Following the 2010 federal election he was elevated to Cabinet and initially served as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation in the Gillard Government and then Minister for Education and Minister for Workplace Relations in the Rudd Government.
Following the 2010 federal election he was elevated to Cabinet and served as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation in the Gillard Government. From June 2013 he served as Minister for Education and Minister for Workplace Relations until the defeat of the Rudd Government.