College, Perth Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Turnbull Government 21st-century Australian politicians Members of the Cabinet of Australia Australian people of English descent People who lost British citizenship Citizens of the United Kingdom through descent Morrison Government