Meaghan Alana Jenkins Scanlon is an Australian politician and lawyer. She has been the

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 la ...

member for Gaven in the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

since 2017 and is currently serving as the Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef and Minister for Science and Youth Affairs.

Early life

Scanlon was born on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

and grew up in the suburb of

Nerang Nerang is a town and suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Nerang had a population of 16,864 people. Geography The Nerang River flows through the locality from south to east, passing through the town. The river u ...

. Her father migrated from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

with his family at an early age, and her mother is from Moe,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. During her school years, she attended Guardian Angels Primary School and Aquinas College. At the age of 13, she tragically lost her father to melanoma and began helping her mother care for her brother, who has

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

. Following her graduation from high school, Scanlon completed a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

at the Gold Coast campus of

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

, and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

. She briefly worked in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

before deciding to pursue a career in politics at the age of 23.

Political career

Scanlon ran as the

candidate for the seat of Fadden in the 2016 Australian federal election but was defeated by

Stuart Robert Stuart Rowland Robert (born 11 December 1970) is an Australian Liberal Party politician who served as Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business from 2021 to 2022, following his appointment as Minister for Governmen ...

. She then turned her attention to the

2017 Queensland state election The 2017 Queensland state election was held on 25 November 2017 to elect all 93 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the unicameral Parliament of Queensland. The first-term incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Annastacia ...

where she ran for the central Gold Coast seat of Gaven and defeated Sid Cramp to become, at the age of 24, the youngest female elected to the

Queensland Parliament The Parliament of Queensland is the legislature of Queensland, Australia. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the Monarch of Australia and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral st ...

. She served as the Assistant Minister for Tourism Industry Development, and was considered by some to be the unofficial minister for the Gold Coast at the time, due to Gaven having been the only Gold Coast-based seat held by the Queensland Labor Government. Following the Queensland Labor Government's win at the

2020 Queensland state election The 2020 Queensland state election was held on 31 October to elect all 93 members to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The Labor Party was returned to government for a third-term, led by incumbent premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. With 47 ...

, with Scanlon again winning the seat of Gaven, she was appointed to the Labor government's third-term cabinet as Minister for the Environment, the Great Barrier Reef, Science and Youth Affairs.

Personal life

In September 2018, Scanlon and fellow MP Mark Bailey confirmed that they had been in a relationship since 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scanlon, Meaghan Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland Labor Left politicians Griffith University alumni Women members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1993 births 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian people of English descent