John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian politician. He has been a Labor member of the Australian Senate since 1989, representing the state of New South Wales. Following a period serving on various Senate Committees and as Deputy Whip, he was a Minister in the Keating Labor government 1993–96. Following several years in opposition as a Shadow Minister, he was appointed in 2007 as Vice-President of the Executive Council and Special Minister of State in the First Rudd Government. He was Minister for Defence from June 2009 to September 2010.He announced in July 2010 that he would return to the backbench after the 2010 election, and subsequently was replaced as Defence Minister by Stephen Smith on 13 September 2010.As the longest currently-serving Labor member of the Australian Senate, Faulkner's elder statesman status is virtually unrivaled by any presently active politician within Labor circles and on 1 July 2014 he became Father of the Australian Senate.On 30 April 2014, Senator Faulkner announced that he did not intend to seek re-election, and his current Senate term will be his last.