Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several
ministerial portfolios in the
Howard Government. After her resignation from the Senate in 2007, she served as the
Australian Ambassador to
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
until July 2010. Her time as
Minister for Immigration was marked by controversies within the
Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.
[Dornin, Tim. "'It's done', Vanstone ends her political career", ]Australian Associated Press
Australian Associated Press (AAP) is an Australian news agency. It was established by Keith Murdoch in 1935.
AAP employs around 80 journalists who work in bureaus in all states and territories of Australia except the Northern Territory. It al ...
, 26 April 2007.
Early life
Vanstone was born Amanda Eloise O'Brien on 7 December 1952 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 ...
, South Australia. She is the youngest of four children. Her father died when she was three. Her mother remarried soon afterwards, but not long after this her stepfather also died. She was educated at the
St Peter's Collegiate Girls' School
St Peter's Girls' School (commonly known as Saints Girls) is an independent Anglican early learning, primary and secondary day school for girls located in the Adelaide suburb of Stonyfell, in South Australia, Australia.
Founded in 1894 and or ...
. Vanstone has said that she does not defer to male authority due to growing up in a female-headed household and attending a school run by women.
At the
University of Adelaide
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 ...
, Vanstone received both Bachelor of Arts and
Bachelor of Law degrees. She also earned a
Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and a Marketing Studies Certificate from the
South Australian Institute of Technology
The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
which is now the
University of South Australia
The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
. In the late 1980s, she married Tony Vanstone, a commercial lawyer from Adelaide, taking his surname. Prior to entering politics, she worked as a retailer in a large department store, and later had her own business selling prints and picture-frames. She also worked as a legal practitioner.
Political career
In December 1984, at age 31, Vanstone was elected the youngest member of the
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...
as a representative for South Australia. She was one of 27 senators for the
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
elected that year. Vanstone's
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
to the Senate was made on 27 March 1985 and addressed issues that young Australians had with the then
Labor Government led by Prime Minister
Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
.
Vanstone was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry from 1987 to 1988, from 1989 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996, serving as Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Justice from 1994 to 1996.
In May 1990, as an opposition backbencher, Vanstone was instrumental in the introduction of televised proceedings in parliament.
In March 1996, Vanstone became one of the two women (with
Jocelyn Newman
Jocelyn Margaret Newman (née Mullett; 8 July 1937 – 1 April 2018) was an Australian politician. She was a Senator for Tasmania for 15 years, and a minister in the Howard Government.
Political career
Jocelyn Margaret Mullett was born in M ...
) in
John Howard
John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...
's cabinet when she was appointed
Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. In this portfolio she presided over heavy cuts to the employment programs established by the
Keating government, which drew strong criticism. In October 1997 she was dropped from Cabinet and appointed
Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
, a title which was changed to Minister for Justice and
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...
in October 1998.
Vanstone made a comeback in January 2001 when she was re-appointed to Cabinet as
Minister for Family and Community Services. During this period she was also
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. In the Family and Community Services portfolio she presided over the Australian
social security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
programs including
Centrelink
The Centrelink Master Program, or more commonly known as Centrelink, is a Services Australia master program of the Australian Government. It delivers a range of government payments and services for retirees, the unemployed, families, carer ...
, attracting criticism by welfare activists. Vanstone frequently defended the Howard government's policies, and the then Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services,
Wayne Swan
Wayne Maxwell Swan (born 30 June 1954), often colloquially referred to as Swanny, is an Australian politician who is National President of the Labor Party. He was previously the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and Deputy Leader of the Labor ...
, described her as "a political hyena who takes delight in attacking society's most vulnerable".
In his reshuffle in October 2003, Howard appointed Vanstone Minister for
Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Reconciliation, one of the most difficult portfolios in the government because of controversies over
boat people
Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...
and Australia's "
Pacific Solution
Pacific Solution is the name given to the Government of Australia policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially impl ...
". Her biggest decision in this portfolio was to abolish the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting ...
(ATSIC). The abolition of ATSIC was generally supported, but there was controversy over what should replace it.
During 2005, Vanstone became involved in some major controversies, one of them involving a defecting Chinese diplomat,
Chen Yonglin
Chen Yonglin () is a former Chinese diplomat who sparked fears of a diplomatic incident through his defection to Australia in the summer of 2005. The episode highlighted the tensions faced by China's trade partners when concerns arise from that ...
, whilst others involved the deportation of Australian citizens and
permanent residents
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with such ...
who her department considered undesirable – the
Cornelia Rau
Cornelia Rau is a German and Australian citizen who was unlawfully detained for a period of ten months in 2004 and 2005 as part of the Australian Government's mandatory detention program.
Her detention became the subject of a government inquiry w ...
,
Vivian Alvarez Solon,
Stefan Nystrom and
Robert Jovicic cases. An inquiry by the former
Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Palmer was severely critical of the Immigration Department's treatment of Cornelia Rau, an Australian citizen wrongly presumed to be an illegal immigrant, and held in a Brisbane women's prison for six months.
She had also been criticized for overturning a deportation order and granting a visa in 2005 to
Francesco Madafferi who had been implicated by Italian officials as a dangerous mafia figure. In fact Madafferi is thought to be a member of the
Calabria
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n
'Ndrangheta
The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...
