Early career In March 2006, Marles nominated for Labor preselection against the sitting member for Corio,
Gavan O'Connor, as part of a challenge to several sitting members organised by the right-wing
Labor Unity faction of the party. In the local ballot Marles polled 57% of the vote, and his endorsement was then confirmed by the party's public office selection committee. Marles was elected member for Corio on 24 November 2007 in the election that returned the Labor Party to office under the leadership of Kevin Rudd. From February 2008 to June 2009 he was chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.
Parliamentary secretary and Minister for Trade in
Arlington, Virginia, United States, in February 2025 In June 2009 Marles was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Innovation and Industry. He retained his seat in the 2010 election and was sworn in as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs in the
First Gillard Ministry on 14 September 2010. In July 2011, Marles became the first Australian member of parliament to visit
Wallis and Futuna. Marles arrived in Wallis and Futuna to attend a ceremony with King
Kapiliele Faupala in
Mata-Utu marking the 50th anniversary of the islands' status as a French
Overseas collectivity. On 21 March 2013 he resigned these roles after expressing support for
Kevin Rudd to challenge Julia Gillard for the leadership; a challenge that did not eventuate. In June 2013, he was appointed the Minister for Trade and a member of the
Cabinet, succeeding
Craig Emerson, who resigned following the
June 2013 leadership spill that saw Kevin Rudd defeat Julia Gillard for leadership of the Labor Party.
Shadow minister After the ALP's defeat at the
2013 federal election, Marles was appointed Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection under opposition leader
Bill Shorten. In February 2016, he began co-hosting the weekly television program
Pyne & Marles on
Sky News Live with
Liberal MP
Christopher Pyne. Marles had his portfolio changed after the
2016 election, becoming Shadow Minister for Defence.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition In May 2019, after Labor lost the
2019 federal election, it was reported that Marles would stand for the deputy leadership of the party, and would likely be elected unopposed following
Clare O'Neil's decision not to run. He was formally endorsed as deputy to
Anthony Albanese on 30 May, and selected the portfolio of Defence in the shadow cabinet. Following a shadow cabinet reshuffle in January 2021, Marles was placed in charge of a new "super portfolio" relating to recovery from the
COVID-19 pandemic, encompassing a "broad brief across national reconstruction, jobs, skills, small business and science".
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister witness joint
Australia–Philippine military exercises in
San Vicente, Palawan, Philippines, in August 2025 Two days after the
2022 federal election, Albanese had himself, Marles and three other senior Labor frontbenchers sworn in as an interim five-person government. Although counting was still underway, it was apparent by this time that no other party could realistically form even a minority government. As Albanese flew to Tokyo to take part in the Quad soon after being sworn in, Marles served as Acting Prime Minister until Albanese returned to lead the nation full-time. He continues to return to the role whenever Albanese leaves the country. On 1 June 2022, Marles was sworn in as
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and
Minister for Defence. One of his early decisions was relocating 500 Australian troops to
Townsville over the course of six years from 2025 to strengthen the
Australian Army's ability to conduct operations missions in the
Pacific. This announcement was criticised by the city's mayor
Jenny Hill who claimed that
Townsville City Council was not consulted about military personnel's housing. On 29 September 2023, Marles announced that the
Australian Defence Force would retire its fleet of
MRH-90 Taipan helicopters following a fatal crash during
Exercise Talisman Sabre in July 2023 which killed four military personnel. In September 2023, Albanese and Philippine President
Bongbong Marcos agreed to have their respective defence ministers (Marles and
Gilbert Teodoro) meet annually due to "rising security challenges" in the
Indo-Pacific. In early February 2024, Marles and
Foreign Minister Penny Wong hosted New Zealand
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and
Defence Minister Judith Collins at a joint bilateral meeting of foreign and defence ministers in
Melbourne. Marles confirmed that Australia would send officials to brief their New Zealand counterparts about
AUKUS Pillar Two, which would focus on advanced military technology including quantum computing and artificial intelligence. New Zealand is not expected to join AUKUS Pillar One due to its
nuclear-free policy. The two governments also agreed to deepen bilateral security and military cooperation. On 6 May 2024, Marles denounced an incident in which a Chinese
J-10 fighter jet dropped flares in close proximity to an Australian
MH60R Seahawk helicopter. The helicopter had been operating off in international waters in the
Yellow Sea while enforcing
United Nations-mandated sanctions against
North Korea. On 19 June 2024, Marles, Wong and
Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy attended the 30th Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum in
Port Moresby. During the visit, Marles acknowledged the
2024 Enga landslide that occurred in late May 2024 and confirmed that the Australian delegation would travel there. The Albanese government also confirmed plans to sign a bilateral security agreement with
Papua New Guinea. On 11 July 2024, Marles announced that Australia would provide Ukraine with $250 million in military assistance, the largest single military package from Australia to Ukraine since the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. and Japanese Minister of Defense
Gen Nakatani in May 2025 On 12 September 2024, Marles stripped nine commanding officers who served in the
War in Afghanistan of their distinguished service medals, implementing the final recommendation of the
Brereton Report which had found "credible evidence" that Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 people. On 20 February 2025, Marles and his New Zealand counterpart Collins confirmed that the Australian and
New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships that were sailing through
Australia's exclusive economic zone near Sydney. After the Chinese warships commenced
live-fire exercises in the
Tasman Sea, Marles criticised the Chinese government for not giving the Australian government prior notice of the first live fire exercise, describing them as "disconcerting for planes that were in the air." Australian civil aviation and defence authorities had only learnt about the exercise ten minutes after initial contact between the Chinese warships and a
Virgin Australia pilot nearby. After US Defense Secretary
Pete Hegseth initiated a review of AUKUS, Marles stated that it was "totally understandable" that an incoming government would like to conduct a review. In July 2025, Marles and UK Defense Minister
John Healey signed a fifty-year nuclear submarine treaty. In 2025, the
Albanese government was criticized for supplying parts for
F-35 fighter jets to the global supply chain that can be accessed by
Israel. Marles said that Australia was part of the F-35 supply chains "that are organised by
Lockheed Martin in the United States and have multiple supplies in respect of all of those supply chains." On 24 August 2025, Marles witnessed the 2025 Exercise Amphibious and Land Operations (ALON)
military exercises between Australian and
Philippine forces held in
Palawan, Philippines, which involved over 3,600 personnel—Australia's largest deployment of troops to Southeast Asia since the
2006 crisis in Timor-Leste. Marles said that the exercises intend to "uphold the
rules-based order in this [Indo-Pacific] region." He also announced that a new
defence pact between
Australia and the Philippines will be signed in 2026. ==Political positions==