Kaila Murnain is an Australian politician who was the first female General Secretary of NSW Labor.

Early life and education

Murnain was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, to parents Anne and Neil, and grew up in

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highw ...

in north western New South Wales. Murnain attended Narrabri Public School and Narrabri High School. Her mother, Anne Murnain, contested the federal seat of Gwydir for 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 ...

in 1998 and 2001. Murnain joined the Labor party herself when she was old enough, in 2000, and attended her first party conference at 15 years of age. She campaigned for Australia to become a republic. Murnain moved to Sydney to attend the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

to complete a Bachelor of Social Science. Murnain worked three jobs while studying. She is currently undertaking a Masters of Business Administration at the

Australian Graduate School of Management The Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM @ UNSW Business School) is a postgraduate management and business school that is part of the UNSW Business School at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), in Sydney, New South Wales, A ...

(UNSW). Murnain is married to Tom Hollywood, an Army Reservist and Labor staffer who has worked for NSW Labor MLC

Sophie Cotsis Sophie Cotsis (born 19 November 1973) is an Australian politician. She was a Labor member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 7 September 2010 to 16 September 2016, when she resigned in order to contest a by-election for the Legisl ...

Career

Murnain worked as an electorate officer for Michael Daley MP from 2005 to 2007. She served as a policy advisor for Ageing and Disability Services to

Kristina Keneally Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an American-born Australian politician who was a Labor Senator for New South Wales from February 2018 until April 2022, when she resigned to unsuccessfully contest the House of Repres ...

MP from 2007 to 2008. In 2008 Murnain began working at the NSW Labor Party head office as an organiser running campaigns in local, state and federal by-elections and general elections. With the support of the Australian Political Exchange Council, Murnain undertook an Individual Study Tour of the United States of America in 2012 and aided the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

campaign. In 2013 Murnain was appointed Assistant General Secretary of NSW Labor. In February 2016 Murnain was elected by ballot as the first female General Secretary of NSW Labor. Federal Opposition 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 ...

, backed Ms Murnain, then aged 29, stating that "She's not to be underestimated. She'll make a strong NSW General Secretary." In response to a report into the status of women within the NSW division of the Labor Party, Murnain stated that her goal as General Secretary is to achieve cultural reform and strengthen Labor's affirmative action rules. Murnain introduced the Party's first code of conduct and announced the introduction of compulsory ethics seminars for newly elected representatives. At the 2016 NSW Labor Conference delegates voted in affirmative action reforms such as a women's mentoring program and targets for women to have equal representation in all elected party positions, across all council, state and federal electorates, by 2027. In the lead up to the 2016 federal election, Murnain led a campaign strategy similar to Obama's "organising to win" campaign. Labor NSW won 24 of the available 47 seats, with half of NSW Labor seats held by women, meeting the party's affirmative action goal. Murnain resigned as General Secretary of NSW Labor on 17 October 2019. Murnain works as a casual academic in psychology at the University of England and as an Associate Partner, Communications at SEC Newgate in Sydney. https://www.smh.com.au/cbd/exiled-after-icac-probe-a-one-time-labor-chief-returns-to-the-fold-20230716-p5don4.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murnain, Kaila Year of birth missing (living people) Living people New South Wales politicians Australian trade unionists Australian republicans Australian women in politics University of New South Wales alumni