Kristie Joy Johnston (born 22 December 1980) is an Australian politician. She was elected as the Mayor of

City of Glenorchy Glenorchy City Council (or City of Glenorchy) is a local government body in Tasmania, and one of the five municipalities that constitutes the Greater Hobart Area. The Glenorchy local government area has a population of 47,636, covering the sub ...

in 2014 and 2018 and is an Independent member for the seat of

Division of Clark The Division of Clark is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Tasmania, first contested at the 2019 federal election. Geography Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are determined at redistributions by a redistribut ...

, having been elected in the

2021 Tasmanian state election The 2021 Tasmanian state election was held on 1 May 2021 to elect all 25 members to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia (Tasmanian Division), Liberal First Gutwein Ministry, government, led by Premier of Tasm ...

Political career

Johnston was first elected in 2014 as the mayor of the

, winning 59% of the vote against incumbent mayor Stuart Slade. In 2015, Johnston claimed that the city council had breached regulations by voting on making 16 employees redundant without her presence. Federal independent MP for the

Division of Denison The Division of Denison was an Australian electoral division in Tasmania, before being replaced by the Division of Clark as part of a 2016–17 redistribution. History The division was one of the five established when the former Division of ...

Andrew Wilkie Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Clark. Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Australian Army., Australian Parliament House Biographies; 19 Augu ...

, who endorsed Johnston for mayor, criticised this as "puerile behaviour", saying that some aldermen were "sore losers" and trying to create an impression of chaos under Johnston's mayoralty. She was re-elected in 2018 as mayor, winning 86.4% of the vote. In a press release on 27 February 2021, Johnston announced she would run for the seat of

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

in the next Tasmanian state election. A snap election was ultimately called a month later, with the election date set for 1 May 2021. After the counting of final preferences, Johnston won the final seat in Clark with 11% of the primary vote. Johnston's win was the first time an independent candidate had won a seat in the House of Assembly since

Bruce Goodluck Bruce John Goodluck (14 May 1933 – 24 October 2016) was an Australian politician in both the federal and Tasmanian state parliaments. Born in Hobart, Tasmania, he was a company director before serving on Clarence Municipal Council from 197 ...

in 1996. In March 2022 Johnston said of the Tasmanian Integrity Commission, that there is "snowball's chance in hell that this government will move to reform and strengthen the Integrity Commission in Tasmania".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Kristie Independent members of the Parliament of Tasmania Living people Tasmanian local councillors University of Tasmania alumni Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Mayors of places in Tasmania 1980 births Women local councillors in Australia Women mayors of places in Tasmania