Kay Patterson

Infobox_Politician
honorific-prefix = The Honourable

name = Kay Christine Lesley Patterson

honorific-suffix =BA (Hons) (Syd), PhD DipEd (Monash)

|thumb
imagesize =200px
office = Minister for Family and Community Services
term_start = 7 October 2003
term_end = 27 January 2006
predecessor = Amanda Vanstone
successor = Mal Brough
constituency =
majority =
office2 =Minister for Health & Ageing
term_start2 =26 November 2001
term_end2 =7 October 2003
predecessor2 = Michael Wooldridge
successor2 = Tony Abbott
constituency2 =
majority2 =
office3 = Senator for Victoria
term_start3 = 1 July 1987
term_end3 = 1 July 2008
predecessor3 =
successor3 =
constituency3 =
majority3 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1944|11|21|df=y
birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales
death_date =
death_place =
party = Liberal Party of Australia
relations =
spouse =
civil partner =
children =
residence =
occupation = Academic


website =
footnotes =

Kay Christine Lesley Patterson (born 21 November 1944) is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1987 to 2008, representing the state of Victoria.

Patterson was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and was educated at the University of Sydney and Monash University. She studied psychology and education, going on to become a university lecturer, working in several universities in both Australia and in the United States.

In 1985, Patterson was elected as her local party branch delegate to the Liberal Party's State Council, and the following year, rose to become its Vice President. She was rewarded in 1987, when she was pre-selected for a Liberal Senate seat, becoming a senator for the state of Victoria at the 1987 election.

Patterson was promoted to the shadow ministry in 1990 as a parliamentary secretary. Over the next few years, she occupied a number of portfolios in relation to health, aged care and social policy. She was promoted again (Shadow Minister for Senior Citizens and Aged Care and Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader on Women’s Affairs and the Arts) under the leadership of John Hewson, but was demoted again under Alexander Downer.

The Liberal Party was returned to power at the 1996 election under John Howard, and Patterson was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs in the new government. In 2000, she moved to the position of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The following year, Patterson led the Australian delegation to the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

At the 2001 election, the then Health and Aged Care Minister Michael Wooldridge retired, and Senator Patterson was appointed as his replacement, with the new portfolio title of Health and Ageing. She was well received by the Australian Medical Association, who had had a strained relationship with her predecessor.

However, during 2003 and 2004, health began to emerge as a serious political issue for the Liberal Party in the leadup to the 2004 election. Prime Minister Howard attempted to make a series of reforms to Medicare, and Patterson found herself under attack from Australian Labor Party Shadow Health Minister, Julia Gillard. She was replaced as Health Minister by Tony Abbott, and appointed to the lesser portfolio of Minister for Family and Community Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women.

Patterson remains highly involved with the Girl Guides movement, having been a member of their State Council since 1974 (with the exception of a two-year break between 1991 and 1993). She is a monarchist.

On 22 January 2006, Patterson announced her resignation from the ministry, and her commission ceased on 27 January. She also announced that she would retire, and left parliament at the expiration of her term in June 2008. In September 2008, she was appointed a Professorial Fellow at Monash University. [http://www.monash.edu.au/news/newsline/story/1351]

References

* [http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/TranslateWIPILink.aspx?Folder=BIOGS&Criteria=NAME_ID:LI4%3B Kay Patterson, Senate Biography]
* [http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=82435 Patterson resigns]

External links

* [http://www.senatorpatterson.webcentral.com.au/ Official site]

Persondata
NAME=Patterson, Kay Christine Lesley
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian politician
DATE OF BIRTH=21 November 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH=Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH=Living
PLACE OF DEATH=