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Kate Ellis (politician)

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The Honourable
Kate Ellis

MP
Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare and Minister for the Status of Women (Australia)
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 September 2010
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Adelaide
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 October 2004
Preceded byTrish Worth
Personal details
Born (1977-09-22) 22 September 1977 (age 47)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Political partyAustralian Labor Party
Websitehttp://kateellis.com.au

Katherine Margaret "Kate" Ellis, MP (born 22 September 1977) is an Australian politician, representing the federal division of Adelaide since 2004 and is currently the Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare and the Minister for the Status of Women in the Gillard Government.

Early life and career

Ellis was born in Melbourne and grew up in rural South Australia in the Murray River town of Mannum[1] where her family owned the local bakery[1] and her mother worked as a teacher in the local primary school.[1] Ellis moved to Adelaide for her secondary school education, attending Daws Road High School.[2] She began studying international relations at Flinders University where she was General Secretary of the Students Association and an editor of Empire Times, although she did not finish a degree.[citation needed] A member of the Australian Labor Party, she worked as a research officer for state and federal parliamentarians. She was a ministerial adviser to South Australian state minister Rory McEwen and then for the former Deputy Premier of South Australia, Kevin Foley.

Political career

Ellis was elected to the House of Representatives for the Division of Adelaide, South Australia at the 2004 federal election. She defeated Liberal Party incumbent Trish Worth. At the 2007 federal election, Ellis retained her seat with a 48.6% primary vote, and a 58.4% two-party preferred vote.

After the election Kevin Rudd appointed Ellis Minister for Youth and Minister for Sport. This made her the youngest person ever to become an Australian government minister, a record until then held by former Prime Minister Paul Keating.[3] On 6 June 2009, in a ministerial reshuffle due to the resignation of Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and the retirement of Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus, Ellis became Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth. She remained as Minister for Sport.

In April 2010, John O'Neill, the CEO of the Australian Rugby Union, claimed that shortly after the election the government had privately promised funding for a number of rugby projects, but two years later the union was still waiting for financial help while millions had been spent on a bid to host the FIFA World Cup.[4] Ellis responded by saying that "since coming to office we have delivered about $2.04m to the ARU, including $507,000 for the Pacific Nations Cup". Other rugby officials claimed that the grant mentioned was actually compensation for the $650,000 spent on a project backed by Ellis' predecessor, George Brandis, that was cancelled by the new government.[5]

Ellis was re-elected to the seat of Adelaide at the 2010 federal election.[6] Ellis became the Minister for Employment Participation and Child Care and the Minister for the Status of Women in the Gillard Government on 14 September 2010.[7]

Personal life

Ellis was formerly engaged to union official, Stephen Donnelly, but broke the engagement in 2009.[8] In October 2010 Ellis was romantically linked to Punch editor, David Penberthy who had recently separated from his wife.[9] In January 2011, local newspaper The Advertiser confirmed the existence of a romantic relationship between the two.[10]

Ellis supports the Adelaide Football Club and was named as a club ambassador in 2009.[11][12]

Ellis' public image has been the subject of media attention since her entry into public life. In October 2008, she was voted Parliament's "sexiest" MP in a poll of federal MPs conducted by The Courier-Mail newspaper.[13] In 2009 she declined an offer of $30,000 from Zoo Weekly magazine for her to pose nude.[8][13] In April 2010, she modelled a Karen Millen dress and Gucci high-heels for Grazia magazine.[14] She agreed to do the shoot to raise awareness of poor body image and in order to encourage fashion magazines to promote healthy attitudes toward weight and eating.[15] MPof Aus

References

  1. ^ a b c ALP webpage for Kate Ellis http://www.kateellis.com.au/about-kate/
  2. ^ Article in Adelaide Advertiser 30 November 2007 by Chris Kenny, Canberra political editor
  3. ^ "Rudd and the Sisters Ministry". Melbourne: The Age. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
  4. ^ Smith, Wayne (13 April 2010). "Rudd government has broken a promise on rugby funding, says ARU boss". The Australian. pp. Sport section, pp. 36, 34. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  5. ^ Smith, Wayne (17 April 2010). "Questions for sports minister as $500,000 lobs into QRU's account". The Weekend Australian. pp. Sport section, pp. 41, 47. Retrieved 18 April 2010.
  6. ^ Owen, Michael (23 August 2010). "Gillard 'lunacy' cops serve from Vanstone". The Australian. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  7. ^ "The Gillard ministry". The Age. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  8. ^ a b "Kate Ellis votes to go single". Herald Sun. News Limited. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  9. ^ Hornery, Andrew (9 October 2010). "Power and the passion: things get a little heated in Canberra". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media.
  10. ^ "Yes Minister, meet MP Kate Ellis's new beau". The Advertiser. News Limited. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  11. ^ "2009 Season Guide out now". afc.com.au. Adelaide Football Club. 29 March 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  12. ^ "About Kate". Kate Ellis. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  13. ^ a b Lewis, Steve (31 October 2008). "Kate Ellis voted Australia's sexiest politician". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  14. ^ "Kate Ellis: 'I'm horrified by how we see ourselves'". Grazia. No. Australian edition, issue 85. 19 April 2010. pp. 20–21. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.[dead link‍]
  15. ^ Harvey, Claire (4 April 2010). "Ellis digs her high heels in". The Sunday Telegraph. p. 28. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Youth and Sport
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
Kate Elllis
Preceded by
Kate Elllis
 Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth
2009–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Kate Elllis
 Minister for Sport
2009–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for the Status of Women
2010 – present 		Incumbent
Preceded by Minister for Employment Participation and Childcare
2010 – present 		Incumbent
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Adelaide
2004 – present 		Incumbent

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