Anne Sowerby Ruston (born 10 June 1963) is an Australian politician who served as

Minister for Families and Social Services The Minister for Social Services is the Australian federal government minister who oversees Australian Government social services, including mental health, families and children's policy, and support for carers and people with disabilities, and ...

in the

Morrison Government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...

from 2019 to 2022. She has been a

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 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 2012. Before entering politics Ruston was a commercial rose-grower and chief executive of the

National Wine Centre The National Wine Centre of Australia (commonly the "Wine Centre") is a public exhibition building about winemaking and its industry in South Australia, opened in 2001. It contains an interactive permanent exhibition of winemaking, introducing ...

. She was appointed to the Senate to fill a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

caused by the resignation of

Mary Jo Fisher Mary Josephine Fisher (born 25 December 1962) is a former Australian politician. She was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate from June 2007, representing the state of South Australia, but resigned in August 2012, after twice being charged ...

. Ruston served as Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources in the Turnbull Government from 2015 to 2018 and as Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific in the Morrison Government from 2018 to 2019. She was elevated to

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

following the 2019 election.

Early life

Ruston was born on 10 June 1963 in

Renmark, South Australia Renmark is a town in South Australia's rural Riverland area, and is located northeast of Adelaide, on the banks of the River Murray. The Sturt Highway between Adelaide and Sydney runs through the town; Renmark is the last major town encountered ...

. She went to Renmark High School where she was a school friend of future Chief of Army

Rick Burr Lieutenant General Richard Maxwell "Rick" Burr, (born 2 June 1964) is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army, who served as Chief of Army from 2 July 2018 to 1 July 2022. He was previously Commander 1st Division from 2011 to 2012, D ...

. She holds the degree of

Bachelor of Business A Bachelor of Business (BBus, BBus (Major)) is a three to four year undergraduate degree in the field of business offered by traditional and newer universities from the post-Dawkins era in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. It is similar in format ...

from the

University of Southern Queensland The University of Southern Queensland (branded as UniSQ and formerly branded as USQ) is a medium-sized, regional university based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, with three university campuses at Toowoomba, Springfield and Ipswich. It offe ...

Career

In 1987, Ruston began working as an electorate officer for state Liberal MP Peter Arnold. She joined the staff of state tourism minister

Graham Ingerson Graham Alexander Ingerson (born 27 August 1941) is a former Australian politician and 8th Deputy Premier of South Australia from 1996 to 1998. Ingerson was a Liberal Party member of the House of Assembly seat of Bragg between 1983 and 2002. ...

in 1993 as a tourism policy adviser, and in 1996 was appointed as an executive officer at the Wine and Tourism Council. Her appointment was controversial as Ingerson was accused by the state opposition of interfering in the selection process in her favour. Ruston was closely involved with the creation of the

National Wine Centre of Australia The National Wine Centre of Australia (commonly the "Wine Centre") is a public exhibition building about winemaking and its industry in South Australia, opened in 2001. It contains an interactive permanent exhibition of winemaking, introducing ...

, initially as project director and then as the centre's inaugural CEO. It was publicly announced by Premier

John Olsen John Wayne Olsen, AO (born 7 June 1945) is a former Australian politician, diplomat and football commissioner. He was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001. He is now President of the Federal Liberal Party, C ...

in 1998 as a centre for wine tourism and education, as well as office space for various wine industry groups. Ruston oversaw the construction phase of the centre, announcing three months prior to its opening in 2001 that she would not renew her contract. In 2000 she and the centre's chairman

Rick Allert Richard Hugh "Rick" Allert AO is an Australian businessman who was chair of Tourism Australia from 2007 to 2012. Before this, he worked with Carroll Winter & Co Chartered Accountants from 1959 to 1960, and then with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Com ...

were called before a parliamentary committee over possible breaches of procurement guidelines. By the time of her departure the centre was employing over 100 people, but was reportedly struggling to break even and required a bailout from the state government. Its financial difficulties were attributed to a decline in air travel following the September 11 attacks and the collapse of

Ansett Australia Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into adminis ...

. However, independent MP Peter Lewis stated that the business plan approved by Ruston and Allert overstated likely visitor numbers. In 2003, Ruston and her husband purchased Ruston's Roses, a commercial rose-growing property in Renmark established by her uncle David Ruston in 1948. He was the first Australian to serve as president of the

World Federation of Rose Societies The World Federation of Rose Societies (WFRS) is an umbrella association of (as of 2015) 39-member countries' national rose societies. Although founded in 1968 in London by 8 constituent countries' rose societies, the WFRS did not have a first mee ...

. At the time of purchase it reportedly contained 50,000 rose bushes of 4,000 varieties and over 700 varieties of

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...

, spread over . However, as a result of the

Millennium drought The 2000s drought in Australia, also known as the Millennium drought is said by some to be the worst drought recorded since European settlement. This drought affected most of southern Australia, including its largest cities and largest agricul ...

she had to suspend commercial growing for three years, and the gardens subsequently evolved into "primarily a retail-tourism business" with the addition of a tourism centre, function rooms and cafe. She was managing director until her appointment to the Senate in 2012, after which she remained as a co-owner.

Politics

Ruston became a vice-president of the

Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division) The Liberal Party of Australia (South Australian Division), commonly known as the South Australian Liberals, is the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. It was formed as the Liberal and Country League (LCL) in 1932 and b ...

in 2011. In May 2012 she won

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

in third place on the party's Senate ticket for the next federal election, a position seen as "unsafe" due to the candidacy of independent senator

Nick Xenophon Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon ...

. However, incumbent senator

resigned the following month and Ruston was chosen instead for the resulting

, receiving support from the party's moderate faction in what ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' described as a "factional brawl". She was formally appointed by a

joint sitting A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose. Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicamer ...

of the

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...

on 5 September 2012. Ruston was a deputy whip from September 2014 to May 2016. She became Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources in the

First Turnbull Ministry The first Turnbull ministry (Liberal–National Coalition) was the 69th ministry of the Government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. It succeeded the Abbott ministry after a leadership spill that took place on 14 September ...

in September 2015. During the August 2018 Liberal leadership spills, she served as

Manager of Government Business in the Senate In the Parliament of Australia, the Manager of Government Business in the Senate is a government member, usually a minister, whose responsibilities include negotiating with the Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate regarding proceedings ...

for five days. She was subsequently appointed Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific in the First Morrison Ministry. Following the 2019 election, Ruston was elevated to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and was appointed

in the Second Morrison Ministry. She was additionally reappointed as Manager of Government Business in the Senate. In March 2021 she was also made Minister for Women's Safety, a new position.

Political positions

In 2017, when

Cory Bernardi Cory Bernardi (born 6 November 1969) is an Australian conservative political commentator and former politician. He was a Senator for South Australia from 2006 to 2020, and was the leader of the Australian Conservatives, a minor political party h ...

moved a motion to ban

sex-selective abortion Sex-selective abortion is the practice of terminating a pregnancy based upon the predicted sex of the infant. The selective abortion of female fetuses is most common where male children are valued over female children, especially in parts of Eas ...

, Ruston was one of the ten senators who voted in favour. The motion was defeated by a vote of 10 – 36.

Personal life

Ruston is married to Richard Fewster and they have a son.

References

External links

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Anne Ruston on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruston, Anne 1963 births Living people Abbott Government Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Australian women in business Women members of the Australian Senate University of Southern Queensland alumni Turnbull Government 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Government ministers of Australia Women government ministers of Australia Morrison Government