Susan Mary Mackay

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Susan Mary (Sue) Mackay (born April 14, 1960 in Aberdeen , Scotland , United Kingdom ) is a former Australian Labor Party politician and trade unionist . From 1996 to 2005 she was a member of the Australian Senate for Tasmania .

Professional background

Mackay moved from Scotland to Tasmania at the age of seven and went to school in the capital, Hobart . After graduation, she began studying at the University of Tasmania . Mackay began her career in 1980 as an employee of the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers' Union . From 1982 to 1983 she worked as a labor mediator with the State Commonwealth Employment Service employed from 1983 to 1988, she worked in various positions at PSU, one of the two predecessor organizations of the union of public sector workers .

politics

In 1988 Mackay switched to politics: initially until 1990 as an employee of the House of Commons Duncan Kerr , then in the same function for John White , who was responsible for health in the Tasmanian government and, here , for Prime Minister Michael Field , for multicultural and Aboriginal matters .

After there was a change of power in the parliamentary elections in 1992 and the Liberals under Ray Groom were in power, Mackay became Secretary General of the Tasmanian National Association of Labor. She gave up this post after she was elected to the Federal Senate on March 2, 1996 and was sent there by the Tasmanian Parliament on March 8 as the successor to John Robert Devereux , who resigned on February 7 . She was able to defend her mandate in the November 2001 elections. In the capital, she was a member of the shadow cabinet from August 1997 to November 2001 and then until October 2004 Whip of the Labor Senate faction. Her political work focused on strengthening the rights of employees, in particular with regard to issues of protection against dismissal , job security and working conditions for women. As shadow minister, she was responsible for regional development, federal territories and local administrations. She was considered a vehement opponent of the privatization of the state telecommunications company Telstra . Politically, it was one of Labor Left , the farther left standing faction of their party.

The resignation of Simon Crean , brother of her partner David Crean , as federal chairman of Labor in November 2003 hit Mackay deeply, in October 2004 her renewed candidacy as Whip of Labor failed. In July 2005, she finally gave up her Senate post. She justified her withdrawal primarily with personal reasons and pointed out that she wanted to spend more time with Crean. In addition, under the new framework conditions in the House of Lords, other qualifications are required to exercise its role as a supervisory authority of the government. In the partial election of the Senate in October 2004 , the Liberal Party of Prime Minister John Howard , as in the House of Commons, succeeded in gaining a majority together with its coalition partners. Such a constellation had last existed 24 years earlier . On August 25, 2005, the Tasmanian Parliament elected Carol Brown as his successor for the vacated Senate seat .

As a result, the couple moved from Tasmania to Melbourne to live near Crean's ailing parents. In 2008 they bought a house in the South Yarra neighborhood . Soon after their mother's death in January 2018 - their father, Frank Crean , had died at the end of 2008 - they put their property in Melbourne up for sale.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mackay's biography on the Australian Labor Party website ( Memento June 15, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ List of ministers between 1989 and 2006 who were also members of the Tasmanian lower house. Tasmanian Parliament website, accessed December 25, 2018.
  3. ↑ Biography of John Robert Devereux on the website of the Australian Senate, accessed January 11, 2019. (English)
  4. ↑ Biography of Sue Mackay as part of the Women in the Federal Parliament project on the website of the Australian Senate, accessed on December 28, 2018. (English)
  5. ↑ Labor remains split on FTA ABC , August 3, 2004, accessed on January 24, 2019. (English)
  6. ↑ Senator Mackay resigns post. ABC, July 29, 2005, accessed January 11, 2019. (English)
  7. ^ Tasmanian senator quits federal politics. Sydney Morning Herald , July 30, 2005, accessed December 25, 2018. (English)
  8. ^ ALP senator quits ahead of Senate change. Sydney Morning Herald, July 30, 2005, accessed January 23, 2019.
  9. ↑ Carol Brown's biography on the Australian Parliament website, accessed January 11, 2019.
  10. ^ A b Nathan Mawby: Political power couple David Crean and Sue Mackay to sell their South Yarra property. News.com.au , February 20, 2018, accessed January 11, 2019. (English)
  11. ↑ Tony Wright: Mary Crean, political matriarch and 'sharp enough to be a PM', dies at 103.Sydney Morning Herald, January 30, 2018, accessed January 11, 2019. (English)
personal data
SURNAME Mackay, Susan Mary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mackay, Sue
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian politician and trade unionist
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Aberdeen , Scotland, United Kingdom