Michaelia Clare Cash (born 19 July 1970) is an Australian politician who served as the 38th

Attorney-General of Australia The Attorney-GeneralThe title is officially "Attorney-General". For the purposes of distinguishing the office from other attorneys-general, and in accordance with usual practice in the United Kingdom and other common law jurisdictions, the Aust ...

from 2021 to 2022 in the

Morrison Government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...

. She has been a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

since 2008 and is a member of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

. As well as being Attorney-General in the

Morrison government The Morrison government was the federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison government commenced on 24 August 2018, when it was sworn ...

, Cash also served as Minister for Industrial Relations from 2021 to 2022, and

Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business The Australian Minister for Small Business is The Honourable, the Hon Julie Collins MP. In the Australian Government, Government of Australia, the Minister administers their portfolio through the Treasury (Australia), Department of the Treasur ...

and Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education from 2018 to 2021. Previously, she served in the Turnbull government as the

Minister for Jobs and Innovation The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations is a position currently held by Tony Burke in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. In the Government of Australia, the minister admin ...

from 2017 to 2018 and

Minister for Employment , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

and Minister for Women from 2015 to 2017.

Early life

Cash was born on 19 July 1970 in

Subiaco, Western Australia Subiaco (known colloquially as Subi) is an inner-Western suburbs (Perth), western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. H ...

. She is one of four children born to Ursula Clare Yelland and Samuel Ernest "George" Cash. Her father, the owner of a construction company, was elected to state parliament in 1984 and served as

President of the Western Australian Legislative Council The President of the Western Australian Legislative Council, also known as the Presiding Officer of the Council, is the presiding officer of the Western Australian Legislative Council, the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia. The po ...

. Cash grew up in the

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

suburb of

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

. She was educated at Iona Presentation College, a Catholic school in

Mosman Park Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local gov ...

. Cash graduated from

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts with a triple major in public relations, politics, and journalism. She also holds an Honours Degree in Law from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

. After graduating from Curtin she spent three years backpacking overseas, travelling through Israel, Egypt and Turkey. Cash joined the Liberal Party in 1988. She was an executive member of the Curtin University Young Liberals from 1988 to 1990 and then the Western Australian Young Liberal Movement where she held numerous positions including State Vice-President. She was a long-time member of the Liberal Party of Western Australia's State Council and was the President of the Moore Division. She has also served on the Party's state executive. Prior to her political career, Cash was a solicitor with the law firm

Freehills Freehills was a commercial law firm operating in the Asia-Pacific region.Dun and BradstreeCompany360(database online), entry: Freehills Services Pty Ltd. Accessed 13 August 2011 It was known as one of the " Big Six" Australian law firms. In 20 ...

where she worked from 1999 to 2008. She practised in all areas of employment and industrial law including industrial relations, employee relations, occupational health and safety, equal opportunity, executive employment and

unfair dismissal In labour law, unfair dismissal is an act of employment termination made without good reason or contrary to the country's specific legislation. Situation per country Australia (See: '' unfair dismissal in Australia'') Australia has long-standing ...

Political career

Cash won preselection for the Liberal Party Senate ticket in 2007 and went on to be elected to the Federal Parliament at the 2007 federal election. She contested the election as the number three candidate of the Liberal Senate ticket in Western Australia. Since entering Federal Parliament Cash has served on many Senate Committees and was also a Temporary Chair of Committees between February and September 2010. In September 2010, while in opposition, Cash was promoted to the positions of Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Status of Women and the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration. At this time Cash was also appointed Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate. After the election of the Abbott Government in September 2013, Cash was sworn in as the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, as well as the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women. Following a leadership change that led to the formation of the Turnbull Government, Cash was sworn in on 21 September 2015 as the

, the Minister for Women, and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Public Service. In October 2017, the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 80,000 members. It has exerci ...

offices were raided by the Australian Federal Police, and media were tipped off prior to the event. Cash advised the Senate Estimates that a staffer of hers found out about the raid from "a media source" and then spread the word to more journalists, having previously denied to an Estimates hearing on the previous day that her office had any involvement. The staffer in question resigned. Cash was ordered to turn over documents in her department relating to the raid. Cash's legal fees for her response to a federal court subpoena were paid for through taxpayer funding. The raids were eventually held to be valid by the Full Federal Court in November 2020. In a December 2017 ministerial reshuffle, Cash was appointed to the new position of

. The employment portfolio was abolished, while

Kelly O'Dwyer Kelly Megan O'Dwyer (born 31 March 1977) is a former Australian politician. She served in the House of Representatives from 2009 to 2019, representing the Liberal Party, and held senior ministerial office from 2015 to 2019. O'Dwyer was a solic ...

assumed responsibility for both the Women and Public Service portfolios. Cash has been criticised for refusing to release a report into an 18-year-old who died while on a

Work for the Dole Work for the Dole is an Australian Government program that is a form of workfare, or work-based welfare. It was first permanently enacted in 1998, having been trialled in 1997. It is one means by which job seekers can satisfy the "mutual obligat ...

assignment in April 2016. At the time, Cash promised to release the report within a month, as of April 2018 the final report was not completed, and an internal report to Cash completed in September 2016 had not been released. Cash offered her resignation from the frontbench on 22 August 2018, during the events of the

Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill, 2018 Leadership spills of the Federalism, federal parliamentary leadership of the Liberal Party of Australia were held on 21 and 24 August 2018 and were called by the incumbent leader of the party, Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm ...

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

replaced

Turnbull Turnbull may refer to: People *See Turnbull (surname) *Malcolm Turnbull, former Prime Minister of Australia Places *Turnbull High School in Bishopbriggs, Scotland *Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, located near Spokane, Washington, USA *Turnbull ...

as Prime Minister two days later on 24 August 2018. Cash was then appointed the Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Education in the First Morrison Ministry. In the Second Morrison Ministry, Cash was appointed the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business in May 2019. In October 2020, she was additionally appointed the Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate. On 29 March 2021, it was announced that Cash would be appointed as Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations in a cabinet reshuffle replacing

Christian Porter Charles Christian Porter (born 11 July 1970) is an Australian former politician and lawyer who served as the 37th Attorney-General of Australia from 2017 to 2021 in the Turnbull government and the subsequent Morrison government. He was a Mem ...

. She was sworn in the following day. Cash is a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party.

Personal life

Cash is married to Richard Price, a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

. They met while working together at the same law firm. Price is the brother of late political journalist

Matt Price Matt Price (15 October 1961 – 25 November 2007) was an Australian journalist and newspaper columnist. Price was from Western Australia and was educated at Newman College, Churchlands and the University of Western Australia, from which ...

. Cash was diagnosed with

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...

at the age of 25, which progressed into

psoriatic arthritis Psoriatic arthritis is a long-term inflammatory arthritis that occurs in people affected by the autoimmune disease psoriasis. The classic feature of psoriatic arthritis is swelling of entire fingers and toes with a sausage-like appearance. Thi ...

and

ankylosing spondylitis Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a type of arthritis characterized by long-term inflammation of the joints of the spine typically where the spine joins the pelvis. Occasionally areas affected may include other joints such as the shoulders or hip ...

. She was unable to have children due to the associated medication, and "also never wanted to risk passing on a chronic illness to another person".

Notes

References

External links

Senator Cash's first speech

Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Michaelia Cash on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cash, Michaelia 1970 births Living people 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Abbott Government Alumni of the University of London Curtin University alumni Female justice ministers Government ministers of Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Members of the Cabinet of Australia Morrison Government Turnbull Government University of Western Australia alumni Women government ministers of Australia Women members of the Australian Senate