| Amanda Rishworth MP |
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|---|---|
| Member of the Australian Parliament for Kingston |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 24 November 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Kym Richardson |
| Majority | 25,556 (13.9%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 July 1978 Adelaide, South Australia |
| Political party | Australian Labor Party |
| Residence | Hallett Cove, South Australia |
| Alma mater | Flinders University, University of Adelaide |
| Occupation | Psychologist |
| Website | rishworth.com.au |
Amanda Louise Rishworth (born 10 July 1978), Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 2007, representing the electorate of Kingston, South Australia.
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Rishworth was born in Adelaide at Flinders Medical Centre to Judith and Leslie and has two siblings, Julian and Shannon.[1] She attended Unley High School[2] and was a retail worker and swimming instructor while also doing volunteer surf lifesaving duties at Seacliff.[3][4] She later worked as an organiser and trainer for the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association and was president of Australian Young Labor in 2000.[5]
Rishworth studied psychology at Flinders University where she was President of the Union before furthering her studies at Adelaide University with a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology. She then became a practicing psychologist in 2005 working in the delivery of mental health care to the community.[6]
Rishworth was a Labor candidate at the 2006 state election for the electoral district of Fisher, where she was defeated by sitting independent Bob Such, although she did record a significant swing against the Liberal candidate.[7]
In November 2006 Rishworth was preselected unopposed to contest the seat of Kingston at the 2007 federal election. She was up against the sitting Coalition member Kym Richardson who held the most marginal seat for his party after winning it in 2004 by just 119 votes.[8] Two opinion polls conducted throughout the year by The Advertiser had a swing to Rishworth of up to 7 percent.[9][10] Key issues she concentrated on included the lack of broadband access in the electorate, as well as the shortage of doctors. During a debate on industrial relations centring on the Howard Government's controversial WorkChoices legislation, Rishworth was forced to debate minister Joe Hockey after Richardson pulled out with a prior commitment.[11] Once the election campaign began local announcements included a $12.5 million GP Super Clinic[12] and a $7 million upgrade to the South Road and Victor Harbor Road intersection.[13] A poll midway through the campaign had Rishworth with a similar lead over Richardson to earlier opinion polls and on election day ended up defeating him with a 4.5 percent two-party swing,[14] one of the seats that took the party from opposition to government after nearly 12 years.
Rishworth made her maiden speech in parliament in February 2008 and spoke of the time when she was a retail worker at Toys "R" Us[15] during her teenage years and was offered an Australian workplace agreement (AWA) as a result of new laws introduced by the Howard government, which she refused to sign and as a result was put out of work.[16]
"Industrial relations has been important to me for many years. I felt the hard edge of the 1996 workplace relations legislation when I was offered an AWA while employed by a large American retailer. I refused to sign and was no longer offered work despite my five years of loyal service. I was 19 years old at the time. Hence, industrial reform and the enforcement of AWAs is not merely an abstract concept for me."[1]
Rishworth's work in the parliament included being a member of the health and ageing, communications as well as the industry, science and innovation committees.[4]
In September 2008, Rishworth introduced a private members bill in the parliament calling for a new agreement between the Australian and British governments concerning the need for indexation of the British pension in Australia.[17]
In February 2010, Rishworth again introduced a private members bill into parliament, this time calling for a new code of conduct for the media industry to moderate the rapid growth of sexualisation in video clips, magazines, clothes and the internet.[18]
At the 2010 federal election, Rishworth's Liberal party opponent was Chris Zanker, a Chief-Inspector with the South Australian Police who was only preselected a month before the election was called. During the campaign, Rishworth focussed on her record with construction underway on the GP Super Clinic as well as securing funds for an extension of the Noarlunga railway line to Seaford.[19] A poll by The Advertiser showed a 12 percent swing to her with some suggesting this was in part due to new Prime Minister Julia Gillard having grown up in the Adelaide area.[20] She was later re-elected with a two-party swing of 9.5 percent,[21] the highest of any Labor candidate in the country,[22] an election where the party suffered a 2.6 percent swing against it nationally.[23]
Rishworth is currently chair of the House of Representatives standing committee on education and employment as well as being a member of the Joint Standing electoral matters and Joint Select cyber-safety committees.[4]
On 11 March 2011, Rishworth and four other Australian parliamentarians were stuck on a bullet train heading from Kyoto to Tokyo for around five hours because of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. They were in Japan on a young leaders exchange.[24][25]
Rishworth lives in the Kingston electorate at Hallett Cove[26] and continues to be a volunteer surf lifesaver at Christies Beach.
| Parliament of Australia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kym Richardson |
Member for Kingston 2007–present |
Incumbent |
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