Amanda Rishworth
Encyclopedia
Amanda Louise Rishworth Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party
member of the Australian House of Representatives
since November 2007, representing the electorate of Kingston
, South Australia
.
at Flinders Medical Centre
to Judith and Leslie and has two siblings, Julian and Shannon. She attended Unley High School
and was a retail worker and swimming instructor while also doing volunteer surf lifesaving duties at Seacliff
. She later worked as an organiser and trainer for the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association and was president of Australian Young Labor
in 2000.
Rishworth studied psychology
at Flinders University
where she was President of the Union
before furthering her studies at Adelaide University with a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology. She then became a practicing psychologist in 2005 working in the delivery of mental health care to the community.
for the electoral district of Fisher
, where she was defeated by sitting independent Bob Such
, although she did record a significant swing against the Liberal candidate.
In November 2006 Rishworth was preselected unopposed to contest the seat of Kingston at the 2007 federal election. She was up against the sitting Coalition
member Kym Richardson
who held the most marginal seat for his party after winning it in 2004 by just 119 votes. Two opinion polls conducted throughout the year by The Advertiser
had a swing to Rishworth of up to 7 percent. Key issues she concentrated on included the lack of broadband access in the electorate, as well as the shortage of doctors. During a debate on industrial relations centring on the Howard Government's
controversial WorkChoices
legislation, Rishworth was forced to debate minister Joe Hockey
after Richardson pulled out with a prior commitment. Once the election campaign began local announcements included a $12.5 million GP Super Clinic and a $7 million upgrade to the South Road
and Victor Harbor Road intersection. A poll midway through the campaign had Rishworth with a similar lead over Richardson to earlier opinion polls and on election day ended up defeating him with a 4.5 percent two-party
swing, one of the seats that took the party from opposition to government after nearly 12 years.
Rishworth made her maiden speech in parliament in February 2008 and spoke of the time when she was a retail worker at Toys "R" Us during her teenage years and was offered an Australian workplace agreement
(AWA) as a result of new laws
introduced by the Howard government, which she refused to sign and as a result was put out of work.
Rishworth's work in the parliament included being a member of the health and ageing, communications as well as the industry, science and innovation committees.
In September 2008, Rishworth introduced a private members bill in the parliament calling for a new agreement between the Australian and British governments concerning the need for indexation of the British pension in Australia.
In February 2010, Rishworth again introduced a private members bill into parliament, this time calling for a new code of conduct for the media industry to moderate the rapid growth of sexualisation in video clips, magazines, clothes and the internet.
At the 2010 federal election, Rishworth's Liberal party opponent was Chris Zanker, a Chief-Inspector with the South Australian Police who was only preselected a month before the election was called. During the campaign, Rishworth focussed on her record with construction underway on the GP Super Clinic as well as securing funds for an extension of the Noarlunga railway line
to Seaford
. A poll by The Advertiser showed a 12 percent swing to her with some suggesting this was in part due to new Prime Minister Julia Gillard
having grown up in the Adelaide area. She was later re-elected with a two-party swing of 9.5 percent, the highest of any Labor candidate in the country, an election where the party suffered a 2.6 percent swing against it nationally.
Rishworth is currently chair of the House of Representatives standing committee on education and employment as well as being a member of the Joint Standing electoral matters and Joint Select cyber-safety committees.
On 11 March 2011, Rishworth and four other Australian parliamentarians were stuck on a bullet train
heading from Kyoto
to Tokyo
for around five hours because of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
. They were in Japan
on a young leaders exchange.
and continues to be a volunteer surf lifesaver at Christies Beach
.
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member of the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
since November 2007, representing the electorate of Kingston
Division of Kingston
The Division of Kingston is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia covering the far-south metropolitan area of Adelaide. The division was first proclaimed in 1949....
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
.