, known by the name
Honoured Society in Australia, which, although similar, is a crime organization distinct from the
Sicilian Mafia
The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily a ...
(however, common usage is to lump all such organizations together as Mafia). Francesco and his brother
Antonio ("Tony") Madafferi, a stall holder in Melbourne's Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable market (known to have been controlled by the
Honoured Society), were alleged in a report by
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''.
, Victo ...
's organised crime squad to belong to a crime family involved in blackmail, extortion and murder. The report was aired in 2000 at a court hearing during Francesco's fight against deportation, but was later dismissed by an Administrative Appeals Tribunal judge as containing information from unnamed and possibly unreliable police informers. Vanstone justified her decision to grant Madafferi a visa because of a mental illness he was said to be suffering. However it is alleged that relatives and associates of Madafferi donated up to $100,000 to the Liberal Party, and that four Liberal party politicians had discussed the visa case with Madafferi's supporters or Vanstone's office. In August 2008, Madafferi was arrested and charged, along with several of Australia's other suspected crime bosses (including Australian 'Ndrangheta boss Pasquale "Pat"
Barbaro), after Australian Federal Police made the world's biggest
ecstasy haul, seizing drugs with a street value of $440 million.
In January 2006, a ministerial reshuffle saw Indigenous Affairs transferred to
Mal Brough
Malcolm Thomas Brough ( ; born 29 December 1961) is a former Australian politician. He represented the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives (1996–2007, 2013–2016) and held ministerial office in the Howard and Turnbull Governments. ...
. Vanstone's title was changed to Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. In January 2007, the Senator was removed from the cabinet after an election-year reshuffle, with
Kevin Andrews replacing her as the Immigration Minister in the new
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) was an Australian government department that existed between January 2007 and September 2013, that was preceded by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and was s ...
(DIAC).
In July 2006, Vanstone was criticized for holding shares in the South Australian
agribusiness
Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy,
in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise.
The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...
Wasley's Piggery. Wasley's had come under fire after the group, Animal Liberation Australia, revealed footage of animal conditions which they say did not adhere to the state's
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...
regulations. Vanstone responded stating that she is 'simply one shareholder in the business'. The
RSPCA
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest a ...
later conducted an inspection and found that while the
sow stall
A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a metal enclosure in which a farmed sow used for breeding may be kept during pregnancy.Wilson G. Pond, Fuller W. Bazer, Bernard E. Rollin (eds.), ''Animal Welfare in Animal Agriculture'', CRC Press ...
sizes were smaller than regulation, the size was only a recommendation and could not be enforced.
In February 2007, she released the lyrics to her "Ode to Australia",
Under Southern Stars.
On 26 April 2007, Vanstone announced her immediate resignation from politics, telling reporters, "It is always important to look to the future and with that in mind it is important for me to move on to the next phase of my life".
It was announced that she was to be appointed an Ambassador to Italy.
On October, 2012, Vanstone joined the board of the
Port Adelaide Football Club
Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...
.
In 2012 Amanda Vanstone was the guest presenter on the
ABC Radio National
Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.
History
1937: Predecessors an ...
program
Counterpoint, and as of 2013 is now it
full-time presenter every Monday at 4pm.
In 2013 and 2014 she was a member of the
Abbott Government's
National Commission of Audit
The National Commission of Audit was a commission formed by the Abbott Government on 22 October 2013 as an independent body to review and report on the performance, functions and roles of the Commonwealth government. The chair of the Commission wa ...
, which was established to improve the Australian government's budget.
She is the Chairwoman of Vision 20/20 Australia.
Political views
Vanstone is a former Liberal Party politician who, as host of the ''
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
'' radio program since 2013, has become a political journalist at the ABC. She supported the leadership ambitions of
Malcolm Turnbull
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Turnbull grad ...
over those of
Tony Abbott
Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Abbott was born in Londo ...
in the
2015 Liberal leadership spill that saw Turnbull take the Prime Ministership. She describes herself as a "liberal" rather than a "conservative".
She was a leading member of the
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
's moderate faction and a mentor to younger Liberal moderates, including fellow South Australian
Christopher Pyne.
References
External links
Amanda Vanstone, Senate Biography 4 February 2007,
News.com.au
news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport.
Staff
The organiza ...
,
AAPTranscript: Amanda Vanstone ''
Enough Rope
''Enough Rope with Andrew Denton'' (often shortened to ''Enough Rope'') is a television interview show originally broadcast on ABC1 in Australia. The title of the show came from the phrase " give someone enough rope and they'll hang themselves ...
with
Andrew Denton
Andrew Christopher Denton (born 4 May 1960) is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program ''Enough Rope'' and ...
'' (
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
), 24 May 2004.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanstone, Amanda
1952 births
Living people
Ambassadors of Australia to Italy
Ambassadors of Australia to San Marino
Ambassadors of Australia to Libya
Australian women diplomats
Members of the Australian Senate
Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia
Members of the Cabinet of Australia
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Officers of the Order of Australia
Port Adelaide Football Club administrators
Adelaide Law School alumni
Women members of the Australian Senate
Women government ministers of Australia
ABC radio (Australia) journalists and presenters
21st-century Australian politicians
21st-century Australian women politicians
20th-century Australian politicians
Female justice ministers
Women television journalists
Australian women ambassadors
20th-century Australian women politicians