Kate Carnell
Encyclopedia
Anne Katherine Carnell AO
(born 30 May 1955) was the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
, serving from 1995 to 2000. She is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Food and Grocery Council
.
from the University of Queensland
in 1976. The same year she moved to Canberra
from Brisbane
, and she bought her own pharmacy business in 1981. She owned and managed the Red Hill
Pharmacy in Canberra through to 2002. She served as the head of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Branch of the Australian Pharmacy Guild as well as National Vice-President of the guild. She also served on the ACT Chamber of Commerce
and on the boards of charities and community organisations. Carnell continued her work as a pharmacist
while she joined the Liberal Party
in 1991. Among other positions she was: Chairman of the Canberra and Southern District Pharmacists Company Ltd (1982–1992), Vice-President of the Retail Industry and Training Council, ACT (1987–1991), Councillor at the Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management (1990–1991), Member of the ACT Board of Health (1990–1991), and a Member of the Pharmacy Restructuring Authority (1990–1991).
in 1992
, and became Leader of the Opposition in 1993, succeeding Trevor Kaine
. After winning 7 of 17 seats in the 1995 ACT election
, the Liberal Party formed a minority government
with Carnell as Chief Minister
. The government was re-elected in the 1998 election
. She held the portfolios of Minister for Health and Community Care (1995–1998), Minister Responsible for Multicultural and International Affairs (1995–2000), Minister for Business and Employment (1997–1998) and Minister for Business, Tourism and the Arts (2000).
was imploded on 13 July 1997 to make way for the National Museum of Australia
. Katie Bender died instantly when she was struck by a one kilogram fragment of steel which had been thrown about 430 metres across Lake Burley Griffin
by the force of the explosion. The Coroner cleared Carnell as Chief Minister of any personal responsibility. The Coroner did find in his report that the Government had turned the implosion into a 'public circus' and that this was with the approval of the Chief Minister. The public was invited by the Government to attend and witness the event, resulting in the largest crowd in Canberra's history, in excess of 100,000. The Coroner found that the Government had been cavalier in its attitude to the warnings from a health union about the possible dangers of some aspects of the proposed implosion. The Coroner summarised that, "the evidence on this topic leads me to conclude that Carnell was poorly briefed and advised on this subject matter. The quality of the reply to the HSUA was sacrificed in the interests of speed and expediency."
development in Canberra, Carnell chose to resign her post. Carnell initially claimed a $12.3 million cost to taxpayers, with an additional $15 million to be provided by private sector organisations. However, the work eventually blew out to cost taxpayers $82 million. In his report on the matter, Auditor-General, John Parkinson, found that the $27.3 million cost was estimated by Carnell, and had not undergone any assessment, review or analysis. While Carnell had factored in the $15 million in private funding for the project, no funds had been offered or provided by private companies. The Auditor-General found that, by 1998, funding for the project was being sought so rapidly that funds that had not been allocated were being spent. The ACT Auditor-General also found that an overnight loan provided by the Commonwealth Bank and signed for by Ms Carnell, for $9.7 million, was illegal. Further controversy arose in relation to the Stadium prior to the holding of soccer matches associated with the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Some areas of turf died during the Canberra winter. Replacement turf was flown in from Cairns. The replacement turf was damaged by frost. It was subsequently admitted by Ms Carnell that attempts had been made to address this problem by spraying some areas of dead grass with green paint.
field which was built next to the Commonwealth Avenue
Bridge has had only a few games of Futsal hosted on it. It is commonly used to stage circuses and travelling theatre shows.
series, in which five races were to be staged on the roads around the Parliamentary Triangle. Despite the large investment and the disruption that this series caused to the lives of Canberrans, the ACT Auditor-General found that many of the promises that the series offered, including international television interest and international tourists flocking to the event, never eventuated. The Auditor-General found that the event was not telecast in any overseas countries. Despite forecasting that the race series would provide the ACT economy with $52 million profit, after only 3 races were staged, the Auditor-General found that the series had in fact cost taxpayers $29 million. The Carnell Government had entered into an agreement with race organisers in which the ACT Government, and eventually ACT taxpayers, would bear all responsibility for financial risk. When the Australian Labor Party
won government and learned of the losses sustained by ACT taxpayers from this event, it cancelled the last 2 rounds of the series and settled with race organisers to keep the taxpayers from the burden of further losses which would be incurred if the race series were to continue.
, Carnell was elected as a Director on the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) board of directors (2001–2002). She subsequently lost a further election for the board, thereby ceasing to be a Director. Another popularly elected member of the board resigned their post after this, which resulted in an available position on the board, to which Carnell was again appointed. It was anticipated that she would once again be defeated in a forthcoming election, resulting in her withdrawing from her position, in September 2002. She has also held the post of Chief Executive of TransACT
Development (2000–2001), and later the positions of Chairperson, General Practice Education and Training Ltd and Executive Director, National Association of Forest Industries.
She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Australia Day
Honours list of 2006, for her services and contributions to the Australian Capital Territory
.
