Kerrynne Liddle
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = Senator
| image = Kerrynne Liddle 2019.jpg
| caption = Liddle {{circa|2019}}
| name = Kerrynne Liddle
| honorific-suffix =
| office1 = Senator for South Australia
| term_start1 = 1 July 2022
| term_end1 =
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|10|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = Alice Springs, Northern Territory
| party = Liberal
| otherparty = Labor (2006–2007)
| alma_mater = University of South Australia
University of Adelaide
| website =
| occupation = Journalist
Politician
}}
Kerrynne Liddle (born 7 October 1967) is an Australian politician and the first Indigenous federal member of parliament from South Australia. She is an Arrernte woman and member of the Liberal Party. She was elected to the Senate on the party's ticket in South Australia at the 2022 federal election, to a term beginning on 1 July 2022. She was a journalist and corporate manager before entering politics.
Early life
Liddle was born on 7 October 1967 in Alice Springs.{{cite news|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=300644|title=Senator Kerrynne Liddle|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=28 February 2023}} She is one of five children born to Arrernte parents Geoff and Jean Liddle; her father was a construction worker and her mother was a nurse but later worked supporting high school students.{{cite news|url=https://adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/chris-kenny-south-australian-kerrynne-liddle-is-an-indigenous-woman-who-deserves-to-be-a-peoples-pick-at-the-july-2-federal-election/news-story/dbdcce808b3547bd4840ec22e699aa1e|title=Liddle a people's pick worth considering|first=Chris|last=Kenny|newspaper=The Advertiser|date=29 May 2016|accessdate=15 June 2022}} Her sister Leanne was the first Indigenous woman to become a police officer in South Australia and her aunt Lorraine Liddle was the first Indigenous person to become a barrister in the Northern Territory.{{cite news|url=https://alicespringsnews.com.au/2021/11/02/the-family-will-help-you-to-the-top-if-you-never-give-up/|title=The family will help you to the top if you never give up|newspaper=Alice Springs News|date=2 November 2021|accessdate=15 June 2022|first=Elisabeth|last=Attwood}}
Liddle attended a public high school in Alice Springs and also studied at Katherine Rural College and later Roseworthy Agricultural College, working as a jillaroo in her early career. As a mature-age student she completed a Bachelor of Arts in management at the University of South Australia and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Adelaide.{{cite news|url=https://www.businessnews.com.au/Person/Kerrynne-Liddle|title=Kerrynne Liddle|publisher=Business News|accessdate=15 June 2022}} She completed a Vincent Fairfax Foundation Ethics Fellowship and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
Career
Liddle worked as a journalist with the ABC in radio and television, and Channel 7 Adelaide. She later established her own public relations business, Precise Media Management, in Adelaide. In 2010, she served on the expert panel for the Review of Australian Government Investment in the Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Sector conducted by Neville Stevens.{{cite news|title=Stevens to head review of indigenous media|newspaper=The Australian|date=12 July 2010|first=Sally|last=Jackson}}
In 2011, Liddle was appointed as Santos Limited's Aboriginal participation manager. She later worked for Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia as a manager at the Ayers Rock Resort, responsible for over 1000 staff, with 400 Indigenous employees.{{cite news|url=https://www.portpirierecorder.com.au/story/7706803/senate-candidate-visits-port-pirie/|title=Aboriginal Senate candidate speaks at Liberal branch meeting near Port Pirie|first=Greg|last=Mayfield|newspaper=Port Pirie Recorder|date=24 April 2022|accessdate=15 June 2022}}
Liddle served on several boards, including GPEX for GP training and the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress.{{cite news|url=https://www.caac.org.au/news-events/news/2016/9/appointment-of-new-independent-director|title=Appointment of New Independent Director|publisher=CAAC|date=12 September 2016|accessdate=15 June 2022|archive-date=16 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616101519/https://www.caac.org.au/news-events/news/2016/9/appointment-of-new-independent-director|url-status=dead}} She also served as chair of the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, on the boards of the South Australian Housing Trust, Aboriginal Hostels Limited and Indigenous Business Australia, and as a member of the councils of the University of Adelaide and University of South Australia.
Politics
Liddle became a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in 2006. She later stated in 2021 that she was a financial member for only one year and had only attended one meeting which was an introductory one.{{cite news|url=https://indaily.com.au/news/notes-on-adelaide/2021/02/12/preselection-madness-state-labors-new-champion-lib-hopefuls-alp-history/|title=Preselection madness: State Labor's new Champion, Lib hopeful's ALP history|publisher=InDaily|date=12 February 2021|accessdate=15 June 2022|first=Tom|last=Richardson}} She then joined the Liberal Party and was preselected in sixth place on the party's Senate ticket in South Australia at the 2016 federal election.{{cite news|url=https://results.aec.gov.au/20499/website/SenateStateFirstPrefs-20499-SA.htm|title=Senate: First preferences by candidate|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|accessdate=15 June 2022}}{{Cite web |date=2016-06-13 |title=Election 2016: Kerrynne Liddle |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2016/06/13/election-2016-kerrynne-liddle |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=NITV |language=en}} In 2019, Liddle began working as a staffer for Senator Anne Ruston. She was a candidate for the vice-presidency of the Liberal Party's state division in February 2020 but withdrew her candidacy due to illness.
In February 2021, Liddle won preselection for the third position on the Liberal Party's Senate ticket in South Australia at the 2022 election. She was aligned with the party's moderate faction, although her preselection victory over fellow moderate Rachel Swift was largely due to support from the party's conservatives.{{cite news|url=https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/powerful-figures-get-involved-in-race-to-select-sas-next-liberal-senator/news-story/514d3ff775398ccecf27317f0572eb3d|title=Powerful figures get involved in race to select SA's next Liberal Senator|first=Claire|last=Bickers|newspaper=The Advertiser|date=11 February 2021|accessdate=15 June 2022}}
At the 2022 federal election, Liddle was elected to a six-year term beginning on 1 July 2022; she was the last South Australian senator to be declared elected. She is the first Indigenous Australian elected to represent South Australia in the Senate and the first Indigenous woman to win a parliamentary seat in South Australia at either state or federal level.{{Cite news |date=2022-06-15 |title=Liberal Kerrynne Liddle elected as first Indigenous senator from South Australia |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-15/liberal-elected-as-first-indigenous-senator-from-sa/101153570 |access-date=2022-06-15}}
Liddle is a member of the Centrist faction of the Liberal Party.{{cite web |last1=Massola |first1=James |title=How Morrison's shattering defeat gave Dutton a seismic shift in factional power |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/how-morrison-s-shattering-defeat-gave-dutton-a-seismic-shift-in-factional-power-20230330-p5cwoq.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=8 April 2023 |access-date=4 December 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Australian Senators}}
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Category:People from Alice Springs
Category:University of South Australia alumni
Category:University of Adelaide alumni
Category:Indigenous Australian politicians
Category:21st-century Australian politicians
Category:Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia
Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia