Tanya Plibersek

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The Hon. Tanya Joan Plibersek, MP (Slovene: Tanja Pliberšek) (born 2 December 1969), Australian politician with the Australian Labor Party, and Federal Housing Minister. She has been a member of the Australian House of Representatives since October 1998, representing the seat of Sydney, New South Wales.

Tanya Plibersek was born in Sydney, the daughter of migrants from Slovenia, and was educated at the University of Technology, Sydney and Macquarie University, where she gained a master's degree in politics and public policy. She was Women's Officer at the University of Technology, Sydney and worked for the Domestic Violence Unit at the NSW Government's Office for the Status and Advancement of Women before entering Parliament. She lives in Sydney with her husband Michael Coutts-Trotter, the director-general of the NSW Education Department[1], and children Anna and Joseph.

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[edit] Political career

Plibersek was elected to the Shadow Ministry after the 2004 election. She was Shadow Minister for Work, Family and Community, Shadow Minister for Youth and Early Childhood Education and Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader on the Status of Women since October 2004. This portfolio was retitled Shadow Minister for Child Care, Youth and Women in June 2005. Following the Shadow Ministerial reshuffle in December 2006 (when Kevin Rudd assumed the leadership of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party) Plibersek was promoted to be Shadow Minister for Human Services, Housing, Youth and Women. Plibersek writes a fortnightly column for the Sydney Morning Herald.

In the 2007 Federal election, Plibersek was re-elected to the seat of Sydney with a 2.12% swing toward the Labor Party[2]. On 3 December 2007, Plibersek was appointed Minister for Housing and Minister for the Status of Women.

[edit] Controversy

In 2002, Tanya Plibersek angered the Jewish community with her comments about Israel and Ariel Sharon. Plibersek said,

I can think of a rogue state which consistently ignores UN resolutions whose ruler is a war criminal - it is called Israel and the war criminal is Ariel Sharon.[3]

She later apologised for the remark.[3] The Labor Party was criticised by some LGBT groups[4][5] over the party's bipartisan policy against the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Plibersek told The Sydney Morning Herald:

Labor does not support changing the Marriage Act to allow same-sex marriage."[6][7]

On July 25, 2004, Plibersek was loudly heckled at an anti-homophobia rally due to the issue.[5]

During a July 2007 interview on Meet The Press, when answering a question relating to the detention of Mohamed Haneef, Plibersek said the Labor Party "supported the (Howard) Government's actions."[8][9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Welch, Dylan; Anna Patty. "Give Me a Chance: School's Chief", The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 April 2007, pp. 6. Retrieved on 2007-04-11. 
  2. ^ Australian Electoral Commission summary of Sydney, Federal Election 2007.. Australian Electoral Commission (2007-12-19). Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
  3. ^ a b Kevin Rudd on the ALP and Israel. ABC (2004-11-03). Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
  4. ^ Labor's Same-Sex Registration Policy Entrenches Discrimination. Australian Marriage Equality (National lobby group) (2007-04-27). Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
  5. ^ a b Rally protests same-sex marriage ban. Green Left Weekly (2004-08-04). Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
  6. ^ Philip Ruddock MP. Attorney-General's Department (2004-03-21). Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
  7. ^ The discrimination that makes a lie of equality. The Sydney Morning Herald (2007-03-21). Retrieved on 2007-08-05.
  8. ^ Rudd won't escape Haneef fallout. The Sydney Morning Herald (2007-07-24). Retrieved on 2007-08-08.
  9. ^ Meet The Press. Network Ten (2007-07-22). Retrieved on 2007-08-08.

[edit] External links

Political offices
New title Minister for Housing
2007–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Julie Bishop		 Minister for the Status of Women
2007–present		 Incumbent
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Peter Baldwin		 Member for Sydney
1998 – present		 Incumbent


v • d • e
Current Members of the Australian House of Representatives from New South Wales
Labor
Liberal
Nationals
Independent
Persondata
NAME Plibersek, Tanya Joan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH 2 December 1969
PLACE OF BIRTH Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH Living
PLACE OF DEATH