Tim Ayres is the Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for a Future Made In Australia in the Albanese Labor Government.

He was elected as a Senator for New South Wales in the 2019 election. During the 46th Parliament, he was Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration and Member of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Joint Standing Committee. He led the work of several Select Inquiries including a Senate report on the capability of the Australian Public Service.

He was appointed as Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing in June 2022, after the election of the Labor Government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. In July 2024 his appointment changed to Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for a Future Made In Australia.

Before entering Parliament, Tim spent twenty-four years in the trade union movement, representing the interests of workers across a variety of sectors including manufacturing, defence, food processing, aviation and metal industries.

He held several elected leadership roles in the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union. He has been a long-standing member of the Australian Labor Party's National Executive. 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.