Allegra Spender is an Australian politician and businesswoman who is the

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

since 2022. She is the third generation of her family to sit in federal parliament, after her grandfather

Percy The English surname Percy is of Norman origin, coming from Normandy to England, United Kingdom. It was from the House of Percy, Norman lords of Northumberland, derives from the village of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. From there, it came into use ...

and father

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

. One of a number of centrist "

teal independents The teal independents, sometimes simply referred to as teals, are a loosely-aligned group of independent and minor party politicians in Australian politics. They have been characterised as strongly advocating for increased action to mitigate cl ...

" opposing incumbent

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 ...

MPs, Spender ran on a platform of action on

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

, political integrity, and

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

. She was a management consultant and corporate executive before entering politics, including as managing director of her mother

Carla Zampatti Carla Maria Zampatti , (19 May 1942 – 3 April 2021) was an Italian-born Australian fashion designer and businesswoman, and executive chair of the fashion label Carla Zampatti Limited. Background Born in Lovero, Italy in 1942, Zampatti se ...

's fashion label.

Early life

Spender attended Ascham School where she was

head girl Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

, and achieved a UAI of 99.95. She then completed a MA in economics from the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where she was at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Career

Spender started her career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company before working as a policy analyst in the

UK Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

. She later volunteered as a consultant in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

for Technoserve and at Change Leader at London's

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed b ...

. Spender has worked as Managing Director for her mother's fashion label Carla Zampatti. She was the Chair of the Sydney Renewable Power Company, and the CEO of the Australian Business & Community Network (ABCN), a social mobility charity that links students from low socio-economic schools and mentors from business. In November 2021, Spender declared that she would run as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate in the

division of Wentworth The Division of Wentworth is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History The division was proclaimed in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. The division is nam ...

at the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth conse ...

. She cited government inaction on

as one of the key reasons for her candidature. She defeated

incumbent

Dave Sharma Devanand Noel "Dave" Sharma (born 21 December 1975) is an Australian former politician and former public servant and diplomat who served as member of parliament for Wentworth from 2019 to 2022. He lost the seat at the 2022 election to indep ...

with 54 percent of the two-party vote, becoming one of several community independents to unseat Liberal incumbents. Though Sharma won a greater share of first preference votes, at 40% to Spender's 35%, Spender was elected on preferences. The seat had been in the hands of the Liberals or their predecessors for all but three years since Federation; Spender is only the second non-Liberal to win the seat at a general election.

Political views

Spender supports strong action on climate change, with at least a 50% reduction in Australian emissions by 2030, and bringing in vehicle emission standards to reduce transport emissions. She supports increasing parental leave to 26 weeks with at least 6 weeks as a "use-it-or-lose-it" for 2nd parents, to increase the amount of leave taken by fathers and increase female economic empowerment. Spender has advocated reviewing the tax system, including considering raising the

GST GST may refer to: Taxes * General sales tax * Goods and Services Tax, the name for the value-added tax in several jurisdictions: ** Goods and services tax (Australia) ** Goods and Services Tax (Canada) ** Goods and Services Tax (Hong Kong) **G ...

and changing

stamp duty Stamp duty is a tax that is levied on single property purchases or documents (including, historically, the majority of legal documents such as cheques, receipts, military commissions, marriage licences and land transactions). A physical revenu ...

, and supports a temporary two-year increase of migration numbers to 220,000 to make up for the shortfall in workers from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In September 2022, it was reported that Allegra Spender is a corporate director of a private Australian company that did not pay tax on a $280m payment it received in 2019. The payment had already been taxed at the full corporate tax rate, before it was invested, and therefore did not need to be taxed further. The article was referred to Media Watch as misleading.

Personal life

Spender comes from a high profile political family, with both her father and grandfather being MPs and both being posted as ambassadors. Spender is the daughter of former Liberal politician and diplomat

John Spender John Michael Spender (2 December 1935 – 13 October 2022) was an Australian politician, diplomat and barrister. He was a member of the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives from 1980 to 1990, representing the Liberal P ...

and fashion designer

. Her grandfather, Sir

Percy Spender Sir Percy Claude Spender (5 October 18973 May 1985) was an Australian politician, diplomat, and judge. He served in the House of Representatives from 1937 to 1951, including as a cabinet minister under Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden. He was ...

, was also an MP, diplomat and the president of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

. Her grandmother was Jean, Lady Spender, who authored crime fiction as J. M. Spender. She has a half-brother and a sister,

Bianca Spender Bianca Spender (born 18 November 1977) is an Australian fashion designer. Early life Spender was born in 1976 to Italian Australian fashion designer Carla Zampatti and former Liberal politician John Spender QC. Spender has a sister, Allegra S ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spender, Allegra Australian women in business Australian people of Italian descent Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Wentworth Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Politicians from Sydney Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Ascham School