Nearly a decade after Ms Carnell's first marriage was dissolved, on Sunday, 29 July 2007, Carnell and her long-term partner, Ray Kiley, married at a ceremony conducted at Old Parliament House in Canberra. Guests included local and federal politicians (both Labor and Liberal) along with a small crowd of family and friends - including Ms Carnell and Mr Kiley's children and ex-spouses. Also present was the former Canberra Times editor Crispin Hull, and former staff of Prime Minister John Howard
's office.
Carnell was the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian General Practice Network in Canberra until 2008. In this role she was seen by some GPs as bringing the Divisions of General Practice too close to government, especially over her support for fundholding programs. The president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, described her as "a mouthpiece for the government". She announced her resignation on 20 May 2008 to take up a position as CEO of the Australian Food and Grocery Council
.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 30 May 1955) was the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of party with the largest representation of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role...
, serving from 1995 to 2000. She is currently Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Food and Grocery Council
Australian Food and Grocery Council
AFGC represents Australia’s largest manufacturing sector, the food, drink and grocery manufacturing industry.AFGC's vision is for Australia’s food, beverage and grocery manufacturing industry to be world class, socially responsible and competing profitably domestically and overseas.The Chief...
.
Pharmacy career
Carnell received a BPharmBachelor of Pharmacy
A Bachelor of Pharmacy is an undergraduate academic degree in the field of pharmacy. The degree is the basic prerequisite for registration to practice as a pharmacist in many countries. In some countries, it has been superseded by the Master of Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees...
from the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
in 1976. The same year she moved to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
from Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, and she bought her own pharmacy business in 1981. She owned and managed the Red Hill
Red Hill, Australian Capital Territory
Red Hill is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb is named after the northernmost hill of the ridge to the west of the suburb. The ridge is a reserve and managed as part of the Canberra Nature Park. The hill is an element of the central Canberra design...
Pharmacy in Canberra through to 2002. She served as the head of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Branch of the Australian Pharmacy Guild as well as National Vice-President of the guild. She also served on the ACT Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and on the boards of charities and community organisations. Carnell continued her work as a pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
while she joined the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
in 1991. Among other positions she was: Chairman of the Canberra and Southern District Pharmacists Company Ltd (1982–1992), Vice-President of the Retail Industry and Training Council, ACT (1987–1991), Councillor at the Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management (1990–1991), Member of the ACT Board of Health (1990–1991), and a Member of the Pharmacy Restructuring Authority (1990–1991).
Chief Minister
Carnell was elected to the second ACT Legislative AssemblyAustralian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory...
in 1992
Australian Capital Territory general election, 1992
Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 15 February 1992. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Rosemary Follett, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Trevor Kaine. Candidates were elected to fill seats using a modified D'Hondt method for a...
, and became Leader of the Opposition in 1993, succeeding Trevor Kaine
Trevor Kaine
Trevor Thomas Kaine , an Australian politician, was Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 1989 to 1991, and was elected a multi-member single electorate first unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, from 1989 to 2001, initially as a member of the Liberal...
. After winning 7 of 17 seats in the 1995 ACT election
Australian Capital Territory general election, 1995
Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 18 February 1995. The incumbent Labor Party, led by Rosemary Follett, was challenged by the Liberal Party, led by Kate Carnell. For the first time, candidates were elected to fill three multi-member...
, the Liberal Party formed a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
with Carnell as Chief Minister
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of party with the largest representation of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role...
. The government was re-elected in the 1998 election
Australian Capital Territory general election, 1998
Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly were held on Saturday, 21 February 1998. The incumbent Liberal Party, led by Kate Carnell, was challenged by the Labor Party, led by Wayne Berry. Candidates were elected to fill three multi-member electorates using a single...
. She held the portfolios of Minister for Health and Community Care (1995–1998), Minister Responsible for Multicultural and International Affairs (1995–2000), Minister for Business and Employment (1997–1998) and Minister for Business, Tourism and the Arts (2000).
Canberra hospital implosion
The Carnell Government was severely criticised following the death of twelve year old Katie Bender, when the de-commissioned Royal Canberra HospitalRoyal Canberra Hospital
Royal Canberra Hospital was the first hospital in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It opened in 1914 on the Acton Peninsula, as the Canberra Community Hospital. It grew to become the major hospital in Canberra before being closed in 1991 and later demolished in 1997.- Early Years 1912–1939 :In...
was imploded on 13 July 1997 to make way for the National Museum of Australia
National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia was formally established by the National Museum of Australia Act 1980. The National Museum preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation....
. Katie Bender died instantly when she was struck by a one kilogram fragment of steel which had been thrown about 430 metres across Lake Burley Griffin
Lake Burley Griffin
Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River—which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle—was dammed...
by the force of the explosion. The Coroner cleared Carnell as Chief Minister of any personal responsibility. The Coroner did find in his report that the Government had turned the implosion into a 'public circus' and that this was with the approval of the Chief Minister. The public was invited by the Government to attend and witness the event, resulting in the largest crowd in Canberra's history, in excess of 100,000. The Coroner found that the Government had been cavalier in its attitude to the warnings from a health union about the possible dangers of some aspects of the proposed implosion. The Coroner summarised that, "the evidence on this topic leads me to conclude that Carnell was poorly briefed and advised on this subject matter. The quality of the reply to the HSUA was sacrificed in the interests of speed and expediency."
