Amanda Louise Rishworth (born 10 July 1978) is an Australian politician who has served as the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
member for the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
seat of
Kingston in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
since the
2007 election. Rishworth was appointed
Minister for Social Services in the
Albanese ministry.
Early years
Rishworth was born in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
at
Flinders Medical Centre
Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) is a major public tertiary hospital and teaching school, co-located with Flinders University and the 130 bed Flinders Private Hospital located at Bedford Park, South Australia. It opened in 1976. It serves as the t ...
to Judith and Leslie, and has two siblings, Julian and Shannon.
She attended
Unley High School
Unley High School, located in Netherby, South Australia.
History
Unley High School was founded in 1910 as one of the first public high schools to be established after Adelaide High School in 1908. Initially it was under the control of the H ...
and was a retail worker and swimming instructor while also doing volunteer
surf lifesaving
Surf lifesaving is a multifaceted social movement that comprises key aspects of voluntary lifeguard services and competitive surf sport. Originating in early 20th century Australia, the movement has expanded globally to other countries, inc ...
duties at
Seacliff
Seacliff comprises a beach, an estate and a harbour. It lies east of North Berwick, East Lothian, Scotland.
History
The beach and estate command a strategic position at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, and control of the area has been con ...
.
She later worked as an organiser and trainer for the
Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) and was president of
Australian Young Labor in 2000.
Rishworth studied
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
at
Flinders University where she was president of the
students' union before furthering her studies at
Adelaide University
The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
with a master's degree in clinical psychology. She then became a practising 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 election for the
electoral district of Fisher
Fisher was an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. It was created in 1970 and named after Sir James Fisher, a colonial politician and the first mayor of Adelaide. It was abolished in a 2016 re ...
, where she was defeated by sitting independent
Bob Such
Robert Bruce Such (2 June 194411 October 2014) was a South Australian politician. He was the member for the seat of Fisher in the South Australian House of Assembly from 1989 until his death in 2014. He defeated Labor MP Philip Tyler at the 1 ...
. Labor received a 59.4 per cent
two-party-preferred vote
In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP ...
from a 15.1-point swing against the Liberals, marking the first time since the
1985 state election that Labor won the two-party-preferred vote in Fisher.
In November 2006 Rishworth was preselected unopposed to contest the seat of
Kingston at the
2007 federal election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not ...
. She was up against the sitting
Coalition member
Kym Richardson who held the most marginal seat for his party after winning it at the
2004 federal election by just 119 votes. Two opinion polls conducted throughout the year by
''The Advertiser'' had a swing to Rishworth of up to 7 per cent. 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
Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade
unions, employer organizations, ...
centring on the
Howard government's controversial
WorkChoices
WorkChoices was the name given to changes made to the federal industrial relations laws in Australia by the Howard Government in 2005, being amendments to the ''Workplace Relations Act 1996'' by the ''Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choice ...
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
South Road and its southern section as Main South Road outside of Adelaide is a major north–south conduit connecting Adelaide and the Fleurieu Peninsula, in South Australia. It is one of Adelaide's most important arterial and bypass roads. As ...
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 she ended up defeating him with a 54.4 per cent two-party-preferred vote from a 4.5-point swing, one of the seats that took the party from opposition to government after nearly 12 years.
Government
Rishworth gave her first speech to the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
in February 2008. She spoke of the time when she was a retail worker at
Toys "R" Us
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...
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 member's bill in the parliament calling for a new agreement between the Australian and British governments concerning the need to index the British pension in Australia.
In February 2010, Rishworth again introduced a private member's 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
South Australia Police (SAPOL) is the police force of the Australian state of South Australia. SAPOL is an independent statutory agency of the Government of South Australia directed by the Commissioner of Police, who reports to the Minister for ...
who was 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-point 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 63.9 per cent two-party vote from a 9.5-point two-party swing, the largest margin of any party in Kingston's history, and the highest swing of any 2010 Labor candidate in the country, an election where the party suffered a 2.6-point swing against it nationally. In one stroke, she turned Kingston from the most marginal Labor seat in South Australia into the second-safest (behind only
Port Adelaide).
On 11 March 2011, Rishworth and four other Australian parliamentarians were stuck on a
bullet train
Bullet train may refer to:
Rail
* Shinkansen high-speed trains of Japan, nicknamed for their appearance and speed
* Other high-speed trains of a similar appearance to Japanese trains
* An ongoing project to build high-speed rail in India.
Rail to ...
heading from
Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...
to Tokyo for around five hours because of the
Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. They were in Japan on a young leaders exchange.
Rishworth was 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. She was also part of the
Speaker's panel and was promoted to Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water along with Disabilities and Carers in March 2013.
Opposition
Rishworth retained her seat of
Kingston at the
2013 election with a 59.7 per cent two-party vote from a 4.9-point swing, then the second-largest margin of any party in Kingston's history. Labor, however, lost government, making Rishworth only the fourth opposition MP in the seat's history. She was subsequently named Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health in the
Shorten Shadow Ministry. On 24 June 2014, she was promoted to the Shadow outer ministry as Shadow Assistant Minister for Education.
She again retained her seat at the
2016 election with a 67 per cent two-party vote from a 7.3-point swing, the largest margin of any party in Kingston's history. Though Kingston remained Labor's second-safest South Australian seat behind
Port Adelaide, Rishworth's primary vote of 49.4 per cent
was the highest any candidate received throughout the eleven South Australian seats. Though Labor picked up a two-party swing in all eleven seats, the presence of
Nick Xenophon Team
Centre Alliance, formerly known as the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT), is a centrist political party in Australia based in the state of South Australia. It currently has one representative in the Parliament, Rebekha Sharkie in the House of Represe ...
candidates in all eleven seats produced, apart from a suppressed major party primary vote, a result where Rishworth was the only major party candidate in the state to pick up a primary vote swing.
Following the 2016 election, Rishworth was named Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Shadow Minister for Defence Personnel. In late 2017 Rishworth was also named Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Development and was promoted to Shadow Cabinet.
Government (2022–present)
Rishworth MP was sworn in as Minister for Social Services on 1 June 2022.
Positions
Rishworth is a member of
Labor Right
The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...
.
Rishworth supports same-sex marriage, and voted in support of a bill in Federal Parliament in 2012 and 2017.
Personal life
Rishworth married Timothy Walker in January 2013 and they have two sons. She lives in the Kingston electorate at
Hallett Cove and continues to be a volunteer surf lifesaver at
Christies Beach.
References
External links
Rishworth.com.au official websiteParliamentary Profile: Australian Parliament websiteParliamentary Profile: Labor website*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rishworth, Amanda
Living people
1978 births
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Labor Right politicians
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Kingston
Women members of the Australian House of Representatives
Flinders University alumni
Politicians from Adelaide
21st-century Australian politicians
21st-century Australian women politicians
Albanese government
Social affairs ministers of Australia