Johnstone William "John" Thwaites AM is an Australian former politician, and served as Deputy Premier of the state of Victoria from 1999 to 2007.

He was a ministerial advisor to Labor Party state government ministers Jim Kennan and Andrew McCutcheon before being elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the seat of Albert Park.

Labor, having been in office for ten years, suffered a landslide defeat at the hands of the Liberal Party under Jeff Kennett.

In the last three years of its term, Labor, under Joan Kirner, had presided over a sharp recession and a series of financial disasters including the forced sale of the State Bank of Victoria, and the collapse of Pyramid Building Society.

He used Freedom of Information documents to highlight long delays in hospital emergency departments and health budget cuts.

Thwaites also highlighted concerns about privatisation of ambulance dispatching to a private company, Intergraph, which the Auditor General found “at best involved serious mismanagement or, at worst, constituted corrupt activity”.

Like all state health ministers, he had only limited success in reducing waiting lists at public hospitals, but did succeed in restoring the numbers of nurses.

[citation needed] After the November 2002 state election, at which Labor was returned with a record majority, Thwaites was appointed Minister for Environment, Water and Victorian Communities.

Victoria was the first state to introduce five-star energy efficiency requirements for new homes together with incentives for rainwater tanks and solar hot water.

[11] It was described by the head of the Brotherhood of St Laurence as “an unprecedented effort to make Victoria a better place for those who are disadvantaged and vulnerable.

[13] In June 2007, amid rumours of Bracks resigning as premier, there was a series of leaks from inside government about Mr Thwaites and his family being given free accommodation, lift passes, food and drink at ski resorts over the last five years without declaring it.

[14][15] Documents obtained under freedom-of-information laws show Thwaites made 17 taxpayer-funded visits to Victoria's snowfields and national parks between 2003 and 2007.

[17] He said he had been Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party in Victoria for ten years and it was now time "to give someone else a go and bring in some new blood".

In 2016, the Victorian Government appointed him with Terry Mulder and Patricia Faulkner to conduct an independent review of retail electricity and gas markets.

co-chair of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) launched by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to mobilise universities in support of the SDGs.