Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen (born 17 January 1973) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Climate Change and Energy in the Albanese government since June 2022.^[1] He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was first elected to parliament at the 2004 federal election. He held ministerial office in the Rudd and Gillard governments from 2007 to 2013.

Bowen served on the Fairfield City Council from 1995 to 2004, including a term as mayor. He was elected to the House of Representatives in the 2004 election, winning the seat of Prospect; he would later transfer to the seat of McMahon at the 2010 federal election, after his former seat was abolished. Bowen was added to Kevin Rudd's shadow ministry in 2006, and following the ALP's victory at the 2007 election served variously as Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, and Human Services. After Julia Gillard replaced Rudd as prime minister in June 2010, Bowen was made the Minister Immigration and Citizenship, and also served as the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, Small Business for a brief time in 2013.

In June 2013, Rudd would replace Gillard as prime minister in the final leadership contest between the two, and he would assign Bowen the role of Treasurer. He held this position for less than three months, as the ALP was defeated at the 2013 election. Bowen served briefly as the interim leader of the ALP and acting leader of the opposition.^[2] He was the shadow treasurer under Bill Shorten from 2013 to 2019. After the 2019 election, he became a candidate to succeed Shorten as party leader but eventually withdrew in favour of Anthony Albanese.

After the ALP's victory in the 2022 election, Bowen would become the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. He is regarded as a senior figure in the Labor Right faction.^[3][4]

Bowen was born in Sydney to Christine and Ross Bowen. His father worked for the National Roads and Motorists' Association, while his mother, who was born in the United Kingdom, was a childcare worker.^[5][6] Bowen grew up in the suburb of Smithfield,. He began his education at Smithfield Public School, and later attended St Johns Park High School before going on to the University of Sydney, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics in 1994. One of his tutors was the future Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.^[7]

Bowen was elected to Fairfield City Council in 1995 and was Mayor of Fairfield in 1998 and 1999. He was elected president of the Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) in 1999 and served as president until 2001.

In 2004, Bowen was elected to the House of Representatives replacing Janice Crosio after she retired after 25 years in both state and federal politics. In 2006, Bowen was appointed to the Labor front bench as Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Revenue and Competition Policy.

Bowen supports same-sex marriage.^[18] Notably in 2017, his Division of McMahon had the 3rd highest percentage of "No" responses in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 64.9% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "No".^[19]

Bowen supported then Foreign Minister Marise Payne's call for an independent global inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic including China's handling of the initial outbreak in Wuhan.^[20]

Bowen is married to Rebecca Mifsud, who as of 2016^[update] worked for Toll Group as an industrial relations executive.^[21] They met at the 2000 ALP National Conference, where Mifsud was a delegate for the Electrical Trades Union. The couple have two children together and reside in Smithfield, Bowen's childhood suburb.^[7]

Bowen and his older brother Paul had two siblings who died shortly after being born. Bowen's mother, Christine, lost two baby boys when the family was still living in the United Kingdom - once in 1959 and in 1960. Bowen revealed this story in order to raise awareness to the lasting negative effects of stillbirths on families.^[22]

Bowen possesses a Diploma of Modern Language (Bahasa Indonesia) from the University of New England.^[23]

Bowen supports the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League.^[24]

• Rudd government (2007–2010)
• Rudd government (2013)

• Hearts and Minds: A Blueprint for Modern Labor (2013)^[25]
• The Money Men: Australia's Twelve Most Notable Treasurers (2015)^[26]
• On Charlatans (2021)^[27]