Early years
Rishworth was born in AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
at Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders Medical Centre is a 580 bed public teaching hospital and medical school, co-located with Flinders University and the 130 bed Flinders Private Hospital located at Bedford Park, South Australia. It opened in 1976. It is one of the major public hospitals operating in metropolitan Adelaide...
to Judith and Leslie and has two siblings, Julian and Shannon. She attended Unley High School
Unley High School
Unley High School, located in Netherby, is one of the largest public high schools in South Australia. In recent years the number of students enrolled typically ranges from 1,100 to 1,300, but in the early 1960s the school had a peak enrolment of 2,000 students.The school currently has 30...
and was a retail worker and swimming instructor while also doing volunteer surf lifesaving duties at Seacliff
Seacliff, South Australia
Seacliff is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Holdfast Bay. The suburb is adjacent to Brighton, Seacliff Park, Marino and Kingston Park.Seacliff Post Office opened on 1 July 1915 and closed in 1978.-See also:*List of Adelaide suburbs...
. She later worked as an organiser and trainer for the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association and was president of Australian Young Labor
Australian Young Labor
Australian Young Labor is the youth wing of the Australian Labor Party. All ALP members aged under 26 are automatically members. Australian Young Labor is the peak youth body within the ALP. It represents about 9500 members in every state and territory in Australia...
in 2000.
Rishworth studied psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
at Flinders University
Flinders University
Flinders University, , is a public university in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of navigator Matthew Flinders, who explored and surveyed the South Australian coastline in the early 19th century.The university has established a reputation as a leading research...
where she was President of the Union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
before furthering her studies at Adelaide University with a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology. She then became a practicing psychologist in 2005 working in the delivery of mental health care to the community.
Political career
Rishworth was a Labor candidate at the 2006 state electionSouth Australian legislative election, 2006
The state election for the 51st Parliament of South Australia was held in the Australian state of South Australia on 18 March 2006, and was conducted by the independent State Electoral Office.-House of Assembly:...
for the electoral district of Fisher
Electoral district of Fisher
Fisher is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after James Fisher, a colonial politician and the first mayor of Adelaide...
, where she was defeated by sitting independent Bob Such
Bob Such
Robert Bruce "Bob" Such , Australian politician, is the member for the seat of Fisher in the South Australian House of Assembly, as an independent since 2000, and as member of the Liberal Party member from the 1989 election to 2000....
, although she did record a significant swing against the Liberal candidate.
In November 2006 Rishworth was preselected unopposed to contest the seat of Kingston at the 2007 federal election. She was up against the sitting Coalition
Coalition (Australia)
The Coalition in Australian politics refers to a group of centre-right parties that has existed in the form of a coalition agreement since 1922...
member Kym Richardson
Kym Richardson
Kym Charles Richardson is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives between 2004 and 2007, representing the South Australian electorate of Kingston....
who held the most marginal seat for his party after winning it in 2004 by just 119 votes. Two opinion polls conducted throughout the year by The Advertiser
The Advertiser (Australia)
The Advertiser is a daily tabloid-format newspaper published in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. First published as a broadsheet named "The South Australian Advertiser" on 12 July 1858, it is currently printed daily from Monday to Saturday. A Sunday edition exists under the name of the Sunday...
had a swing to Rishworth of up to 7 percent. Key issues she concentrated on included the lack of broadband access in the electorate, as well as the shortage of doctors. During a debate on industrial relations centring on the Howard Government's
Howard Government
The Howard Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister John Howard. It was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition, which won a majority of seats in the Australian House of Representatives at four successive elections. The Howard Government...
controversial WorkChoices
WorkChoices
The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the...
legislation, Rishworth was forced to debate minister Joe Hockey
Joe Hockey
Joseph Benedict "Joe" Hockey , is an Australian politician and member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of North Sydney for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1996....
after Richardson pulled out with a prior commitment. Once the election campaign began local announcements included a $12.5 million GP Super Clinic and a $7 million upgrade to the South Road
South Road, Adelaide
South Road is a major north–south conduit in Adelaide, South Australia. Also known as Main South Road, it is Adelaide's most important arterial road.- Route :...
and Victor Harbor Road intersection. A poll midway through the campaign had Rishworth with a similar lead over Richardson to earlier opinion polls and on election day ended up defeating him with a 4.5 percent two-party
Two-party-preferred vote
In politics, the two-party-preferred vote , or two-candidate-preferred vote , in an election or opinion poll uses preferential voting to express the electoral result after the distribution of preferences...
swing, one of the seats that took the party from opposition to government after nearly 12 years.
