Tim Ayres is the Minister of Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science in the Albanese Labor Government.

Senator Ayres grew up on his family's beef cattle farm on the north coast of NSW and completed high school in Glen Innes. He studied industrial relations at the University of Sydney and lives in Sydney.

Before entering Parliament, Tim held several elected leadership roles in the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, representing the interests of workers across a variety of sectors including manufacturing, defence, food processing, aviation and metal industries.

He was elected as a Senator for New South Wales in the 2019 election, where he continues to advocate for strong manufacturing industries and good blue-collar jobs, especially in Australia’s regions.