Maria Kovacic () is an Australian politician. She is a Senator for New South Wales 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 ...

, succeeding

Jim Molan Major General Andrew James Molan, (born 11 April 1950) is an Australian politician and former major general in the Australian Army. He has been a Senator for New South Wales since November 2019, representing the Liberal Party. He was previously ...

after his death. She previously served as the President of the

New South Wales Liberal Party The New South Wales Liberal Party, officially called the Liberal Party of Australia, New South Wales Division, and colloquially known as the NSW Liberal Party, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in New South Wales. The party ...

Political career

2022 federal election

Kovacic was as the Liberal Party's candidate for the

marginal Marginal may refer to: * ''Marginal'' (album), the third album of the Belgian rock band Dead Man Ray, released in 2001 * ''Marginal'' (manga) * '' El Marginal'', Argentine TV series * Marginal seat or marginal constituency or marginal, in polit ...

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 ...

seat of

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

at the 2022 federal election, held by retiring MP

Julie Owens Julie Ann Owens (born 17 October 1958) is an Australian former politician who served as a member of the Australian House of Representatives for Parramatta from 2004 to 2022 , when she retired from politics. Early life Owens was born on 17 Octob ...

. Although the seat was considered a highly possible gain for the party (due to Owens' retirement and the fact that the state seat of

was Liberal-held at the time), she was unsuccessful and Labor's candidate

Andrew Charlton Andrew Charlton (born 1979) is an Australian politician and economist who has been Member of Parliament for the division of Parramatta since 2022. Charlton has been described as a "centrist, evidence-based, data-driven economist with entrepre ...

won the seat with an increased majority.

President of the New South Wales Division (2022–2023)

On 5 October 2022, Kovacic was elected President of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party.

Senate (2023–present)

Preselection

Following the death of Jim Molan in 2023, the Liberal Party needed to fill a

casual vacancy In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...

. The final two candidates, both from the party's

Moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...

faction, were Kovacic and

Andrew Constance Andrew James Constance (born 31 October 1973) is a former Australian politician and was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Bega for the Liberal Party between 2003 and December 2021. Constance served as the New S ...

, a former New South Wales Cabinet minister who served as the member for Bega in the Legislative Assembly until his resignation in 2021. Kovacic won the support of most Moderates, as well as most of the

Centre Right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and merc ...

faction. The

Right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

faction's only candidate was Jess Collins. The other candidates were James Brown, David Brady and

Fiona Scott Fiona Meryl Scott (born 1 March 1977) is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Lindsay in New South Wales from the 2013 election until the 2016 election. Ea ...

. According to Anthony Galloway writing for the ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'', Constance made a deal with sections of the Right faction whereby he, if elected, would resign after 18 months to run as the party's candidate for the seat of

Gilmore Gilmore or Gillmore may refer to: *Gilmore (surname) Places Australia *Gilmore, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Tuggeranong *Gilmore Avenue, a road in southern Perth, Western Australia *Division of Gilmore, an ...

at the next federal election for a second time, after he almost defeated the sitting

member (

Fiona Phillips Fiona Phillips (born 1 January 1961) is an English journalist, broadcaster and television presenter. She is best known for her presenting roles with the ITV Breakfast programme ''GMTV Today''. Early life Phillips was born in Canterbury Hospit ...

) at the 2022 federal election (bucking the national trend of swings against the

Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

). However, senior party sources found that many were unhappy with the idea of another resignation. Kovacic was endorsed by Senator

Andrew Bragg Andrew James Bragg (born 11 July 1984) is an Australian politician who was elected as a Senator for New South Wales at the 2019 federal election. He is a member of the Liberal Party. A member of several committees related to finance and technolo ...

and deputy leader

Sussan Ley Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who has been deputy leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. She has been member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales seat of Farrer since 2 ...

, while Constance was endorsed by former Liberal

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Gladys Berejiklian Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021. Berejiklian became a member ...

, Senator

Marise Payne Marise Ann Payne (born 29 July 1964) is an Australian politician who served in the Morrison Government as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2018 to 2022 and as Minister for Women from 2019 to 2022. She has been a Senator for New South Wales sin ...

and her partner, former state Cabinet minister

Stuart Ayres Stuart Laurence Ayres (born 24 November 1980) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 19 June 2010, representing the electorate of Penrith as a member of the Liberal Party. He also se ...

(who was the state member for Penrith until

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

). The vote was held at the Fullerton Hotel in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 27 May 2023. Kovacic was preselected, winning 287 votes to Constance's 243. Kovacic was appointed by a joint sitting of the

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

on 31 May 2023.

Personal life

Kovacic is of Croatian descent. Her parents migrated to Australia from

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, fleeing

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. Kovacic has strong ties to communities in

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, and far western sub-regions within Sydney's metropoli ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacic, Maria Living people Australian people of Croatian descent Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Year of birth missing (living people)