Michelle Anne O'Byrne (born 6 March 1968) is Australian politician for the Australian Labor Party. She was elected in the 2006 state election to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the division of Bass. Prior to her election to state parliament she was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1998 to 2004, representing the Division of Bass. Until the defeat of the Labor government in the 2014 state election, she served in the Tasmanian cabinet as Minister for Health, Children and Sport & Recreation. She served in cabinet with her brother David O'Byrne, one of a very few pairs of siblings to have served in cabinet together anywhere in the world. O'Byrne was born in Launceston, Tasmania, a grand-niece of a former Labor senator and President of the Senate,

Justin O'Byrne Justin Hilary O'Byrne, AO (1 June 1912 – 10 November 1993) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania from 1947 to 1981, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He was President of the Senate from 1974 to 1 ...

. She graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1992, with a Bachelor of Arts in

General Studies General Studies is a multidisciplinary subject offered at different levels of education. Its scope varies by country. North America Some North American universities offer the Bachelor of General Studies degree. England, Wales and Northern Ireland ...

. She was an organiser for the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, and electorate officer to

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 ...

Kerry O'Brien before entering politics. She won the federal seat of Bass in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, and again in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, but was defeated by her Liberal opponent Michael Ferguson in the 2004 election. Many put this down to concern about loss of forestry jobs under Labor's environment policy, which had the potential to adversely affect O'Byrne's electorate. After more than a year out of politics, O'Byrne ran as a Labor candidate in the 2006 state election and was easily elected for the state seat of Bass, which covers the same territory as the federal seat. She topped the poll in the five-member electorate, receiving 23.3% of first preferences, helping ensure that Bass was the only seat to record a swing to Labor. Prior to the 2010 election, O'Byrne was Minister for Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts, Minister for Tourism and Minister for Sport and Recreation in the Bartlett government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obyrne, Michelle 1968 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania Labor Left politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bass Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Australian trade unionists University of Tasmania alumni 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly 20th-century Australian women politicians Women deputy opposition leaders