Katy Gallagher

Katy Gallagher
Official portrait, 2022
Minister for Finance
Assumed office
23 May 2022
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
Preceded bySimon Birmingham
Vice-President of the Executive Council
Assumed office
1 June 2022
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
Preceded bySimon Birmingham
Minister for the Public Service
Assumed office
1 June 2022
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
Preceded byBen Morton
Minister for Women
Assumed office
23 May 2022
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
Preceded byMarise Payne
Manager of Government Business in the Senate
Assumed office
31 May 2022
Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese
Preceded byAnne Ruston
Senator for the Australian Capital Territory
Assumed office
21 May 2019
Preceded byDavid Smith
In office
25 March 2015 – 9 May 2018
Preceded byKate Lundy
Succeeded byDavid Smith
ACT Legislative Assembly
6th Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
Elections: 2012
In office
16 May 2011 – 11 December 2014
DeputyAndrew Barr
Preceded byJon Stanhope
Succeeded byAndrew Barr
10th Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory
In office
20 April 2006 – 16 May 2011
Preceded byTed Quinlan
Succeeded byAndrew Barr
7th Treasurer of the Australian Capital Territory
In office
11 November 2008 – 30 June 2011
Preceded byJon Stanhope
Succeeded byAndrew Barr
Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly for Molonglo
In office
20 October 2001 – 23 December 2014
Preceded byJacqui Burke
Succeeded byMeegan Fitzharris
Personal details
Born
Katherine Ruth Gallagher[1]

(1970-03-18) 18 March 1970 (age 54)
Weston Creek, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Political partyLabor
Children3
Residence(s)Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Alma materAustralian National University
ProfessionCommunity worker, union organiser
Websitewww.katygallagher.com.au

Katherine Ruth Gallagher (/'gæləhər/ GAL-ə-her; born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Government since 2022 having formerly served as the 6th Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2011 to 2014. She has been a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory since the 2019 federal election, as a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She previously served in the Senate from 2015 to 2018.

Gallagher grew up in Canberra and was a social worker and union organiser with the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) before entering politics. She was elected to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in 2001, representing the electorate of Molonglo.[2] She was made a minister under Jon Stanhope in 2002, and appointed Deputy Chief Minister in 2006. Gallagher became Chief Minister in 2011 after Stanhope's retirement, and led her party to a fourth consecutive term at the 2012 general election. She resigned in 2014 to seek preselection to the Senate.[3]

In March 2015, Gallagher was appointed to fill the casual vacancy caused by the retirement of Senator Kate Lundy.[4] She was appointed to Bill Shorten's shadow ministry later in the year, and elected to the Senate in her own right at the 2016 federal election. She was subsequently elected Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate. In December 2017, during the parliamentary eligibility crisis, Gallagher was referred to the High Court. The court ruled in May 2018 that she was disqualified from sitting in the Senate for failing to renounce her British citizenship before nomination for election in 2016.[5] She returned to her previous Senate seat at the 2019 federal election.[6]

  1. ^ 2012/2013 Annual Returns Archived 15 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Elections ACT, 29 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Members of the Fifth Assembly (2001-2004)". ACT Legislative Assembly. 2001. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Andrew Barr elected ACT Chief Minister, seventh in history". ABC News. Australia. 11 December 2014. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  4. ^ Peake, Ross. "Katy Gallagher promises to stand up for Canberra". Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  5. ^ Baxendale, Rachel; Brown, Greg (9 May 2018). "Labor senator Katy Gallagher found ineligible by High Court". The Australian. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2018.(subscription required)
  6. ^ "Senate Results". ABC News. Archived from the original on 18 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.