[2] Before entering Parliament in 2007 Gray spent 16 years as an official of the Australian Labor Party, rising to national secretary (1993–2000).

He also held senior executive positions, before entering Parliament and again following his retirement from politics in 2016, at some of Australia's largest resources companies.

"In June 1966, Mum and Dad packed our bags and a trunk and, along with my brother, David, and sister, Carol, we sailed from Southampton, England, on the ship Fairsea.

[6] He was also responsible for fundraising, helping rectify a long-standing imbalance which had seen corporate funding disproportionately directed to the conservative parties.

[11] One of Gray's early achievements was to establish the organisational capacity within the ALP to allow it to formally support the democracy movement in South Africa.

This aligned the ALP's international activities with the policy position of the Hawke and Keating governments, led by Foreign Minister Gareth Evans.

[16] In 2001, Gray was awarded the Commonwealth Government's Centenary Medal for "services to the political life of Australia as National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party".

"[18] Gray's work on affirmative action guidelines is credited with the significant increase in female representation in all subsequent Labor State and Federal parliaments.

He is one of a number of federal parliamentarians who are subject to allegations of conflict of interest over their service to Woodside, including participation in the Australia–East Timor spying scandal of 2004.

[19][20] Gray left Woodside to contest pre-selection for the seat of Brand in Western Australia, to replace the retiring MP Kim Beazley, ahead of the 2007 federal election.

The Australian Mines and Metals Association's Chief Executive Steve Knott issued a statement welcoming the appointment, saying Gray was "highly regarded" by the resources sector.

[2] In 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, addressing the Federal Parliament in Canberra for the first time, highlighted Gray's role in driving an exchange program with representatives of the National Diet, Japan's bicameral legislature, as a key plank of deepening ties between the two countries.

[26] In July 2010, the taskforce put recommendations to the Federal Government, including a proposed enterprise migration agreement (EMA).

After consideration by the Government, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen, and the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, announced on 25 May 2012 that the first EMA would be for the proposed $US10 billion Roy Hill world-scale iron ore mine, being developed in Western Australia's Pilbara region by businesswoman Gina Rinehart and her partners Marubeni Corporation, POSCO and China Steel Corporation.

Roy Hill's construction coincided with an acute skills shortage in Western Australia's North West, driven by the concurrent investment of more than $100 billion in resources projects including Chevron's Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG plants, Woodside Petroleum's Pluto LNG project and Fortescue Metals Group's Solomon iron ore hub.

The day after the Government's EMA announcement, Australian Workers Union secretary Paul Howes, who was a member of the original taskforce, declared it "sheer lunacy" and an "ideal Christmas present" for Gina Rinehart.

[28] The Roy Hill consortium secured $US7.2 billion in debt finance to construct the 55Mtpa mine, 344 km rail and port operation.

The mine is one of the world's largest single sources of iron ore and has created permanent employment for about 2000 workers in the Pilbara and in Perth.

[30] In February 2016, Gray announced that he would not be contesting the upcoming election on 2 July, citing a need for Labor to enable the next generation to step up.

Gray's ambassadorship triggered his resignation at Mineral Resources Limited and the boards of ASC Shipbuilding, Channel 7 Telethon Trust and the Perth Observatory.