Sue Lines

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Senator The Honourable

| name = Sue Lines

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Sue Lines 2017-02-23.JPG

| imagesize =

| smallimage =

| alt =

| caption = Lines in 2017

| office1 = Senator for Western Australia

| term_start1 = 15 May 2013

| term_end1 =

| predecessor1 = Chris Evans

| successor1 =

| office = President of the Australian Senate

| term_start = 26 July 2022

| term_end =

| deputy = Andrew McLachlan

| predecessor = Slade Brockman

| office2 = Deputy President of the Australian Senate

| president2 = Stephen Parry
Scott Ryan
Slade Brockman

| term_start2 = 30 September 2016

| term_end2 = 26 July 2022

| predecessor2 = Gavin Marshall

| successor2 = Andrew McLachlan

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|12|15|df=y}}

| birth_place = Perth, Western Australia, Australia

| death_date =

| birthname =

| party = Labor

| alma_mater = Murdoch University

| occupation = Trade union official

| cabinet =

| website = {{URL|https://www.senatorsuelines.com/}}

| signature = Sue Lines signature 2020.svg

}}

Susan Lines (born 15 December 1953) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2013, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She is the current President of the Australian Senate, having previously been Deputy President of the Senate from 2016. Before entering politics she was the assistant national secretary of United Voice.

Early life

Lines was born in Perth on 15 December 1953,{{cite Au Parliament |mpid=112096 |name=Senator Sue Lines |access-date=2021-11-06}} the daughter of Nancy McRae and Jim Lines. Her parents later separated and she became close to her stepmother Mary Davies. Her father was born in England and came to Australia at the age of 12 as part of a child migration scheme, initially living at Fairbridge Farm. He served in World War II and later worked as a baker, carpenter and builder.{{cite news|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id:%22chamber/hansards/62418f05-bfae-4b21-b883-5566181dff26/0150%22|title=First speech|date=26 June 2013|access-date=19 May 2021|work=Hansard|publisher=Parliament of Australia}} Lines held British citizenship by descent until renouncing it prior to the 2013 election. Her maternal grandparents were Scottish.[https://www.aph.gov.au/~/media/Committees/Senate/committee/interests_ctte/citizenship%20register/LinesS_Cstat_171129.pdf?la=en Citizenship Register – 45th Parliament]

Lines attended Gosnells Primary School and Armadale Senior High School.{{cite news|url=https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Hansard/hansard.nsf/0/cbf1ef0b4ffbac0e48257b7b00116b4f/$FILE/C39%20S1%2020130515%20p519c-520a.pdf|title=Election of Senator|publisher=Parliament of Western Australia|work=Hansard|date=15 May 2013|access-date=19 May 2021}}{{cite news|last=Taylor|first=Paige|title=Post-mortem intensifies reform demands|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/elections/post-mortem-intensifies-reform-demands/story-fnhk4aej-1226595084802|accessdate=15 May 2013|newspaper=The Australian|date=12 March 2013}} She completed a Bachelor of Education at Murdoch University and worked as a teacher from 1984 to 1985. Her mother, who died in 1976, was also a schoolteacher. In 1987, after a few years as a community organiser, Lines began working as a union organiser for what subsequently became United Voice. She became the assistant state secretary of the union in 2001 and assistant national secretary in 2007.

Politics

Lines was elected to the state executive of the ALP in Western Australia in 1990 and the national executive in 2002. She was a delegate to national conference and a delegate to state conference in both Western Australia and New South Wales at various points. She served on the ALP's national policy committee from 2007 to 2009.

=Senate=

In 2013, Lines was nominated by the ALP to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Chris Evans, another former United Voice official. At the time of her endorsement she was living in Sydney.{{cite news|url=https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/discontent-over-deal-to-place-union-officials-on-alp-ticket-20130209-2e58g.html|title=Discontent over deal to place union officials on ALP ticket|first=Bob|last=Maumill|work=WAtoday|date=10 February 2013|access-date=19 May 2021}} She was formally appointed to the Senate on 15 May 2013 and elected to a six-year term in her own right at the 2016 federal election.

