Alexander John Gosse Downer was born in Adelaide on 9 September 1951. He is the son of former federal politician and diplomat Sir Alexander Downer (CP 261), and a member of a prominent South Australian political family. Downer was educated at Geelong Grammar School (Victoria), Radley College and the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK), before he entered the Australian Diplomatic Service (1976-1982). In 1981 he was Senior Foreign Affairs Representative in South Australia and a delegate with the Liberal Party State Council. He then became Political Adviser to the Prime Minister, Rt Hon J M Fraser (1982-1983), before working for two years as Director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce (Canberra Secretariat) (1983-1984).

In December 1984, Alexander Downer was elected to the House of Representatives as the member for Mayo, South Australia and was re-elected in 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007. He has served on Parliamentary Committees relating to Transport Safety (1985-1986), Public Accounts (1986-1987), Transport, Communications and Infrastructure (1987-1990), Selection (1989-1990), Banking, Finance and Public Administration (1990-1993) and Intelligence and Security (2008).

During the prolonged period of instability within the Liberal Party in the 1980s and early 1990s, Downer was Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition for eight months (1994-1995). As a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry, he was Shadow Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Environment (1987), Housing and Small Business (1988-1989), Trade and Trade Negotiations (1990-1992), Defence (1992-1993), Treasury (1993-1994) and Foreign Affairs (1995-1996). He was also a member of 'Fightback!' Co-ordination and Marketing Group (1992-1993); and Chairperson of the Economy, Public Sector and Law Management Group (1993-1994).

When the Howard Government came to office in 1996, Downer became Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs (1996-2007) and in 2004 he became Australia's longest serving Foreign Minister. As Foreign Minister he was involved in the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; the ending of the civil conflict in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea; the Tampa affair; and the Lombok Treaty with Indonesia. Following the defeat of the Howard Government in 2007 Downer went to the Opposition backbench until his resignation on 14 July 2008, which triggered a by-election in the seat of Mayo.

In January 2001 Downer was awarded the Centenary Medal and he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2013 Australia Day Honours.

Sources:
Parliament of Australia Website, accessed 4 February 2008 and 21 February 2013
Canberra Times, 21 Dec 2004, p 4; 26 Oct 2005, p 3
Parliamentary Handbook On-line (as at 8 September 2003)
Who's Who in Australia 2003, p 629
Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia website, accessed 21 February 2013
Wikipedia website, accessed 21 February 2013