Gerardine Mary "Ged" Kearney (born 29 October 1963) is an Australian politician and trade unionist who is the Labor member for the federal division of Cooper and the current assistant minister for health and aged care. She has been a member of the House of Representatives since March 2018, first representing the division of Batman. Prior to politics, Kearney served as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) from 2010 to 2018.
Ged Kearney | |
---|---|
Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care | |
Assumed office 1 June 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Anthony Albanese |
Preceded by | Position established |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Cooper | |
Assumed office 18 May 2019 | |
Preceded by | Division created |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Batman | |
In office 17 March 2018 – 18 May 2019 | |
Preceded by | David Feeney |
Succeeded by | Division abolished |
10th President of the ACTU | |
In office 1 July 2010 – 2 February 2018 | |
Preceded by | Sharan Burrow |
Succeeded by | Michele O'Neil |
Personal details | |
Born | Gerardine Mary Kearney 29 October 1963 East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Political party | Labor |
Profession | Nurse Trade unionist Politician |
Website | www |
With the election of the Albanese government at the 2022 Australian federal election, Kearney was appointed assistant minister for health and aged care.
Kearney was born on 29 October 1963 in East Melbourne, and grew up in Richmond, as the second-youngest of nine children.[1][2] Her father was a publican.[1][3] Kearney attended secondary school at Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy.[2] She began to study for a Bachelor of Economics degree at Monash University, but dropped out to pursue a career in nursing.[4][5] She qualified as a registered nurse in 1985 and participated in the nurses' strike in 1986.[1][3] She also gained a Bachelor of Education, and worked as a nurse, and nurse educator, managing clinical nurse education at Austin Health.[1]
When Kearney was 21, she became pregnant with twins, leading her to take leave from her nursing training.[6] She returned to her training when her children were 7 weeks old.[6]
Kearney was elected as an official of the Australian Nursing Federation in 1997. She served as assistant federal secretary, federal president, and Victorian branch president before she was appointed as federal secretary of the Federation in April 2008.[1] On 1 July 2010, following the departure of Sharan Burrow, Kearney was elected president of the ACTU.[1] At the time, the election process was criticised by the president of the Australian Workers' Union, Paul Howes, as being "undemocratic", because of the exclusion of right-wing aligned unions from the election process.[7] Kearney stated in response that she had received the support of "70% of unions" within the ACTU.[7]
In December 2011, Kearney and other trade unionists were deported from Fiji, under the emergency laws put in place following the constitutional crisis of 2009.[8] In July 2012, Kearney announced that the ACTU would donate to Fiji A$2.6 million to assist in the running of democratic elections.[9]
In April 2012, Kearney announced that the ACTU would suspend the membership of the Health Services Union, in the wake of the Health Services Union expenses affair.[10] Kearney described the scandal as "a bad look" for the union movement.[11] In the following month, Kearney addressed a conference of the ACTU where she stated that the "misuse of members' money and contempt for the accountability to members [is] unacceptable."[12]
In July 2012, immigration minister Chris Bowen created the Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration (MACSM), and appointed Kearney as one of its nine members.[13] In 2017, Kearney resigned from the MACSM, stating that the body had become "ineffective" and "unbalanced".[14]
In 2015, as ACTU president, Kearney called on Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remove Dyson Heydon from leading the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, after Heydon agreed to speak at a Liberal Party fundraising dinner.[15] Kearney also stated that the ACTU was considering taking the matter to the High Court, although this did not eventuate.[16] Kearney had previously labelled the royal commission "an expensive stunt".[17]
In May 2013, in the lead up to the 2013 federal election, Kearney indicated she was considering nominating for Labor preselection in the Division of Batman as the seat was being vacated following the retirement of Martin Ferguson.[18] Kearney eventually decided not to contest preselection.[19] In 2017, Kearney ran for Labor preselection in the Victorian seat of Brunswick; a seat vacated by Jane Garrett after she moved to the Legislative Council.[20] Cindy O'Connor was preselected as the Labor candidate over Kearney, and was subsequently defeated at the 2018 state election by Greens candidate, Tim Read.[21]
