At a young age, Luke van der Meulen migrated with his family to the Latrobe Valley from the mining town of Valkenburg (Netherlands) with his father working in the gas and fuel industry.

Luke is a living product of the SEC system. At the young of 16, after finishing school, Luke secured an apprenticeship at the SEC as a boilermaker and through many years worked his way up into being a unit controller at Loy Yang power station.

In 2001, Luke took on the role of CFMEU Victorian District Mining and Energy Division President. Having been in the role for 15 years, Luke retired from the position in mid-2016 to focus on his fishing and golf handicap!