Karen Jane McNamara (born 23 April 1964) is an Australian politician. She was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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 of the ...

from 2013 to 2016, representing the

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 ...

electorate of Dobell. She lost her seat at the 2016 election. She was replaced by Emma McBride who recorded a 7.6% swing to Labor.

Career

McNamara is a former New South Wales

public servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

, serving in senior roles for over 20 years. McNamara managed the electoral campaign of

Darren Webber Darren James Webber (born 29 June 1981), an Australian politician, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Wyong on the Central Coast for the Liberal Party from the 2011 New South Wales state election until 19 Fe ...

for the electorate of Wyong at the

2011 New South Wales state election Elections to the 55th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year-incumbent Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal–National Coalition opposition ...

. In 2013 Webber was forced to resign from the Liberal Party, due to irregularities in his electoral fundraising creating corruption concerns. At the

2013 Australian federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party of Aus ...

, McNamara won the Central Coast seat of

Dobell Dobell is a surname. Notable people with the surname include * Bertram Dobell (1842–1914), English bookseller, literary scholar, editor and author * Charles Macpherson Dobell (1869–1954), Canadian soldier *Clifford Dobell (1886–1949), British ...

, ousting sitting member,

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 ...

Craig Thomson, and narrowly defeating

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 labour ...

candidate Emma McBride. At the 2016 election, McBride, the daughter of former state MP

Grant McBride Grant Anthony McBride (29 December 1949 – 12 February 2018) was an Australian politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of The Entrance on the New South Wales Central Coast for the ...

, turned the tables, defeating McNamara after achieving a swing of over four percent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Karen 1964 births Living people People from Falkirk Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Dobell Members of the Australian House of Representatives Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians