Helen Polley

Last updated

Helen Polley
Senator for Tasmania
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2005
Personal details
Born (1957-02-09) 9 February 1957 (age 67)
Ulverstone, Tasmania, Australia
Political party Australian Labor Party
Relations Michael Polley
Residence(s) Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Profession Political adviser
Politician

Helen Beatrice Polley (born 9 February 1957) is an Australian politician who is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian Senate, representing the state of Tasmania since 1 July 2005.

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Ulverstone, Tasmania, Polley is the daughter of Michael and Eileen Polley, and the sister of Michael Polley, former Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. She was educated at Deloraine High School, Launceston Community College and Launceston Business College, where she obtained a Diploma of Business Administration.

Senator Polley started work in administrative roles and work in finance, transport and manufacturing. [1]

Political career

Early career (1984–2005)

Polley spent time working as an adviser to Senator Terry Aulich from 1984 to 1992, Premier Michael Field from 1992 to 1995, Senator Shayne Murphy from 1995 to 1998, and Premiers Jim Bacon from 1998 to 2004 and Paul Lennon from 2004 to 2005. [2]

She was also the first female President of the Tasmanian branch of the ALP from 1992 to 1995, before being elected as Senator for Tasmania at the 2004 Federal Election. [3]

Australian Senate (2005–present)

Polley took up her position on 1 July 2005 and retained her Senate seat at the 2010 and 2016 Federal Elections. [4]

Polley is a committee member of the Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network and Law Enforcement – Parliamentary Joint Committee. [5]

Polley served as Deputy Government Whip in the Senate in the Second Gillard Ministry and Second Rudd Ministry from 2010 to 2013, and then as Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care from 2013 to 2016.

Comcare Investigation

Following several staff alleging harassment and abuse by Polley, Commonwealth workplace health and safety agency Comcare commenced an investigation. The investigation found Polley's office had an unhealthy workplace culture that had "an adverse impact on the morale, health and well-being" of staff. [6] Several staff had compensation claims approved for damages resulting from the bullying endured during their time working for Polley. [7]

Travel expenditure

In 2014, Polley admitted to spending about $23,000 of taxpayer money on chartered flights between Hobart and Launceston, each lasting about 35 minutes. [8] According to Polley this was within the entitlements of all Senators of Australia depending on their geographical location[ citation needed ].

Use of "All lives matter" slogan

In 2020, Polley apologised after sharing the a variation of the All Lives Matter slogan that said "Instead of Black Lives Matter how about every life matters no matter what the color of your skin is", on social media in an incident that she acknowledged was "careless" and "insensitive". She claimed that she had been unaware of the issues with the slogan. [9]

Political views

Polley is a member of Labor's Right faction. She is a member of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), and is linked with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA).

Polley opposes marriage equality and voted against the Marriage Amendment Act 2017 following the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey. [10]

Polley opposes reproductive rights. In 2006, Polley voted against the Therapeutic Goods Amendment Bill that would provide for medical abortions. Speaking against the Bill, Polley said:

"I dread to think that this chamber might very well be condemning our daughters to a horrible death or complications that may remove the opportunity for them to ever conceive again." [11]

Senator Polley opposes assisted dying and the autonomy of the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory governments to legislate on the matter. Polley argues "...legislation will never be able to guarantee that a human life will not be prematurely ended due to abuse or flaws within such a legislative framework", and where assisted dying has been legalised "life has been extinguished prematurely and without the consent of the person. Effectively, in many jurisdictions the state is killing people where voluntary euthanasia laws have been established." [12]

Related Research Articles

Michelle Anne O'Byrne is Australian politician for the Australian Labor Party and since May 2024, the Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Abetz</span> Australian politician (born 1958)

Eric Abetz is an Australian politician. He was a Senator for Tasmania from 1994 to 2022, representing the Liberal Party, and since March 2024 has been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Franklin electorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Barnett (Australian politician)</span> Australian politician

Guy Barnett is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party and was appointed deputy premier of Tasmania in 2024. He has been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly since 2014 and has been a state government minister since 2016. He was previously a Senator for Tasmania from 2002 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick McKim</span> Australian politician

Nicholas James McKim is an Australian politician, currently a member of the Australian Senate representing Tasmania. He was previously a Tasmanian Greens member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly elected at the 2002 election, representing the Franklin electorate from 2002 to 2015, and led the party from 2008 until 2014. On 21 April 2010, he became the first member of the Greens in any Australian ministry. From February 2020 until June 2022, he served as co-deputy leader of the Australian Greens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Brown (politician)</span> Australian politician (born 1963)

Carol Louise Brown is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been a Senator for Tasmania since 2005. She was an assistant minister in the Albanese government from 2022 to 2024.

Government in Australia is elected by universal suffrage and Australian women participate in all levels of the government of the nation. In 1902, the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia became the first nation on earth to enact equal suffrage, enabling women to both vote and stand for election alongside men Women have been represented in Australian state parliaments since 1921, and in the Federal Parliament since 1943. The first female leader of an Australian State or Territory was elected in 1989, and the first female Prime Minister took office in 2010. In 2019 for the first time, a majority of members of the Australian Senate were women. At the time of its foundation in 1901, and again from 1952 to 2022, Australia has had a female monarch as ceremonial Head of State, while the first female Governor of an Australian State was appointed in 1991, and the first female Governor-General of Australia took office in 2008.

