Sarah Hanson-Young

Sarah Hanson-Young
Senator Hanson-Young
Senator for South Australia
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2008
Constituency	South Australia
Personal details
Born	23 December 1981 (1981-12-23) (age 29) Melbourne[1]
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Greens
Spouse(s)	Zane Young
Children	1
Residence	Daw Park, Adelaide[2]
Website	SarahInTheSenate.com

Sarah Coral Hanson-Young (born 23 December 1981) is an Australian politician. She has been a Greens member of the Australian Senate since July 2008, representing the state of South Australia. As of 2011^[update] she is the youngest person ever elected to the Australian Senate.

Early life

Hanson-Young was born in Melbourne,^[3] and grew up near Orbost in East Gippsland.^[4] She has worked on several community projects in Orbost including the establishment of the Orbost Youth Centre.^{[citation needed]} In 1999 she was awarded the Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year award for Gippsland, Victoria.^{[citation needed]}

She obtained a Bachelor's degree in Social Sciences from the University of Adelaide. While studying she was first Environment Officer in 2001/2002 then President in 2002/2003 of the Students' Association of the University of Adelaide.^[3][5]

In 2004, Hanson-Young worked as a bank teller^[3] and from the same year until she took parliamentary office in 2008 she worked for Amnesty International as Campaign Manager for South Australia and the Northern Territory.^[3]

As of 2006^[update] she was studying for a postgraduate law degree.^[6][7]

Prior to her entry into politics, she also worked as media advisor to Mark Parnell (SA Greens) in the 2006 South Australian election^[6][7] and was a campaigner with Justice for Refugees (SA).^[8]

Political career

Hanson-Young was a candidate for the South Australian Legislative Council in the 2006 state election, ranked fourth on the Greens' ticket.^[9][10]

Hanson-Young was elected senator for South Australia at the 2007 federal election. She was the first Greens senator to be elected in that state, the youngest person - at 25 - ever elected to the Australian senate,^[11] and the youngest woman elected to federal parliament.^[12]

Although the SA Green primary vote was relatively unchanged, preferences from the Australian Labor Party achieved the required quota to elected a Greens senator.^[13][14]

As of 2011^[update] Hanson-Young's portfolio responsibilities within the Greens include: childcare, education, sexuality, human rights, gender identity and the status of women and youth.^[15]

Hanson-Young became the focus of attention on 18 June 2009 when the Senate President ordered the removal of her two-year-old daughter from the Senate chamber during a division. Formal parliamentary procedures do not allow for senators or members to bring their children onto floor of the Senate and House of Representatives chamber.^[16] Public reaction on the matter was divided, and ignited a debate on accommodating children and their carers in the workplace.^[17]

Hanson-Young challenged Christine Milne for the Green deputy leadership in October 2010 but was unsuccessful.^[18]

Personal life

Hanson-Young is married to former local government councillor Zane Young^[19][20] and together they have one child.^[17]

References

1. ^ "Senator Sarah Hanson-Young Parliamentary Biography". ParlInfo. Commonwealth of Australia. 2 July 2008. http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/senators/homepages/senators.asp?id=I0U. Retrieved 1 September 2008. 
2. ^ "Form A: Statement of Registrable Interests". OpenAustralia.org. Commonwealth of Australia. 22 September 2008. http://www.openaustralia.org/regmem/scan/register_interests_10711.pdf. Retrieved 23 February 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Biography for HANSON-YOUNG, Sarah Coral". ParlInfo. Commonwealth of Australia. 
4. ^ "ETS 'not tough enough'". ABC News Online (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 9 October 2009. http://abc.gov.au/news/stories/2009/10/09/2709348.htm. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 
5. ^ Crook, Andrew (1 October 2010). "Crikey List: which MPs were involved in student politics?". Crikey.com.au. http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/10/01/crikey-list-which-mps-were-involved-in-student-politics. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Edwards, Verity (27 October 2006). "Greens pin Senate hopes on 'new Natasha'". The Australian (News Corporation). http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/greens-pin-senate-hopes-on-new-natasha/story-e6frg6p6-1111112428151. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "Natasha 'my Senate hero'". Border Mail. 28 October 2006. 
8. ^ Heywood, John (14 June 2006). "New refugee bill opposed". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2006. http://www.cpa.org.au/z-archive/g2006/1277refugee.html. Retrieved 23 February 2011. 
9. ^ "2006 SA election candidates". Electoral Commission of South Australia. 2006. http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/archive/2006/candidates/index.php. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 
10. ^ "2006 Legislative Council Candidates - Voting Tickets: Australian Greens". Electoral Commission of South Australia. 2006. http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/archive/2006/candidates/pdfs/G.pdf. Retrieved 24 February 2011. 
11. ^ Rob Lundie & Martin Lumb "Research Note 13 1998–99 Update on Selected Australian Political Records" (Parliament of Australia). Access date: November 25, 2007.
12. ^ "Greens a new 'third force'". The Advertiser. 26 November 2007. http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22819999-5006301,00.html. Retrieved 26 November 2007. 
13. ^ "Senate Results: South Australia – Federal Election 2007". ABC Elections. http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/results/senate/sa.htm. Retrieved 5 January 2008.  Cathy Perry (ALP) is excluded at count 23, giving 71,615 votes to Sarah Hanson-Young, who achieves quota.
14. ^ "2007 Senate Count for South Australia". Australian Electoral Commission. 2007. http://results.aec.gov.au/13745/Website/External/SenateStateDop-13745-SA.pdf. 
15. ^ "Australian Greens Senators - Portfolios as at 24 June 2009". GreensMPs.org. Australian Greens. 24 June 2009. http://greensmps.org.au/webfm_send/153. 
16. ^ "Children in the parliamentary chambers". Australian Parliament House. October 2009. http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/pubs/rp/2009-10/10rp09.pdf. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Kleinig, Xanthe; Rehn, Alison (20 June 2009). "Mums condemn Sarah Hanson-Young". News.com.au (News Corporation). http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25663325-421,00.html. Retrieved 23 February 2011. 
18. ^ "Sarah Hanson-Young challenges for Deputy Leader of the Greens". Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). 26 October 2010. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/brown-confirms-deputy-challenge-20101026-171m2.html. ^{[dead link]}
19. ^ Higgins, Alice (7 December 2010). "Family First link to Mitcham Counci". Eastern Courier Messenger. http://eastern-courier-messenger.whereilive.com.au/news/story/family-first-link-to-mitcham-council. 
20. ^ "City of Mitcham - Overton Ward". November 2006 Local Government Election Report. State Electoral Office of South Australia. 2006. http://www.lga.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/November_2006_Local_Government_Election_Report.pdf.  (page 111)

External links

• Sarah Hanson-Young website
• Parliamentary biography
• SA Greens website
• Introductory interview on Triple J's Hack programme 18th August 2008 (audio mp3 format)

Persondata
Name	Hanson-Young, Sarah Coral
Alternative names
Short description	Australian politician
Date of birth	23 December 1981
Place of birth	Melbourne, Victoria
Date of death
Place of death