Emma Husar (born 20 April 1980
) is a former
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 ...
(ALP) member of the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members o ...
for the
Division of Lindsay
The Division of Lindsay is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
Ever since Lindsay was first contested at the 1984 federal election the seat had always elected a member of the government of the day − a pattern ...
, which she represented from 2016 to 2019. During an internal investigation and media reports regarding staff complaints, Husar decided not to recontest her seat and was disendorsed by the ALP in due course.
Early life and education
Husar was born at
Nepean Hospital
Nepean Hospital is a 520-bed teaching hospital and regional trauma centre, providing tertiary referral services for the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District. Nepean Hospital is located at the base of the Blue Mountains in Kingswood, New So ...
in
Kingswood,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, in the local government area of the
City of Penrith
The City of Penrith is a local government area in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The seat of the city is located in Penrith, located about west of Sydney's central business district. It occupies part of the traditional lands of the ...
.
She attended
Caroline Chisholm College and
Southport TAFE prior to enrolment at
Western Sydney University
Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network ...
in a Bachelor of Primary Teaching degree.
Political career
Husar worked in the retail and service sectors. She joined the Labor Party in 2013
and became president of the Penrith Branch (ALP) in 2015.
Husar was unsuccessful as the ALP candidate for the seat of
Penrith in the
2015 New South Wales state election
A general election for the 56th Parliament of New South Wales (NSW) was held on Saturday 28 March 2015. Members were elected to all 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly using optional preferential voting. Members were also elected to 21 of ...
, but won the seat of
Lindsay by defeating the sitting Liberal MP
Fiona Scott in the
2016 federal election with a
swing of 4.1 percent. Lindsay was regarded as a key marginal seat. During her term in office, Husar sat on parliamentary committees for the National Disability Insurance Scheme; Employment, Education and Training; and Social Policy and Legal Affairs.
Internal assessment
In July 2018, it was reported that Husar had been the subject of an internal assessment commissioned by the NSW Labor Party since March regarding staff complaints of
workplace bullying
Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes either physical or emotional harm.
It can include such tactics as verbal, nonverbal, psychological, and physical abuse, as well as humiliation. ...
and misconduct. Husar denied the allegations and took personal leave shortly afterwards, citing threats of violence directed towards her. The investigation upheld complaints that Husar had behaved offensively and unreasonably towards her staff. Separately, claims of lewd conduct and misleading the parliament were rejected. Legal advice based on this assessment prompted the NSW Labor Party to report that there was no basis for Husar to resign from parliament.
Endorsement
Husar had already been re-endorsed as the party's candidate at the
2019 election, but announced on 8 August 2018 (two days before investigation findings were made public) she would not recontest her marginal seat. Labor accepted her decision. In an interview, Husar said "
slut shaming
Slut-shaming is the practice of criticizing people, especially women and girls, who are perceived to violate expectations of behavior and appearance regarding issues related to sexuality. The term is used to reclaim the word ''slut'' and empower ...
" led to her decision to resign.
In November 2018, Husar said she had changed her mind and disputed that she had ever ceased to be endorsed as the Labor candidate. Husar sought intervention by Labor leader
Bill Shorten
William Richard Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician currently serving as Minister for Government Services and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme since 2022. He previously served as leader of the opposition ...
, who stated that it was not in the best interests of the ALP or Husar for her to recontest the seat. On 7 December 2018, NSW Labor formally disendorsed Husar from recontesting the seat of Lindsay.
She subsequently stated that she would challenge the disendorsement.
On 11 December, Labor officially selected
Diane Beamer
Diane Beamer (born 15 July 1960) is an Australian politician. As an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, she represented the state electorates of Badgerys Creek (1995–1999) and Mulgoa (1999–201 ...
. Apparently, Husar did not nominate for the ALP preselection ballot. On 11 April, she confirmed that she would not contest the seat 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 ...
at the 2019 federal election.
In May 2021, Husar reportedly threatened legal action against the ALP for sexual harassment.
Defamation proceedings
In early December 2018, Husar announced that she had launched
defamation proceedings in the
Federal Court of Australia against
BuzzFeed, the originator of the investigation-story, and a journalist. Husar claimed that the publication of unsubstantiated allegations without the right of reply had led to a media storm which ruined her career, thus causing economic loss. In July 2019, Husar and Buzzfeed reached an out-of-court settlement. Buzzfeed subsequently published an apology but avoided admitting liability over the article, instead they did agree to taking it offline.
Expenses breaches
In March 2019, ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'' reported that Husar had repaid $2300 to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority after an audit found that there had been twenty-one individual breaches of travel expenses in an eighteen-month period. Husar explained that approximately ten per cent of the total was related to knee surgery and pneumonia in August 2016.
Personal life
Husar is of Polish descent. She has three children and is single.
In a November 2016 parliamentary speech, Husar revealed that she grew up in a family with a history of domestic violence perpetrated by her father.
She reportedly moved to Western Australia after leaving politics. In November 2020, Husar stated that she had not worked since she left parliament.
In 2021, she appeared on the
reality TV show ''
SAS Australia'' and was reportedly paid $25,000. Husar said that "It felt like a way of overcoming the issues I faced in 2018 at the end of my Parliamentary career and ‘prove to Australia’ that I am not what I was accused of." Husar left the show when she realised that a calf injury was going to hold her back in physical challenges.
References
External links
February 2020 radio interview with Husaron
2GB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Husar, Emma
1980 births
Living people
Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia
Politicians from Sydney
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Lindsay
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Women members of the Australian House of Representatives
21st-century Australian politicians
21st-century Australian women politicians
Western Sydney University alumni