Cassandra Fernando (born 18 September 1987) is a Sri Lankan-born Australian politician and trade unionist who has served as the member of parliament (MP) for the Victorian division of Holt since 2022. She is a member of the Labor Party and the first Sri Lankan-born woman to be seated in the Australian parliament.[1]
Fernando was born in Sri Lanka and came to Australia with her parents in 1999 at the age of 11. She grew up in Dandenong North,Victoria,and holds a diploma in hospitality and a certificate in education support.[2]
She is a member of the SDA faction of Victorian Labor,which was granted the right,under the federal intervention into the Victorian branch which has led to a suspension of democratic processes in the Branch,to preselect the candidate in Holt despite the left faction having larger membership numbers.[4]
Since July 2022 Fernando has served on the House of Representatives Standing Committee for Employment,Education and Training,the Standing Committee for Migration and the Parliamentary Library Committee.
Personal life
Fernando lives in Narre Warren South.[5] She is a member of the SDA,the Cranbourne Chamber of Commerce and the Cranbourne Historical Society.[5]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