In February 2018, a by-election was announced in the seat of Batman following the resignation of David Feeney due to the 2017–2018 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis. Kearney was preselected by Labor to contest the by-election and on 2 February 2018, resigned as president of the ACTU to campaign.[22] Kearney's main opponent was Greens candidate Alex Bhathal, who had already run for the seat five times previously.[23][24] Controversy around the proposed Adani Carmichael coal mine was a significant feature of the by-election campaigning.[23] During the campaign, Labor leader Bill Shorten stated his "scepticism" of the coal mine, and Kearney also voiced criticisms of the project, but did not commit to blocking it.[25][26] The Australian Conservation Foundation distributed material stating that only the Greens would "stop Adani's mine from going ahead".[27] Activist group GetUp! also stated they would not assist Labor in campaigning, due to their position on the coal mine.[28]
During the by-election campaign, Kearney received the personal endorsement of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. A letter written by Gillard was distributed to 36,000 houses within the electorate.[29] Kearney was also endorsed by EMILY's List Australia, a Labor-aligned organisation that advocates for representation of women in parliament.[30] Kearney won the by-election on 17 March 2018 with 43.20% of the primary votes, and 54.43% of votes after distribution of preferences.[31]
Kearney in her first speech advocated for a "humane refugee policy" in Australia, and called for an end to offshore detention.[32] In July 2018, her seat of Batman was abolished by the Australian Electoral Commission, who redrew the boundaries of the electorate and renamed it to Cooper after Indigenous activist William Cooper.[33][34] Kearney was subsequently elected at the 2019 federal election for Cooper receiving 64.83% of the two-candidate preferred vote.[35]
Following the 2019 federal election, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese appointed Kearney into his shadow ministry as the shadow assistant minister for skills and shadow assistant minister for aged care.[36] In July 2019, Kearney joined the Parliamentary Committee for Employment, Education and Training.[36] Following a shadow cabinet reshuffle in January 2021, Kearney was appointed as shadow assistant minister for health and ageing.[36] In June 2021, Kearney and two other Labor women MPs wrote to the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, calling for him to sack the committee chair Andrew Laming over his behaviour towards women.[37] Following Labor's success in the 2022 federal election, Kearney was appointed assistant minister for health and aged care by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on 1 June 2022.[36][38][39] In December that year, Kearney was also appointed to chair the newly formed National Women's Health Advisory Council which was established to look at ways of improving health outcomes for women and girls, and tackling "medical misogyny".[40][41] On 1 July 2022, Kearney announced that self-collection of samples for cervical cancer testing would become available.[42] On 22 November 2023, Kearney announced the National Strategy for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, along with A$48.2 million for its implementation.[43] The Strategy includes measures such as achieving a 90% vaccination rate amongst boys for HPV.[43]
On 15 November 2023, fake corpses were placed outside Kearney's and other MP's electorate offices as part of a protest against the government's position on the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.[44]
On 3 December 2023, Kearney attended COP28 and delivered a speech announcing the Australian National Health and Climate Strategy, including priorities such as "Health system decarbonisation" and "Resilience actions".[45] The strategy was "welcomed" by the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, and Asthma Australia.[46][47] It was praised by Dietitians Australia for including a review of "nutrition and sustainability standards" in healthcare.[48] Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) stated the strategy was "an important step forward", with the DEA executive director stating that the government must "phase out fossil fuels if it's serious about protecting lives."[49]
This [the Voice] was a very generous request made of us by First Nations people, through a very broad process of consultation, and that culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which asked us to do this ... It was a very generous offer that was made, given 200 years of colonisation.
Ged Kearney, Q+A, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 4 September 2023[50]
Kearney is a supporter of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and campaigned in favour of its introduction in the unsuccessful 2023 referendum.[51][52]
Kearney is a supporter of LGBT rights, and participated in the Sydney WorldPride march in March 2023.[53] Along with Health Minister Mark Butler, Kearney set up and now chairs the federal government HIV taskforce.[54] Kearney and Butler also supported a motion at the national Labor conference in 2023, that called for the removal of a blanket restriction on gay and bisexual men, as well as transgender women, from donating blood.[55] Kearney also chairs the LGBTIQA+ Health and Wellbeing 10 Year National Action Plan Expert Advisory Group, a body responsible for developing a national plan for LGBTIQA+ health.[56]
Kearney is a member of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.[57]
Kearney has four children.[1]
In 2020, Kearney's father-in-law died after contracting COVID-19 in Canberra. His was the thirtieth death from COVID-19 in Australia.[58][59]