and Don Farrell) who convinced their colleagues to support Julia Gillard in calling for a leadership spill against sitting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. When Gillard was sworn in as Prime Minister, Feeney was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Defence in her first ministry, and was reappointed to this role in the second Gillard ministry. He maintained this position in the reshuffle when Rudd regained the Prime Ministership in June 2013. As Parliamentary Secretary, Feeney commissioned the report into Unresolved Recognition for Past Acts of Naval and Military Gallantry and Valour, and was responsible for the Australian Government's Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. His responsibilities included ADF Reserves, ADF force structure (especially Plan BEERSHEBA in the Army), the Pacific Maritime Security Plan (PMSP) and liaison with Pacific Island Countries, participating in the first meeting of South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting (SPDMM) in Tonga. Feeney also commissioned the Department of Defence workforce review, known as Plan Suakin, in 2010. House of Representatives Feeney was elected as the member for Batman in 2013, succeeding the retired Martin Ferguson. His switch to nominating for the House of the Representatives came after he was preselected to the third spot on the Victorian Senate ticket. Although it was the same ticket position from which he had been elected in 2007, the state of Labor's polling in 2013 made the prospects of holding his Senate seat unlikely, with Feeney admitting that this made his position in the Senate, "very, very marginal." At the 2013 election Labor Leader Bill Shorten appointed Feeney as Shadow Minister for Justice and Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence. After 1 July 2014 the portfolio of Veterans Affairs and Centenary of ANZAC were added to his responsibilities. As a local MP, Feeney campaigned for schools funding, healthcare and public transport. He also worked to promote the Anzac Centenary in his Batman electorate, and to secure grants for local projects to commemorate the service of Australian service-men and women in the First World War. Feeney sought to promote causes in parliament including recognition of same-sex marriage, needs-based school funding, and various environmental concerns, particularly marine parks and fisheries protection. In 2017, Feeney was one of a small number of Labor MPs to express opposition to the Carmichael coal mine proposed by the Adani Group, saying the project didn't "stack up" and calling the cost to the environment and climate "too high". Feeney is a