Luke Edmunds
{{Short description|Australian politician (born 1981)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2023}}
{{Fan POV|date=April 2025}}{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Luke Edmunds
| honorific-suffix = MLC
| image =
| imagesize =
| smallimage =
| alt =
| caption =
| office = Member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council for Pembroke
| term_start = 10 September 2022
| term_end =
| predecessor = Jo Siejka
| successor =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| birthname =
| nationality = Australian
| party = Labor (since 2006)
| otherparty =
| spouse =
| partner =
| relations =
| children =
| residence =
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Journalist
| profession =
| cabinet =
| committees =
| portfolio =
| religion =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
}}
Luke Matthew Edmunds (born 7 December 1981) is an Australian politician who was first elected to the Tasmanian Legislative Council as the Labor member for Pembroke at the 2022 Pembroke state by-election, replacing retiring incumbent Jo Siejka.{{Cite web |last=Sato |first=Kenji |date=13 September 2022 |title=Labor's Luke Edmunds officially declared victor in Pembroke by-election |url=https://www.themercury.com.au/news/politics/poll-expert-declares-labor-victory-for-pembroke-election/news-story/fc330445dc7147ada16810b2f1781196 |access-date=15 January 2024 |website=The Mercury}}
Personal life
Edmunds rents a home with his wife and three children in Bellerive on Hobart's Eastern Shore.{{Cite web |last=Bonham |first=Kevin |date=12 August 2022 |title=Legislative Council 2022: Pembroke By-Election |url=https://kevinbonham.blogspot.com/2022/08/legislative-council-2022-pembroke-by.html |access-date=15 January 2024 |website=Dr Kevin Bonham}} He was raised in Launceston, and worked as a journalist for all three of Tasmania's major newspapers: The Examiner, The Mercury and The Advocate, where he was Sports Editor.{{Cite web |last=Maloney |first=Matt |date=14 September 2022 |title=Former Tasmanian journalist Luke Edmunds elected to the seat of Pembroke |url=https://www.examiner.com.au/story/7902619/former-journalist-with-the-examiner-moves-into-politics/ |access-date=15 January 2024 |website=The Examiner}} Edmunds attended Mowbray Primary School, Brooks High School and Newstead College, and studied arts at the University of Tasmania.{{Cite web |date=17 November 2022 |title=Parliament of Tasmania - Hon. Luke Edmunds MLC Inaugural Speech |url=https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/legislative-council/inaugural/isedmundslukemlc |access-date=15 January 2024 |website=Parliament of Tasmania}}
Political career
A lifelong Labor supporter, Edmunds’ first memory of politics was watching the 1993 Australian Federal Election on television, where Prime Minister Paul Keating captured his attention, as retold in his first speech to Parliament.{{Cite web |date=17 November 2022 |title=Parliament of Tasmania - Hon. Luke Edmunds MLC Inaugural Speech |url=https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/legislative-council/inaugural/isedmundslukemlc |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Parliament of Tasmania}} Edmunds first joined the Party in 2006.{{Cite web |last=Maloney |first=Matt |date=17 November 2022 |title=Pembroke Labor MLC Luke Edmunds delivers maiden speech to Legislative Council |url=https://www.examiner.com.au/story/7985543/newest-labor-parliamentarian-takes-shot-at-internal-detractors/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=The Examiner}}
Edmunds was elected to Clarence City Council at the [https://www.tec.tas.gov.au/local-government/LocalGovernmentElections2018/index.html 2018 Tasmanian Local Government Elections].{{Cite web |title=Clarence City Council Progressive Results |url=https://www.tec.tas.gov.au/local-government/LocalGovernmentElections2018/results/ClarenceCity/index.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Tasmanian Electoral Commission}} “People are telling me they want Council focused on delivering the basics like good roads, getting our rubbish and recycling right, and investing in our green spaces,” he said during his campaign.{{Cite web |date=18 September 2018 |title=Edmunds to run in councll elections |url=https://www.easternshoresun.com.au/edmunds-to-run-in-council-elections/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Eastern Shore Sun}}
In 2022 Edmunds was endorsed by the Labor Party to run in the Pembroke state by-election. He delivered a strong victory, securing a 63.33% majority after distribution of preferences.{{Cite web |date=6 October 2022 |title=2022 Legislative Council by-election results - Pembroke |url=https://www.tec.tas.gov.au/legislative-council/legislative-council-byelection-2022/results/pembroke/index.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Tasmanian Electoral Commission}} As the Member for Pembroke Edmunds has praised health workers,{{Cite web |last=Killick |first=David |date=21 October 2022 |title=Labor MP Luke Edmunds praises health workers after health scare |url=https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/labor-mp-luke-edmunds-praises-health-workers-after-health-scare/news-story/a02d04b9f044d945ebaad8d8ea8ebb38 |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Mercury}} fought for funding to support children with hearing loss,{{Cite web |date=21 May 2023 |title=7 Nightly News Tasmania |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqX8uZGWM_I |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=YouTube}} stood up for local councils against forced amalgamations{{Cite web |last=Appleton |first=Molly |date=6 July 2023 |title=Northern Midlands rejects forced council amalgamations in Tasmania |url=https://www.examiner.com.au/story/8258969/council-fights-to-not-be-split-up-under-forced-mergers/ |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=The Examiner}} – a policy later abandoned by the State Liberal Government,{{Cite web |last=Dalton |first=Stephanie |date=16 July 2023 |title=Tasmanian government: No forced council mergers not election ploy |url=https://www.examiner.com.au/story/8271317/not-election-ploy-reforms-continue-despite-no-forced-mergers/ |access-date=2 April 2023 |website=The Examiner}} and launched a parliamentary inquiry into Tasmanian power prices.{{Cite web |last=Killick |first=David |date=28 August 2023 |title=A parliamentary inquiry will look into Tasmania's rising power prices |url=https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/a-parliamentary-inquiry-will-look-into-tasmanias-rising-power-prices/news-story/c272dd2fd17f50d2fa25a3b6f3e0f347 |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Mercury}}
Edmunds has announced he will recontest the seat of Pembroke at the 2025 periodic Legislative Council election,{{Cite web |last=Bailey |first=Sue |date=3 November 2024 |title=Luke Edmunds endorsed by Labor to run again in upper house |url=https://www.themercury.com.au/news/politics/luke-edmunds-endorsed-by-labor-to-run-again-in-upper-house/news-story/40a4fdc5e5233f4f0194517b6b30e92b |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Mercury}} to be held on 24 May 2025.{{Cite web |title=Legislative Council Elections 2025 |url=https://www.tec.tas.gov.au/legislative-council/elections-2025/index.html |access-date=2 April 2025 |website=Tasmanian Electoral Commission}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Tasmanian Legislative Council members}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmunds, Luke}}
Category:Members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council
Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania
Category:Australian journalists
Category:Australian male journalists