Bruce Stadium development
In October 2000, when faced with a no-confidence motion due to the blowout in costs of the Bruce StadiumCanberra Stadium
Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia...
development in Canberra, Carnell chose to resign her post. Carnell initially claimed a $12.3 million cost to taxpayers, with an additional $15 million to be provided by private sector organisations. However, the work eventually blew out to cost taxpayers $82 million. In his report on the matter, Auditor-General, John Parkinson, found that the $27.3 million cost was estimated by Carnell, and had not undergone any assessment, review or analysis. While Carnell had factored in the $15 million in private funding for the project, no funds had been offered or provided by private companies. The Auditor-General found that, by 1998, funding for the project was being sought so rapidly that funds that had not been allocated were being spent. The ACT Auditor-General also found that an overnight loan provided by the Commonwealth Bank and signed for by Ms Carnell, for $9.7 million, was illegal. Further controversy arose in relation to the Stadium prior to the holding of soccer matches associated with the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Some areas of turf died during the Canberra winter. Replacement turf was flown in from Cairns. The replacement turf was damaged by frost. It was subsequently admitted by Ms Carnell that attempts had been made to address this problem by spraying some areas of dead grass with green paint.
Futsal
The FutsalFutsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...
field which was built next to the Commonwealth Avenue
Commonwealth Avenue, Canberra
Commonwealth Avenue is a major road in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. It connects Civic with South Canberra. Specifically, it runs between City Hill and Capital Hill....
Bridge has had only a few games of Futsal hosted on it. It is commonly used to stage circuses and travelling theatre shows.
V8 Supercar Series
$17 million of Canberra taxpayers' money were spent on the V8 SupercarV8 Supercar
V8 Supercars is a touring car racing category based in Australia and run as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile regulations...
series, in which five races were to be staged on the roads around the Parliamentary Triangle. Despite the large investment and the disruption that this series caused to the lives of Canberrans, the ACT Auditor-General found that many of the promises that the series offered, including international television interest and international tourists flocking to the event, never eventuated. The Auditor-General found that the event was not telecast in any overseas countries. Despite forecasting that the race series would provide the ACT economy with $52 million profit, after only 3 races were staged, the Auditor-General found that the series had in fact cost taxpayers $29 million. The Carnell Government had entered into an agreement with race organisers in which the ACT Government, and eventually ACT taxpayers, would bear all responsibility for financial risk. When the Australian Labor Party
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...
won government and learned of the losses sustained by ACT taxpayers from this event, it cancelled the last 2 rounds of the series and settled with race organisers to keep the taxpayers from the burden of further losses which would be incurred if the race series were to continue.
Career after politics
After resigning her post as the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital TerritoryChief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
The Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of party with the largest representation of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly usually takes on the role...
, Carnell was elected as a Director on the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) board of directors (2001–2002). She subsequently lost a further election for the board, thereby ceasing to be a Director. Another popularly elected member of the board resigned their post after this, which resulted in an available position on the board, to which Carnell was again appointed. It was anticipated that she would once again be defeated in a forthcoming election, resulting in her withdrawing from her position, in September 2002. She has also held the post of Chief Executive of TransACT
TransACT
TransACT Capital Communications is an Australian telecommunications company based in Canberra which provides broadband internet access, fixed telephony, cable television services, and mobile phone services in Canberra and a subset of these services in Queanbeyan, throughout South-east New South...
Development (2000–2001), and later the positions of Chairperson, General Practice Education and Training Ltd and Executive Director, National Association of Forest Industries.
She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
Honours list of 2006, for her services and contributions to the Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
.
Nearly a decade after Ms Carnell's first marriage was dissolved, on Sunday, 29 July 2007, Carnell and her long-term partner, Ray Kiley, married at a ceremony conducted at Old Parliament House in Canberra. Guests included local and federal politicians (both Labor and Liberal) along with a small crowd of family and friends - including Ms Carnell and Mr Kiley's children and ex-spouses. Also present was the former Canberra Times editor Crispin Hull, and former staff of Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
's office.
Carnell was the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian General Practice Network in Canberra until 2008. In this role she was seen by some GPs as bringing the Divisions of General Practice too close to government, especially over her support for fundholding programs. The president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, described her as "a mouthpiece for the government". She announced her resignation on 20 May 2008 to take up a position as CEO of the Australian Food and Grocery Council
Australian Food and Grocery Council
AFGC represents Australia’s largest manufacturing sector, the food, drink and grocery manufacturing industry.AFGC's vision is for Australia’s food, beverage and grocery manufacturing industry to be world class, socially responsible and competing profitably domestically and overseas.The Chief...
.