Lines has served on a number of Senate committees. She was elected Deputy President of the Senate in September 2016 in succession to Gavin Marshall. She is the third woman to hold the position, after Margaret Reid and Sue West.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} In 2018, as chair of the Senate's procedure committee, she led an inquiry into the use of the Lord's Prayer to open parliamentary sittings which recommended that the practice should continue.{{cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/lords-prayer-to-continue-in-senate/news-story/b6c958eead7e12894a5a92fcedc4d67c|title=Lord's Prayer to continue in Senate|date=13 September 2018|access-date=19 May 2021}}

In July 2022, following the ALP's victory at the 2022 federal election, Lines was elected President of the Senate in succession to Slade Brockman. She is the second woman elected to the position, after Margaret Reid, and the first woman from the ALP to be elected president.{{cite news|url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/07/26/new-president-to-take-up-senate-mantle/|title=Second woman for Senate's highest office|first=Dominic|last=Giannini|date=26 July 2022|accessdate=26 July 2022|publisher=Crikey}}

=Political positions=

Lines is a member of the Labor Left faction.{{cite news|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/queensland-mps-query-election-postmortem-panel-contender-20160828-gr2trq|title=Queensland MPs query election post-mortem panel contender|date=29 August 2016|access-date=19 May 2021|first=Phillip|last=Coorey|newspaper=Australian Financial Review}}

Lines opposes the use of mandatory immigration detention. In 2014, she stated that immigration minister Scott Morrison had "blood on his hands" following the death of Reza Barati at the Manus Regional Processing Centre.{{cite news|url=https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/morrison-resists-pressure-to-say-more-on-manus-island-death-20140224-izyfi|title=Morrison resists pressure to say more on Manus Island death|first1=John|last1=Kerin|first2=Jenny|last2=Wiggins|newspaper=Australian Financial Review|date=24 February 2014|access-date=19 May 2021}} In the same year she was reportedly reprimanded by opposition leader Bill Shorten after stating that government announcements on Islamic State were "a shield to try and deflect from the awful mess they're in with their budget".{{cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/security-above-politics-bill-shorten-counsels-labor-senator-sue-lines/news-story/b0caff42963d38118b8a7a58e57b3fdb|title=Security above politics: Bill Shorten counsels Labor senator Sue Lines|newspaper=The Australian|date=28 August 2014|access-date=19 May 2021}} In 2016 she was one of four Labor MPs to publicly call for all detainees on Manus Island to be settled in Australia, in opposition to existing party policy.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/this-is-a-sick-game-and-it-needs-to-end-labor-splits-over-asylum-seekers-20160428-gogw6u.html|title='This is a sick game and it needs to end': Labor splits over asylum seekers|first=James|last=Massola|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=28 April 2016|access-date=19 May 2021}}

In 2019, Lines told the launch of the WA Labor Friends of Palestine that the Israel lobby is "powerful within the party and outside of the party" and was influencing ALP policy on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In response, Alexander Ryvchin of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry accused her of "play[ing] to people's fears and prejudices" and making "dog-whistle allusions to supposed Israel lobby influence over Australian politics".{{Cite news|url=https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/wa-labor-senator-slams-influence-of-israel-lobby-on-party-s-mid-east-stance-20190410-p51cz4.html|title=WA Labor senator slams influence of 'Israel lobby' on party's Mid-East stance|first=Nathan|last=Hondros|publisher=WAtoday|date=11 April 2019|access-date=19 May 2021}}

Lines supports shifting the date of Australia Day from 26 January. In January 2021 she stated that it "celebrates white supremacy and the legacy of colonisation that is directly linked to the various ways we continue to fail First Nations people".{{cite news|url=https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-labor-senator-under-fire-for-claiming-australia-day-celebrates-white-supremacy-20210124-p56wig.html|title=WA Labor senator under fire for claiming Australia Day 'celebrates white supremacy'|date=25 January 2021|first=Marta|last=Pascual Juanola|access-date=19 May 2021|publisher=WAtoday}}