Michael Robert Polley is a Labor Party politician and former member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the Division of Lyons. First elected in 1972 at age 22 he was the longest-serving member of the Tasmanian parliament, having been re-elected at ten successive State elections. He is married with two sons and one daughter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catryna Bilyk</span> Australian politician (born 1959)

Catryna Louise Bilyk is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been a Senator for Tasmania since 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Payne</span> Australian politician (1866–1944)

Herbert James Mockford Payne was an Australian politician. He served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1920 to 1938 and as a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 1903 to 1920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Aylett</span> Australian politician

William Edward Aylett was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1938 to 1965, representing the Labor Party (ALP). He worked as a miner, mail contractor, and farmer before entering politics. He was first elected to the Senate at the age of 36 and won re-election on five more occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Singh</span> Australian politician (born 1972)

Lisa Maria Singh is an Australian former politician. She was a Senator for Tasmania from 2011 to 2019. She had previously been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, representing the division of Denison from 2006 to 2010. The granddaughter of an Indo-Fijian member of the Parliament of Fiji, Singh was Australia's first female federal parliamentarian of Indian descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David O'Byrne</span> Australian politician and trade unionist

David O'Byrne is an Australian trade unionist and politician. A prominent union leader prior to entering politics and the brother of fellow politician Michelle O'Byrne, he has been an Independent member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly since 2024, after previously serving as a Labor Party member from 2018 to 2024, and from 2010 to 2014, representing the electorate of Franklin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah O'Neill</span> Australian politician

Deborah Mary O'Neill is an Australian politician who has served as a Senator for New South Wales with the Australian Labor Party since 2013. Before entering politics O'Neill was a school teacher and university academic. In her Senate role, she has been described as taking "a fierce approach to accountability." In June 2023, O'Neill was appointed to chair the newly formed Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services. In this role, the committee has largely focused on failures of governance and public accountability amongst the large consulting firms Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC.

Anne Elizabeth Urquhart is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served as a Senator for Tasmania since 2011. She was a senior official with the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) prior to entering politics. She is the Labor candidate for Braddon at the 2025 federal election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqui Lambie</span> Australian politician (born 1971)

Jacquiline Louise Lambie is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to 2017.

Christopher Ronald Ketter is a former Australian politician who represented Queensland for the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Senate from 1 July 2014, elected at the 2013 election, until 30 June 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqui Lambie Network</span> Australian political party

The Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) is a political party in Australia, formed in May 2015, bearing the name of its founder, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathon Duniam</span> Australian politician

Jonathon Roy Duniam is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal Party and has served as a Senator for Tasmania since the 2016 federal election. He served as an assistant minister in the Morrison government from 2019 until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry. Prior to entering parliament Duniam was a political staffer, including as deputy chief of staff to Tasmanian premier Will Hodgman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Hart (politician)</span> Australian politician and lawyer (born 1960)

Ross Anthony Hart is a former Australian politician. He was the Australian Labor Party member for Bass from the 2016 federal election in which he defeated the sitting member, the Liberal Party of Australia's Andrew Nikolic with a 10.6 point swing against him. He lost the seat to Liberal Bridget Archer at the 2019 election.

The history of same-sex marriage in Australia includes its express prohibition by the Howard government in 2004 and its eventual legalisation by the Parliament in December 2017. Although a same-sex marriage law was passed by the Australian Capital Territory in 2013, it was struck down by the High Court on the basis of inconsistency with federal law. The Court's decision closed the possibility of concurrent state or territory laws that would allow same-sex marriage where federal law did not. A law legalising same-sex marriage passed the Parliament on 7 December 2017 and received royal assent the following day.

References

  1. ↑ "Senator Helen Polley: About Helen". Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "Senator Helen Polley | MP Profile | Q&A | ABC TV". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Archived from the original on 29 October 2008.
  3. ↑ "Senator Helen Polley – Parliament of Australia".
  4. ↑ "Senate State First Preferences By Candidate".
  5. ↑ "Senate Committees (Page No Longer Valid) – fapa_ctte index.htm – Parliament of Australia".
  6. ↑ WAHLQUIST, CALLA (11 December 2013). "Polley admits probe, denies specific claims". The Examiner. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  7. ↑ "Senator's staff win claims of harassment". The Sydney Morning Herald. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  8. ↑ "Senator admits spending $23,000 on 35-minute plane flights within Tasmania". ABC News Online. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley apologises for 'all lives matter' social media post". The Launceston Examiner. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "Helen Polley voted consistently against same-sex marriage equality". They Vote For You. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  11. ↑ THERAPEUTIC GOODS AMENDMENT (REPEAL OF MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR APPROVAL OF RU486) BILL 2005. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "Restoring Territory Rights (Assisted Suicide Legislation) Bill 2015 Second Reading". 15 August 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
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.