Alannah MacTiernan

The Honourable Alannah MacTiernan MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Perth
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 September 2013
Preceded by	Stephen Smith
4th Mayor of the City of Vincent
In office 16 October 2011 – 26 September 2013
Preceded by	Nick Catania
Succeeded by	John Carey
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for Armadale
In office 14 December 1996 – 19 July 2010
Preceded by	Kay Hallahan
Succeeded by	Tony Buti
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for East Metropolitan
In office 6 February 1993 – 14 December 1996
Preceded by	Kay Hallahan
Succeeded by	Ljiljanna Ravlich
Personal details
Born	10 January 1953 East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Education	University of Western Australia BA LLB

Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan (born 10 January 1953 in East Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian politician. She was an Australian Labor Party member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1996 until 2010, and served as a senior minister in the Gallop state Labor government. She resigned from state politics in July 2010 in an unsuccessful attempt to win the federal seat of Canning at the 2010 federal election, served as mayor of the City of Vincent in local politics from 2011 to 2013, and was elected to the federal seat of Perth at the 2013 federal election.

Political career

Alannah MacTiernan studied at the University of Western Australia where she completed an arts degree and a law degree. She started her career with the federal government, in the area of Aboriginal employment and training. She was elected to the Perth City Council in 1988, where she remained until 1994. In 1993, she was elected as the member for the East Metropolitan region in the Western Australian Legislative Council.

She was Minister for Planning and Infrastructure in the West Australian government from 2001 to 2008. During that time she established the Public Transport Authority (Western Australia) which helped to transform the planning and management of public transport, particularly in Perth. Her period in office saw the construction of many railway and road projects, including the building of the 70-kilometre-long Mandurah Line (including a tunnel under central Perth), the extensions of the Joondalup Line, Mitchell Freeway, and the Roe and Tonkin Highways, as well as the Kwinana Freeway/Forrest Highway extensions.

In early 2010, she announced her plans to contest the Liberal-held federal seat of Canning, which included her state seat, and on 26 February 2010 resigned from the shadow ministry.

She officially resigned from state parliament on 19 July 2010, two days after prime minister Julia Gillard had announced the timetable for the 2010 federal election. Despite particularly strong results in areas which she had previously represented, MacTiernan came up short of victory, only garnering a 2.16 percent swing--three points short of what she needed to take the seat off Llberal incumbent Don Randall. She was elected as the mayor of the City of Vincent in October 2011.^[1]

After Stephen Smith revealed that he was going to retire as member for the federal electorate of Perth at the 2013 federal election, MacTiernan announced her intention to contest the seat for the ALP, and the only other candidate for Labor pre-selection Matthew Keogh withdrew his nomination.^[2] At the election on 7 September, MacTiernan was successful in winning the seat despite a 1.5% swing against her.

In July 2014 it was reported that a UMR "robo-poll" of 23 federal electorates, conducted for the National Tertiary Education Union, had found that MacTiernan was the second most popular federal MP, with an approval rating among her own constituents of 30 per cent.^[3]

MacTiernan announced in February 2016 that she would not be contesting the next federal election in the year.^[4]

References

1. Beatrice Thomas (16 October 2011). "MacTiernan makes political comeback". The West Australian. Retrieved 2012-05-16.
2. "MacTiernan confirmed to run for the seat of Perth". ABC News. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-07.
3. Kenny, Mark (14 July 2014). "University funding cuts cause severe indigestion for government". The Age. Retrieved 2014-07-14.
4. Perpitch, Nicolas; Kagi, Jacob (12 February 2016). "Alannah MacTiernan to quit federal politics at next election". ABC Online (Australian Broadcast Corporation). Retrieved 17 February 2016.

External links/References

• MacTiernan's ALP profile