Justine Elliot

The Honourable Justine Elliot MP
File:Justine Elliot.jpg
Minister for Ageing
In office 14 September 2010 (2010-09-14) – 4 February 2013 (2013-02-04)
Prime Minister	Kevin Rudd Julia Gillard
Preceded by	Christopher Pyne
Succeeded by	Mark Butler
Member of the Australian Parliament for Richmond
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 October 2004
Preceded by	Larry Anthony
Personal details
Born	Maria Justine Elliot (1967-07-29) 29 July 1967 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Craig Elliot
Children	2
Occupation	Police officer

Maria Justine Elliot MP (born 29 July 1967), an Australian politician, is the Labor member for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Richmond since the 2004 federal election. Between 2007 and 2010, Elliot was the Minister for Ageing.

Background and early career

Elliot was born in Brisbane, Queensland and was educated at the University of Queensland, where she graduated in Arts. She was a Queensland Police officer between 1990 and 1997 and was later Juvenile Justice Conference Convener with the New South Wales Department of Juvenile Justice. Elliot also holds a Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management & Industrial Relations from Griffith University.

Political career

In a considerable upset at the 2004 election, Elliot defeated the National Party's Larry Anthony, a minister in the Howard government. Elliot's win was one of the few victories for the Labor Party as the Coalition easily won a fourth term in government. She was only the second Labor member ever to win the seat, and was also the only Labor challenger to defeat a Coalition MP in a rural seat. Richmond had been in the hands of a conservative party for all but six years since Federation, and for 66 of those years by the National Party. For much of that time, it had been a reasonably safe National seat. However, the growth of Tweed Heads and other coastal communities, as well as the concurrent loss of its more rural territory, has seen it become an increasingly urban seat since the 1980s. Elliot trailed Anthony by 11 points on the first count and was well behind him for most of the night. However, on the seventh count, a Green candidate's preferences flowed overwhelmingly to Elliot, allowing her to defeat Anthony by only 301 votes.

The 2007 election saw Elliot re-elected over the Nationals' Sue Page. She picked up a swing of over 7.4 points, which was significantly larger than the New South Wales state average and technically made Richmond a safe Labor seat. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced she would be part of his new ministry on 29 November 2007, as Minister for Ageing. She retained the seat at the 2010 election with only a small swing against Labor. She stepped aside as Minister for Ageing ahead of the formation of the Second Gillard Ministry on 11 September 2010. On 11 September 2010 Elliot was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and held this position until a reconfiguration of the ministry on 4 February 2013 when she became a backbencher. Eliot retained Richmond for Labor at the 2013 election even as the Coalition opposition defeated the incumbent Labor government, marking only the second time (the first being her initial victory in 2004) that a non-Labor government had been in office without Richmond.

See also

• First Rudd Ministry
• First Gillard Ministry

External links

• Search or browse Hansard for Justine Elliot at OpenAustralia.org

Political offices
Preceded by Christopher Pyne	Minister for Ageing 2007–2010	Succeeded by Mark Butler
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Larry Anthony	Member for Richmond 2004–present	Incumbent