Cheryl Kernot
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Cheryl Kernot (born 5 December 1948) is a former Australian politician. She was the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats (23 April 1993 to 15 October 1997).
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[edit] Political career
Kernot spent twelve years as a political activist while working as a school teacher in New South Wales and Queensland[1]. She was first elected as a Senator for Queensland at the 1990 election, taking over from the retiring Senator Michael Macklin, who had held the seat for the Australian Democrats following the 1980 election. Kernot was elected as leader of the Democrats after the 1993 election, with Meg Lees as her deputy. Inside the party, she spearheaded a drive for central control of the state-based organisations, which resulted in protest resignations of members and the closure of the West Australian Division. Externally, however, she became a popular media spokesperson, leading the party to one of its best-ever results in the 1996 election and obtaining a primary vote of over 13% for herself.
In October 1997, Kernot controversially defected to the Australian Labor Party, resigning her Senate seat and leaving the leadership of the Democrats to her deputy, Lees. In her speech resigning from the Democrats, Kernot did not criticise the Democrats, saying her motivation was due to a "growing sense of outrage at the damage being done to Australia by the Howard Government" and that her position leading a minor party in the Senate meant she "had a limited capacity to help minimise that damage."[2] She also stated that she was "well aware of the political risks in this course of action".[2]
Kernot narrowly won the division of Dickson for Labor at the 1998 election, before losing it at the 2001 election to the Liberal Party candidate Peter Dutton. Her period as a member of the Labor Party was marked by her position as Shadow Minister of Education, and a series of badly judged media appearances including an infamous photo of her wearing a red dress with a red feather boa. (Australian women's magazine pic)
[edit] Life after politics
After retiring from politics she wrote a "full and frank" book about her experiences, which was criticised by political journalist Laurie Oakes for failing to discuss her extramarital affair whilst leader of the Democrats with Labor front bencher and former Foreign Minister, Gareth Evans.[3]
Kernot now works in the United Kingdom as a programme director and health accelerator in the Nurse/AHP's Developmental Programme in Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School of the University of Oxford[4].
[edit] References
- ^ McGeough, Paul. "The other side of Saint Cheryl", Sydney Morning Herald, (14 December 1997).
- ^ a b Kernot, Cheryl. "Resignation Speech", Canberra (15 October 1997). Retrieved on 2007-04-01.
- ^ "Laurie Oakes, Cheryl Kernot And The Unreported Story" (3 July 2002). Retrieved on 2007-04-01.
- ^ Her profile for present positions
[edit] External links
- An article by her on Lynton Crosby in The Guardian
- A look at Laurie Oakes's "outing" of Kernot's affair.
- Article: Sexism and the Cartoonist's Licence
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Coulter | Leader of the Australian Democrats 1993 – 1997 | Succeeded by Meg Lees |
| Parliament of Australia | ||
| Preceded by Tony Smith | Member for Dickson 1998 – 2001 | Succeeded by Peter Dutton |
Categories: 1948 births | Living people | Australian Democrats politicians | Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom | Australian Labor Party politicians | Australian women in politics | Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland | Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Dickson | Sex scandals
