Lyn Allison

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Lyn Allison
Lyn Allison

Lynette Fay "Lyn" Allison (born 21 October 1946), Australian politician, has been a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Victoria since July 1996. She is the current leader of the Australian Democrats. Her term as a member of the Australian Senate expires on 30 June 2008.

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[edit] Early life and background

Lyn Allison was born in Melbourne, Victoria, and was educated at the University of Melbourne. She was an administrator, secondary school teacher and Director of the Employment and Economic Development Corporation before entering politics. She was a councillor of the Port Melbourne City Council 1992-94.

[edit] Australian Senate

An outspoken campaigner on women's issues, Allison won pre-selection on the Democrats ticket, and was elected to the Australian Senate in 1996.

Between 1998 and 2006, Lyn Allison served on the Legislation and References Committees for Environment, Recreation (later Information Technology), Communications and the Arts; and for Community Affairs. She served as Senate Select for Superannuation (1996-98); the Victorian Casino Inquiry (1996); the Lucas Heights Reactor (2000); Medicare (2003-04); and Mental Health (2005). In 2002 she was a member of the Parliamentary Delegation to New Zealand.

She was Deputy Leader of the Australian Democrats 2002-04. On 3 November 2004, following the resignation of Andrew Bartlett after the October 2004 election, she was elected unopposed as Leader. She took over the leadership at a time when the Democrats were at their lowest ever public opinion rating since the party was founded in 1977.

On December 5, 2006, Allison introduced into the Senate a bill titled the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill 2006, which if enacted would prevent Australia from using, possessing and manufacturing cluster munitions. Two months earlier, she had travelled to Lebanon to survey the damage caused by cluster munition use in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War. Senator Allison, a leading feminist in the Australian parliament, was also among a cross-party group of female parliamentarians who introduced legislation into parliament in 2006 which effectively legalised the supply of the abortion pill RU486.

Senator Allison chaired an inquiry into the health effects of mobile phone towers[1] from 1999 to 2001. She also established a reputation as a strong advocate of federal government funding for public shools and as an advocate for nuclear disarmament.[2]

In 2007 Senator Allison is also the Australian Democrats spokesperson on Health and Ageing, Education and Resources, Energy and Infrasctructure. The independent voters' advocacy group FairGo rated Senator Allison as a 'star performer' in parliament and the most responsive to voters in the Senate and in Victoria, second overall only the Independent MP in New South Wales, Tony Windsor:

"Voters from all over the country have valued her assistance on many issues, particularly mental health, refugees and migration, parenting, childcare funding, alcohol labelling, the environment, debt forgiveness, anti-terror laws and fair trial for David Hicks. A very consistent advocate for voters, Sen. Allison has risen from 4th best Political Performer in the 2004 ratings to 2nd place in 2007."[3]

This assessment typified Senator Allison's reputation as a hard worker in parliament and the range of portfolios and causes she has held and promoted during her parliamentary career.

[edit] The 2007 Election

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The 2007 federal election, including a half-senate election was called for the 24th November, and the Democrats national campaign launched in Melbourne, Sen. Allison's home state, on 10 November.[4] [5] The official slogan 'bring back balance' referred to the contest for the balance of power in the Senate. Along with three other Democrats senators Natasha Stott-Despoja, Andrew Murray and Andrew Bartlett, Lyn Allison's seat was up for election in this round, and commentators agreed that she faces a serious challenge, particularly from the Greens, Family First and major parties for her Senate seat, which was considered highly vulnerable after the Democrats disappointing performance in the 2004 election when the last senate seat was won by Family First. As a result of that election where the government gained control of the senate for the first time in over 25 years, there was significant attention to the Senate contest.[6] [7]

During the 2007 election campaign, Lyn Allison announced a national preference deal with the Greens [8] to increase the chance of a progressive party taking the balance of power in the Senate. Senator Allison also joined Bob Brown and Kate Lundy in a joint political advertisement sponsored by GetUp! urging voters to prevent the Senate from becoming a rubber stamp for the government of the day.[9]

During the 2007 election campaign Lyn Allison received the support of a number of community and interest groups such as the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre who gave her an A+ for her support for refugees and asylum seekers [10]; the Friends of the ABC for promoting public broadcasting, [11] as well as endorsements by prominent women and feminists such as Barbara Spalding and Anne Summers.

During 2007 Senator Allison also noticeably increased the representation of young people in the party, with a third of Victorian candidates for the House of Representatives aged under thirty years of age.[12]

In the 2007 federal election the Democrats however failed to retain their position in the Senate, with Lyn Allison among the casualties. Her seat was won by the resurgent Labor Party. Senator Allison's term expires on the 30 June 2008.

[edit] Gallery

Senator Allison talks with constituents at the Palm Sunday nuclear disarmament rally 2007

Senator Allison addresses the ABC cameras at Treasury Gardens, Melbourne 2007

Senator Allison leads fellow Democrat senators into national federal election campaign launch in Melbourne, 2007

Senator Allison with Laura Chipp and Young Australian Democrats candidates during election campaign in Melbourne 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Andrew Bartlett		 Leader of the Australian Democrats
2004-present		 Succeeded by
incumbent


Persondata
NAME Allison, Lyn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Allison, Lynette Fay (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH 21 October 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
DATE OF DEATH living
PLACE OF DEATH