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Christine Anne Milne (; born 14 May 1953) is an Australian politician who served as 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
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
. She was the leader of the parliamentary caucus of the
Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and t ...
from 2012 to 2015. Milne stepped down as leader on 6 May 2015, replaced by
Richard Di Natale Richard Luigi Di Natale (born 6 June 1970) is a former Australian politician who was a senator for Victoria. He was also the leader of the Australian Greens from 2015 to 2020. Di Natale was elected to the Senate in the 2010 federal election. A ...
.


Early life and education

Milne was born in
Latrobe, Tasmania Latrobe is a town in northern Tasmania, Australia on the Mersey River. It is 8 km south-east of Devonport on the Bass Highway. It is the main centre of the Latrobe Council. At the 2006 census, Latrobe had a population of 2,843. By t ...
, the second daughter of Wesley Vale dairy farmers Tom and June Morris. She attended Wesley Vale Area School from 1959 to 1963,
St Mary's College, Hobart St Mary's College is a Kinder to Year 12 Catholic, day school for girls (and boys to Year 2), located on the northern city fringe of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Although predominantly a girls’ school, St Mary's accepts both boys and girls ...
as a boarder from 1964 to 1969, and completed her final year of schooling at
Devonport High School Devonport High School is a government co-educational comprehensive junior secondary school located in , Tasmania, Australia. The school caters for approximately 500 students from Years 7 to 12. The school is administered by the Tasmanian Dep ...
in 1970. She studied history and political science at the
University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...
from 1971 to 1974, where she resided at Ena Waite University College and was elected its President. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in Australian History, and a Certificate of Education in March 1975. From 1975 to 1984 Milne worked as a secondary school teacher, teaching English, History and Social Science at Parklands High School,
Devonport High School Devonport High School is a government co-educational comprehensive junior secondary school located in , Tasmania, Australia. The school caters for approximately 500 students from Years 7 to 12. The school is administered by the Tasmanian Dep ...
and Don College. She first came to public attention for her role in opposing the building of the
Wesley Vale pulp mill The Wesley Vale pulp mill was a planned kraft process pulp mill, to be built near Wesley Vale and Devonport Airport in northern Tasmania in the late 1980s. The claim that waste would have been generated by the mill and present a threat to Tasmania ...
near
Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island states and territories of Australia, state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Bo ...
in North Western Tasmania on the basis of its environmental impact. She also participated in the ultimately successful campaign opposing the
Franklin Dam The Franklin Dam or Gordon-below-Franklin Dam project was a proposed dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, that was never constructed. The movement that eventually led to the project's cancellation became one of the most significant ...
and was arrested and jailed in 1983. She worked as a research officer with the Australian Bicentennial Historical Records Search from 1987 to 1988.


Political career

Milne was first elected to the
Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...
in 1989 as a member of the
Tasmanian Greens The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign. They form a part of the Australian Greens. The party ...
in the electorate of
Lyons Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
, one of five Green politicians elected at that election. She was part of the
Labor–Green Accord The Labor–Green Accord was a 1989 political agreement between the Labor Party and the Tasmanian Greens (then called the Green Independents) to form government in the Australian state of Tasmania after the 1989 general election had resulted i ...
, a political agreement between the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Tasmanian Greens to form government after the 1989 general election had resulted in a
hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...
. When
Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasma ...
stood down in 1993 to contest the federal election, she became leader of the Greens in the Tasmanian Parliament and the first female leader of a political party in Tasmania. She oversaw a loose alliance between the Greens and Labor after the 1996 general election. During that time, Tasmania saw significant economic and social reform. Measures included gun law reform, liberalisation of gay laws, an apology to the Indigenous stolen generation and support for an Australian republic. In 1998, the major parties voted to restructure the House of Assembly from 35 to 25 seats, increasing the quota of votes required to be elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. Liberal Premier Tony Rundle immediately called an election, which his party subsequently lost. Due to the changes, Milne lost her seat, leaving the Greens with one remaining seat. After her career in state politics, Milne was an adviser to Senator
Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasma ...
from 2000 until she was elected to represent Tasmania in the Federal
Senate 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 ...
at the 2004 federal election. Preferences to Family First from 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 ...
almost prevented her from being elected; however, she managed to reach a quota mostly as a result of the high level of below-the-line voting in Tasmania. The other Green elected at that election was Rachel Siewert from Western Australia. Milne was part of Bob Brown's frontbench covering the portfolios of Arts, Climate change, Competition Policy & Small Business, Finance & Administration, Food Security, Regional Australia, Resources & Energy, and Trade. Milne was Vice-President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, also known as the
World Conservation Union The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...
) from 2005 to 2008. She became Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens on 10 November 2008. In 2009, Milne debated the shortcomings of Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 in the federal parliament. On 13 April 2012, Milne became the leader of the Australian Greens after the resignation of Bob Brown. She reorganised the Green's front bench. On 6 May 2015, Milne announced her immediate resignation from the leadership of the Australian Greens, and foreshadowed her departure from the Senate.Christine Milne announces her resignation and leaves the Senate
– Retrieved 6 May 2015.
Milne resigned from the Senate on 10 August 2015.


References


External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, Christine 1953 births Living people Australian environmentalists Australian women environmentalists Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Tasmania Australian republicans Australian schoolteachers Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians LGBT rights activists from Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly People from Latrobe, Tasmania Women members of the Australian Senate University of Tasmania alumni Leaders of the Australian Greens 20th-century Australian women politicians 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Officers of the Order of Australia Women civil rights activists