Madeleine Mary Harvie King (née Morris; born 31 March 1973) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

(ALP) and has been Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia in the Albanese government since June 2022. She has represented the

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 ...

n seat of

Brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

since 2016. She worked as a lawyer and political adviser before entering politics.

Early life

King was born on 31 March 1973 in

Calista, Western Australia Calista is a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Kwinana. Calista is one of the Kwinana suburbs named after a ship. ''Calista'' was one of the first ships to bring settlers to the Swan River Colony The Swa ...

. She is the youngest of five children born to Diana Eve Pizer and John Harvie Morris. Her father was born in England and served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, moving to Australia to work at the

Kwinana Oil Refinery Kwinana Oil Refinery was sited on the shore of Cockburn Sound at Kwinana, near Fremantle, Western Australia. Built by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and completed in 1955, it was the largest oil refinery in Australia, with a capacity of . It was ...

. Her mother owned a drapery shop in Rockingham. King grew up in the suburb of Shoalwater, attending Safety Bay Primary School, Rockingham Beach Primary School, and

Safety Bay Senior High School Safety Bay Senior High School is a Public school (government funded), public Mixed-sex education, co-educational Secondary education#Australia, high day school, located in the southern Perth suburb of Safety Bay, Western Australia, on Malibu Ro ...

. She started an arts degree at 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 ...

(UWA), but subsequently moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to study aerospace engineering at

RMIT University RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city ...

. She returned to Perth after a year and 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 Chi ...

at UWA. King worked as a commercial lawyer in private practice from 1997 to 2005, working in England for a period following her marriage. She then joined UWA's legal department as a research contracts lawyer (2005–2008), later working as chief of staff to the vice-chancellor Alan Robson (2008–2011) and principal advisor of strategic projects (2012–2013). She oversaw the university's centenary celebrations in 2013. Immediately prior to entering parliament she was the chief operating officer of the Perth USAsia Centre, a think tank based at UWA.

Politics

King was a ministerial adviser to federal Labor MP Gary Gray from 2011 to 2012, and also advised WA federal government ministers Stephen Smith and Chris Evans during the

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011 The 2011 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, commonly known as CHOGM 2011, was the 22nd Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. Held in Perth, Western Australia, between 28 and 30 October 2011 and hosted by the P ...

in Perth. In March 2016, King won ALP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presele ...

unopposed for the Division of Brand, following Gray's retirement. She retained the seat for the ALP at the 2016 federal election, increasing the swing to Labor from a nominal 3.7 points to 7.7 points, making Brand one of Labor's safest federal seats in Western Australia. She is a member of the

Labor Right The Labor Right, also known as Modern Labor, is a political faction of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) at the national level that is characterised by being more economically conservative and, in some cases, more socially conservative. The Labor ...

faction. In June 2018, King was selected to fill a vacant place on the opposition frontbench, replacing

Tim Hammond Timothy Jerome Hammond (born 25 March 1975) is a former Australian politician. He was the member for Perth in the Australian House of Representatives. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party and succeeded the previous member, Alannah MacTie ...

. She was given the consumer affairs portfolio and also made an assistant minister in the small business and resources portfolios. After the 2019 election she was appointed Shadow Minister for Trade and Shadow Minister for Resources. In March 2021, King stated that the ALP would oppose a moratorium on new coal mines and that "so long as international markets want to buy Australian coal, which is high quality, then they will be able to". Following the ALP's victory at the 2022 election, King was appointed to cabinet as Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia in the Albanese government.

Personal life

King is married to Jamie King. She has represented Western Australia in Masters (older age)

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

. Her brother is actor John Morris who appeared on ''

Home & Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tri ...

'' and ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Madeleine 1973 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Brand Members of the Australian House of Representatives Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Labor Right politicians University of Western Australia alumni Australian people of English descent Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Australian women lawyers 20th-century Australian lawyers 21st-century Australian lawyers Albanese Government