Rishworth made her maiden speech in parliament in February 2008 and spoke of the time when she was a retail worker at Toys "R" Us during her teenage years and was offered an Australian workplace agreement
Australian Workplace Agreement
Australian workplace agreements were formalized individual agreements negotiated by the boss and employee. Employers could offer "take it or leave it" AWAs as a condition of employment. They were registered by the employment advocate and did not require a dispute resolution procedure. These...
(AWA) as a result of new laws
Workplace Relations Act 1996
The Workplace Relations Act 1996 is an Australian law passed by the Howard Government after coming into power in 1996. It replaced the previous Labor Government's Industrial Relations Act 1988. It started operation on 1 January 1997 and provided for the continuation of the federal award system...
introduced by the Howard government, which she refused to sign and as a result was put out of work.
Rishworth's work in the parliament included being a member of the health and ageing, communications as well as the industry, science and innovation committees.
In September 2008, Rishworth introduced a private members bill in the parliament calling for a new agreement between the Australian and British governments concerning the need for indexation of the British pension in Australia.
In February 2010, Rishworth again introduced a private members bill into parliament, this time calling for a new code of conduct for the media industry to moderate the rapid growth of sexualisation in video clips, magazines, clothes and the internet.
At the 2010 federal election, Rishworth's Liberal party opponent was Chris Zanker, a Chief-Inspector with the South Australian Police who was only preselected a month before the election was called. During the campaign, Rishworth focussed on her record with construction underway on the GP Super Clinic as well as securing funds for an extension of the Noarlunga railway line
Noarlunga Centre railway line, Adelaide
The Noarlunga Centre railway line is a suburban commuter line in the city of Adelaide, South Australia.-History:Before the extension of the line to Noarlunga Centre line in 1978, the Willunga line ran from Hallett Cove station on a different route through Reynella, Morphett Vale and Hackham to...
to Seaford
Seaford, South Australia
Seaford is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It lies within the City of Onkaparinga.-History:Seaford, a coastal suburb to the near south of Port Noarlunga, was set out on Sections 334 and 340, Hundred of Noarlunga, in 1954 by the Wakefield Land Company Pty Ltd...
. A poll by The Advertiser showed a 12 percent swing to her with some suggesting this was in part due to new Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
having grown up in the Adelaide area. She was later re-elected with a two-party swing of 9.5 percent, the highest of any Labor candidate in the country, an election where the party suffered a 2.6 percent swing against it nationally.
Rishworth is currently chair of the House of Representatives standing committee on education and employment as well as being a member of the Joint Standing electoral matters and Joint Select cyber-safety committees.
On 11 March 2011, Rishworth and four other Australian parliamentarians were stuck on a bullet train
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
heading from Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
to Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
for around five hours because of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
. They were in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on a young leaders exchange.
Personal life
Rishworth lives in the Kingston electorate at Hallett CoveHallett Cove, South Australia
Hallett Cove is a coastal suburb in the south of Adelaide, South Australia, with a population of more than 12,000 people. Adjoining suburbs are Marino to the north, Trott Park and Sheidow Park to the east and Lonsdale to the south. It is within the City of Marion Local Government Area...
and continues to be a volunteer surf lifesaver at Christies Beach
Christies Beach, South Australia
Christies Beach is a seaside suburb in the southern Adelaide metropolitan area, within the City of Onkaparinga. The area is scenic and hence popular with photographers as Witton Bluff provides a natural vantage point over the entire suburb and beyond....
.