Meegan Fitzharris (born 1972) is a former Australian politician, who was a member of the

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...

for the Yerrabi electorate from October 2016 to July 2019, and before that, member for the electorate of Molonglo after she won a countback to fill the Legislative Assembly seat vacated by former

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

Katy Gallagher Katherine Ruth Gallagher (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Gover ...

, in January 2015.Labor staffer Meegan Fitzharris wins countback for ACT Legislative Assembly seat

ABC News Online ABC News, or ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting within Australia and the rest of the world, the service covers both local and world affairs. The division of ...

, 15 January 2015 She was the Minister for Transport and Municipal Services, Minister for Higher Education, Training and Research and Minister for Health until her resignation from politics in July 2019.

Life and career

Meegan Fitzharris was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, in 1972. She was educated at the

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

and the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters in International Development. Fitzharris moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1998. She has three children. She has New Zealand citizenship. Before commencing a political career, Fitzharris worked for

New South Wales Police The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

and the Attorney-General's Department.

Politics

Fitzharris was a Labor Party candidate in the

2012 Australian Capital Territory general election Elections to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly occurred on Saturday, 20 October 2012. The 11-year incumbent Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, won a fourth term over the main opposition Liberal Party, led by ...

. When she did not win a seat, she became the

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

and senior adviser for then Minister, later Chief Minister,

Andrew Barr Andrew James Barr (born 29 April 1973) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the 7th Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory since 2014. He has been an Australian Labor Party member in the ACT Legislative Assembly sin ...

. Chief Minister Katy Gallagher resigned from the Assembly on 23 December 2014 to pursue a seat in the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter ...

. Ahead of Gallagher's resignation, media speculation was that Fitzharris would be the most likely candidate to take Gallagher's Assembly seat. On 15 January 2015, ACT Electoral Commissioner Phil Green announced Fitzharris had been elected as the new member for Molonglo in the Legislative Assembly, after holding a

countback In various sports, a countback is used to break ties. Field events High jump and pole vault World Athletics, the international governing body for athletics, uses the following criteria to break ties (rule 26.8 in the 2020 edition of the World At ...

of the 2012 Legislative Assembly election. In January 2016, Fitzharris was appointed to the Barr ministry, taking on the transport, health and higher education portfolios and becoming one of ACT Labor's most senior frontbenchers. As transport minister, she oversaw the introduction of

light rail in Canberra The Canberra light rail network, also known as Canberra Metro, is a light rail system serving the city of Canberra, Australia. The initial line links the northern town centre of Gungahlin to the city centre (Civic) and has 14 stops. Services ...

, but also weathered complaints about the rollout of a new bus network in 2019. As health minister, she ordered an inquiry into allegations of bullying and misconduct at ACT Health. On 27 June 2019, Fitzharris announced she would resign from her cabinet roles on 1 July and would resign from politics for family reasons shortly after that. She resigned from the Legislative Assembly on 8 July, creating a casual vacancy which was filled by a countback.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzharris, Meegan 1972 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Australian public servants Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly University of Otago alumni University of Auckland alumni New Zealand emigrants to Australia Naturalised citizens of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Foreign born Australian politicians