[1] He previously served as a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing South Australia from July 1993 to June 2011, and a former cabinet minister in the Howard government.

Minchin attended Knox Grammar School and spent a year in the United States as an exchange student with AFS International Scholarships.

[8] His appointment followed the controversial termination of the Labor-appointed nominee to the position, Steve Bracks (the former Premier of Victoria), by the incoming Abbott government in September 2013.

[12] In March 2006, Minchin received extensive media coverage when he highlighted the dilemma his government faced in the field of industrial relations and aired his views about future policy proposals.

Speaking at a conference of the H. R. Nicholls Society where he told the audience that the coalition "knew its reform to WorkChoices were not popular but the process of change must continue",[13] and that "there is still a long way to go... awards, the IR commission, all the rest of it...",[14] he went on to say "The fact is the great majority of the Australian people do not support what we are doing on industrial relations.

"[15][16] In 1995 Minchin submitted a dissenting Senate report[17] on the tobacco industry and the costs of tobacco-related illness that disputed the committee's statements that it believes cigarettes are addictive and that passive smoking is harmful.

[19] In a March 2007 letter to the founder of Clean Up Australia, Ian Kiernan, Minchin expressed doubts that climate change was caused by human activity.

[20] Minchin said that the ETS bill was "the work of madman" and an "abomination", and observed that "Mr Rudd's arrogance and vanity in wanting to lead the world in cutting CO2 emissions is really sickening".

During this period, Minchin approved the Beverley uranium mine in South Australia, commissioned a replacement research reactor at Lucas Heights and identified a future site for a national radioactive waste repository.

I failed in my responsibility to establish a national radioactive waste repository in the central north of South Australia, one of the best sites in the world for such a facility.