Kate Thwaites | |
---|---|
Member of the Australian Parliament for Jagajaga | |
Assumed office 18 May 2019 | |
Preceded by | Jenny Macklin |
Personal details | |
Born | Melbourne,Victoria,Australia | 19 January 1980
Political party | Labor |
Alma mater | RMIT University |
Occupation | Politician |
Website | www |
Kate Lynne Thwaites [1] (born 19 January 1980) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election,representing the Division of Jagajaga in Victoria. She was a journalist and public servant before entering parliament.
Thwaites was born in Melbourne on 19 January 1980. [2] Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a schoolteacher. [3]
Thwaites grew up in the suburb of Rosanna. [4] She holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of International Development from RMIT University. [2]
In 2002,Thwaites began working at 2CUZ,an Indigenous community radio station in Bourke,New South Wales. [3] She later worked for ABC News until 2008,when she joined Oxfam Australia as a media adviser. [2] She later worked as a senior adviser to Labor MP Jenny Macklin and as communications director at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. [5] [6] She also worked with the National Disability Insurance Agency in Geelong. [2]
In July 2018,Thwaites won Labor preselection for the Division of Jagajaga,following Macklin's retirement. According to The Guardian ,her victory was "almost a direct result of Josh Burns' win in Macnamara,with the Labor left concerned about its female representation". [7] She retained Jagajaga for the ALP at the 2019 federal election with a small positive swing. [5] Thwaites was returned as the member for Jagajaga at the 2022 Federal Election with an increased margin of over 62% of the two party preferred vote. [8]
In 2021,Thwaites co-authored a book,Enough Is Enough,with her predecessor Jagajaga member,Jenny Macklin. [9]
In April 2023,Thwaites co-signed an open letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling for an urgent boost to JobSeeker,Youth Allowance,and other support payments. [10] In the same month she joined others advocating for an expansion of the single parenting payment to include more mothers. [11]
In April 2024,Thwaites's electorate office was plastered by protestors with "Free Palestine" stickers and posters calling for recognition of Palestinian statehood and characterising the Israel–Hamas war as "genocide". [12] [13]
Thwaites has two young children. [14] She has a residential property in Rosanna in Victoria and in Kingston in ACT. [15] She has an investment property in Collingwood. [15]
She is a member of the Community and Public Sector Union and is a member of Emily's List. [15]
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