Meg Lees
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Meg Heather Lees (born 19 October 1948) was a member of the Australian Senate from 1990 to 2005, representing the state of South Australia. She represented the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 2002, was an independent senator between 2002 and 2003, and was leader of the Australian Progressive Alliance from 2003 to 2005.
Lees was born in Sydney, and trained as a teacher. She began studying at the Sydney Teachers College, but later moved to Adelaide, South Australia. In 1977, Senator Don Chipp founded the Australian Democrats, and Lees soon joined the new party. She first became actively involved in the party in 1982, becoming secretary of the Mount Gambier branch.
Between 1983 and 1986, she was the branch's representative to the party's State Council. During 1986 and 1987, she acted as both Policy Convenor and Vice President for the party's South Australian branch. In 1987 she was appointed as the party's state president.
In April 1990, party leader Janine Haines resigned from both the leadership and the Senate. The party chose Lees as her replacement. The following year, she was appointed as deputy leader under John Coulter, and she continued in the position when Cheryl Kernot took over as leader.
Kernot defected to the Australian Labor Party in October 1997, and Lees was called upon to stand in as acting leader. She was officially chosen as Kernot's replacement in December, with Natasha Stott Despoja becoming her deputy.
In 1999, Prime Minister John Howard proposed the idea of a Goods and Services Tax. It was opposed by the Labor Party, the Australian Greens and independent Senator Brian Harradine, which meant that it required Democrat support to pass. Lees agreed to pass the bill, provided some amendments were made. The decision led to a bitter split in the party, and it was well known that Stott Despoja was unhappy with the outcome. Both Stott Despoja and Queensland Senator Andrew Bartlett would ultimately cross the floor to vote against the GST package.
After the decision to pass the GST, public support for the Democrats began to fall. By April 2001, the polls suggested that several senators would lose their seat at the elections due for later that year. Stott Despoja announced her intention to challenge Lees for the leadership, and was successful. Lees' term ended on April 6, 2001.
In mid-2002, Lees began vocally opposing Stott Despoja's leadership, claiming that it had moved the party too far to the left. This culminated in Lees leaving the party to sit as an independent in July 2002.
In April 2003 Lees announced the founding of the Australian Progressive Alliance, which she claimed would have a more centrist view than the Democrats.
At the October 2004 election however, Lees failed to make the required quota to retain her seat, receiving only a 10th of the required votes to get another six-year term. With no preferences flowing to her, she was defeated. Her term expired on 30 June 2005.
She married prominent Adelaide lawyer Matthew Mitchell in December 2000. They have 6 children between them - Ingrid, Tegan, Kate, Stephen, Ann and John.
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| Preceded by: Cheryl Kernot |
Leader of the Australian Democrats 1997–2001 |
Succeeded by: Natasha Stott Despoja |
| Preceded by: — |
Leader of the Australian Progressive Alliance 2003-2005 |
Succeeded by: — |
