Jennifer Ruth Howard (born 12 July 1965) is an Australian politician. She has been the

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

member for

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

in the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

since 2015. Jennifer has been active in community groups such as

Zonta International Zonta International is an international service organization with the mission of advancing the status of women. Alan Axelrod, ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders'', New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1997, p. 271. ...

, school P&Cs, sporting club committees, and other community groups. In 2005, Jennifer played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Ipswich Women's Development Network, a not-for-profit organisation that helps empower women in Ipswich.

Political career

2015 State Election

Howard defeated Ian Berry at the 2015 Queensland state election by a margin of 65.9% to 34.1%, achieving a two party preferred swing of 20.09%.

2017 State Election

The main contenders for the seat of Ipswich at the 2017 Queensland state election were Howard (as the incumbent) and the recently dismissed One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts. The results on polling day were clear as the former Senator was comfortably defeated by Howard, with a margin of 60.89% to 39.11%.

2020 State Election

This election saw Howard's primary vote increase to 51.8% (3.82% swing) bringing her total vote to 66.5% beating her LNP opponent Scott O'Connell at 33.5%. This was a part of a trend seen across all of Queensland in the 2020 election supporting

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , Polish: Annastacia Pałaszczuk, ; born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who has been the 39th premier of Queensland since 2015 and the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) since ...

leadership during the COVID pandemic.

Parliamentary Positions

Howard currently serves as the Assistant Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Assistant Minister of State, having been appointed following the 2017 State Election. She has previously served as the Assistant Minister of State Assisting the Premier from 11 November 2016 to 11 December 2017, Assistant Minister for Local Government from 8 December 2015 to 11 November 2016. She also served as Chair of the Agriculture and Environment Committee from 27 March 2015 to 18 February 2016. She became Chair of the Ethics Committee after the 2020 election.

References

1965 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-Labor-Queensland-MP-stub