Isobel Redmond

Isobel Mary Redmond (born 8 April 1953) is the current parliamentary leader of the South Australian division of the Liberal Party of Australia and the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of South Australia since 2009. The Redmond Liberals won 18 of 47 seats in the South Australian House of Assembly at the 2010 election, a gain of three since the previous election. Redmond has been the member for the electoral district of Heysen in the House of Assembly since 2002.

Early life

Redmond attended Heathcote High School on the outskirts of Sydney graduating in 1971. After receiving the winnings of a lotto ticket from her parents, Redmond and her husband Jim moved to Stirling, South Australia in the Adelaide Hills and set up her own legal firm. She was also elected to Stirling Council.^[1] Redmond was briefly a member of the Australian Labor Party in the 1970s.^[2]

Parliament

Redmond was elected to the electoral district of Heysen in the South Australian House of Assembly at the 2002 state election and from 2004 held various shadow ministries. Redmond is linked to the conservative Evans family faction within the Liberal Party's South Australian division.^[3][4][5]

Redmond became deputy leader of the Liberal Party on 4 July 2009 after party leader Martin Hamilton-Smith called a leadership and deputy leadership spill. Hamilton-Smith retained the leadership, with Redmond replacing Vickie Chapman as deputy leader.^[6] Hamilton-Smith called a second leadership spill after a close 11 to 10 vote, and a few days later did not nominate himself for the leadership position. On 8 July 2009, Redmond was elected leader against Chapman by 13 votes to 9. Steven Griffiths was elected deputy leader, 8 votes to 6 against Mitch Williams.^[7] He stepped down from the deputy leadership after the 2010 election to be replaced by Hamilton-Smith.

The dodgy documents affair, known as "Dodgy-gate", which ultimately saw the downfall of Hamilton-Smith, resurfaced with revelations that Redmond was "a central figure in a strategy meeting in Mr. Hamilton-Smith's office the day the documents were used against the government", and that she was shown the documents and the accompanying questions, and was asked for and subsequently gave approval, based on being told the documents came from a Labor source, which Hamilton-Smith later admitted not to be true.^[8]

In the 47-member South Australian House of Assembly, the 2010 election saw the Redmond Liberals win only 18 of 47 seats despite winning the two party preferred vote, compared to 15 seats under the leadership of Rob Kerin at the 2006 election.

Redmond on behalf of the SA Liberals backed Mike Rann's support for same-sex marriage in October 2011.^[9][10] She joins conservative Campbell Newman and all state Labor leaders in support of marriage equality.^[11][12][13] After refusing to reply to a radio talkback caller asking for Redmond's removal as leader, Hamilton-Smith gave media reporters a reply to a question on his leadership intentions which gave the impression that he may challenge for the Liberal leadership, saying "I'm not going to play the game of being drawn any further on that issue, because there is no right or wrong answer".^[14][15]

Personal life

Redmond is married to Jim Redmond with whom she raised three children, now all adults. She resides in the town of Stirling in the Adelaide Hills. Redmond served as the first female President of the Stirling Rotary Club in 1999.^[16]

See also

• South Australian state election, 2014

References

External links

• Parliament Profile
• Official Website