Anne Urquhart

Senator
Anne Urquhart
Senator for Tasmania
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2011
Personal details
Born
Anne Elizabeth Polden

(1957-10-18) 18 October 1957 (age 67)
Latrobe, Tasmania, Australia
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
OccupationUnion official
Websiteanneurquhart.com.au

Anne Elizabeth Urquhart (née Polden; born 18 October 1957) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served as a Senator for Tasmania since 2011. She was a senior official with the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) prior to entering politics.

Early life

Urquhart was born in Latrobe, Tasmania, the second of three children born to Tom and Betty Polden. After starting a family with her husband Graham, in July 1980 she began working as a process worker at the Edgell-Birds Eye factory in Ulverstone, which was later taken over by Simplot Australia.[1]

Urquhart joined the Food Preservers' Union of Australia, initially serving as a delegate and then from August 1990 as a full-time organiser. Her union was later merged into the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU),[1] and she served as state president from 1998 to 2004 and state secretary from 2004 to 2010.[2][3]

Politics

Urquhart served as a vice-president of the Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) from 2004 and as a delegate to the ALP National Conference.[2] She was first elected to the Senate at the 2010 federal election, to a term beginning on 1 July 2011.[4] She was re-elected to further six-year terms in 2016 (following a double dissolution) and 2022.[2] Her office is located in Devonport.[3]

In 2014 Urquhart was elected state president of the ALP, replacing Rebecca White.[5] She has served on a variety of committees during her time in the Senate. She has been the Labor Party's chief whip in the Senate since 2016, having previously served as a deputy whip from 2013 to 2016. After the ALP's victory at the 2022 election she became chief government whip and was also made chair of the selection of bills committee.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Maiden speech". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 23 August 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Senator Anne Urquhart". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Anne Urquhart: Senate Candidate for Tasmania". Australian Labor Party. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Senate Results – Tasmania – 2010 Federal Election". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 26 August 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  5. ^ "Anne Urquhart elected as the new Tasmanian Labor President". ABC News. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2020.