Joanne Lesley Palmer (née Dick, formerly Cornish; born 10 April 1971) is an Australian politician and former television journalist and newsreader. Palmer was born in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, and moved to Tasmania as a baby after being adopted by an Australian family. Originally employed by the station in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, she is a former Miss Tasmania and in 1993 she was awarded

Miss Australia Miss Australia was the title for the winner of the Miss Australia Quest or the Miss Australia Awards, which ran from 1954 until 2000, when the last Miss Australia was named. From 2002, the Miss World Australia contest has been held, and the Miss ...

. She presented the hour-long Nightly News on 7 Tasmania, until leaving 7 Tasmania after 18 years to spend more time with her family. Palmer was elected to the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two chambers of the Parliament, the other being the House of Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in the state capital, H ...

for the division of Rosevears at the 2020 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election, representing the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. In April 2022, Palmer 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 ...

and was appointed as Minister for Primary Industries and Water, Minister for Disability Services and Minister for Women.

References

External links

Tasmanian Parliament profile
1971 births Living people Australian television newsreaders and news presenters Tasmanian newsreaders and news presenters Politicians from Launceston, Tasmania Australian beauty pageant winners Australian women television journalists Members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Women members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council New Zealand emigrants to Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-tv-bio-stub