Rachel Carling-Jenkins

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Rachel Carling-Jenkins

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Rachel Carling-Jenkins crop.jpg

| birth_name = Rachel Carling

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1975|9|2}}{{cn|date=November 2024}}

| birth_place = Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia{{cn|date=November 2024}}

| spouse = Gary Jenkins
({{abbr|m.|married}} 2005; {{abbr|div.|diovrced}} 2016)
{{marriage|Graham Watt|22 October 2021}}

| children = 1

| occupation = Research & Advocacy Manager
(Aruma)

| profession = former Politician

| alma_mater = James Cook University

| website =

| office = Leader of the Australian Conservatives Party in Victoria

| leader = Cory Bernardi

| deputy =

| term_start = 26 June 2017

| term_end = 3 August 2018

| predecessor = Office established

| successor =

| office2 = Leader of the Democratic Labour Party
in Victoria

| leader2 = Paul Funnell
Rosemary Lorrimar
Paul McCormack
Rosemary Lorrimar

| deputy2 =

| term_start2 = 29 November 2014

| term_end2 = 26 June 2017

| predecessor2 = John Madigan

| successor2 = Office abolished

| party = Independent (2018–)

| otherparty = Conservatives (2017–2018)
Democratic Labour (until 2017)

| office3 = Member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Western Metropolitan Region

| term_start3 = 29 November 2014

| term_end3 = 24 November 2018

| predecessor3 =

| successor3 =

}}

Rachel Carling-Jenkins (née Carling) (born 2 September 1975) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 2014 to 2018, representing Western Metropolitan Region for the Democratic Labour Party (2014–2017), Australian Conservatives (2017–2018) and as an independent (2018). She did not recontest her Legislative Council seat at the 2018 election, instead unsuccessfully contesting the Legislative Assembly seat of Werribee.

Career and education

Carling-Jenkins obtained a Ph.D. in Social Science from James Cook University in 2007.{{cite web | url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/5626/ | title=Footprints, wheel tracks, and stirrings of a movement: positioning people with a disability and the Disability Rights Movement within Australia. | publisher=James Cook University | accessdate=23 April 2025 | author=Carling-Jenkins, Rachel}} She has worked as an academic and social worker.{{cn|date=April 2025}} Carling-Jenkins is the author of Disability and Social Movements,{{cite book|last1=Carling-Jenkins|first1=Rachel|title=Disability and social movements : learning from Australian experiences|date=2014|publisher=Ashgate |isbn=9781472446336}} which was published in November 2014.

Political career

She was elected as a Democratic Labour Party (DLP) member in the Western Metropolitan Region of the Victorian Legislative Council at the 2014 state election.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/vic-election-2014/results/legislative-council/smet/|title=Western Metropolitan Region|last=Green|first=Antony|author-link=Antony Green|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/details/1770-dr-rachel-carling-jenkins|title=Dr Rachel Carling-Jenkins|publisher=Parliament of Victoria}} On 26 June 2017, Carling-Jenkins resigned from the DLP to join Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives.{{cite web|url=http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/cory-bernardi-strikes-again-luring-another-mp-to-his-australian-conservatives-20170624-gwxwz4.html |title=Cory Bernardi strikes again, luring another MP to his Australian Conservatives |publisher=Smh.com.au |date=2017-06-27 |accessdate=2017-06-28}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-26/rachel-carling-jenkins-joins-bernardis-australian-conservatives/8651032 |title=Cory Bernardi's Australian Conservatives secures Victorian DLP MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins |publisher=Abc.net.au |date=2017-06-27 |accessdate=2017-06-28}}{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/national/politics/victorian-mp-rachel-carlingjenkins-set-to-defect-to-australian-conservatives-party/news-story/74d99c51e5b81a2dff7aff9c9a745c32 |title=Victorian MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins set to defect to Australian Conservatives party |publisher=News.com.au |date=2017-06-27 |accessdate=2017-06-28}} Carling-Jenkins said of the move, “I think it’s time for minor parties, like-minded parties, to unite because the conservative vote has been fractured."{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/dlp-mp-rachel-carlingjenkins-joins-australian-conservatives/news-story/8bd8263ab110c0d5452be9d5271aadac |title=DLP MP Rachel Carling-Jenkins joins Australian Conservatives |publisher=HeraldSun.com.au |date=2017-06-26 |accessdate=2017-06-28}} On 3 August 2018 Carling-Jenkins quit the Australian Conservatives after the party announced it would not contest the Victorian election in 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/it-s-over-cory-bernardi-s-only-victorian-mp-sensationally-quits-20180804-p4zvic.html|title=It's over: Cory Bernardi's only Victorian MP sensationally quits|publisher=smh.com.au|date=4 August 2018 |accessdate=5 August 2018}}

Policy positions

In Carling-Jenkins' inaugural parliamentary speech, she described herself as a social justice campaigner, committed to raising awareness about gender selection abortions, cracking down on the sex industry, and rights for people with a disability and the elderly.

Carling-Jenkins was a leading anti-abortion activist in parliament, speaking often about her hopes to roll back Victoria’s abortion laws. https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/abortion-laws-rachel-carlingjenkins-bid-to-roll-back-victorias-abortion-laws-20160521-gp0fel.html https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/antiabortion-crossbencher-likely-to-be-elected-to-upper-house-20141202-11yhki.html https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/bid-to-outlaw-lateterm-abortions-in-victoria-fails/news-story/4a5b5c9b39946dabd6a44ef6e43e8a5c

In a speech to the Victorian Legislative Council in September 2017, Carling-Jenkins disclosed that her former husband had been convicted and imprisoned for possession of child pornography, describing her shock at discovering the material on his computer and how she had reported him to the police.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-41183102|title=Australian politician reveals husband's child porn conviction|work=BBC News |date=7 September 2017|publisher=|accessdate=7 September 2017}} Carling-Jenkins has campaigned widely against child exploitation.

Carling-Jenkins was a force behind the introduction of Jalal's Law, which provides that any unlicensed driver involved in a crash where someone is killed or injured will be presumed to have been driving dangerously. The change follows community lobbying over the death of 13-year-old boy Jalal Yassine-Naja, who was killed after being struck by a four-wheel-drive with an unlicensed driver behind the wheel in March 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/jalal-s-skateboard-death-inspires-new-law-targeting-unlicensed-drivers-20180919-p504nu.html|title=Jalal's skateboard death inspires new law targeting unlicensed drivers|last=Carey|first=Adam|date=2018-09-19|website=The Age|language=en|access-date=2018-11-07}}

Personal life

On 22 October 2021, Carling married former Liberal MP Graham Watt.{{cite news |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Samantha |last2=Brook |first2=Stephen |title=House and home: Ex-MPs tie the knot |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/house-and-home-ex-mps-tie-the-knot-20211024-p592pp.html |access-date=17 December 2021 |work=The Age |date=24 October 2021 |language=en}}

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.rachelmp.com.au/}}
[http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/details/1770-dr-rachel-carling_jenkins Official profile: parliament.vic.gov.au]

Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:Democratic Labour Party (Australia) politicians

Category:Democratic Labor Party (New) members of the Parliament of Victoria

Category:Members of the Victorian Legislative Council

Category:James Cook University alumni

Category:21st-century Australian politicians

Category:Australian Conservatives members

Category:Women members of the Victorian Legislative Council

Category:21st-century Australian women politicians

Category:People from Rockhampton