Susan Lamb (born 23 March 1972) is an Australian politician. She was the member for the

Division of Longman The Division of Longman is an Australian electoral division in Queensland. History The division was first proclaimed in 1994. The division is named after Irene Longman, the first female member of the Parliament of Queensland and the third wo ...

originally elected at the 2016 election on 2 July 2016 until her resignation on 10 May 2018 as a part of the

2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis Starting in July 2017, the eligibility of several members of the Parliament of Australia was questioned. Referred to by some as a "constitutional crisis", fifteen sitting politicians were ruled ineligible by the High Court of Australia (sit ...

. She regained the seat on 28 July as one of five candidates to contest seats in the Super Saturday by-elections. She went to lose her seat at the 2019 election, due to the swing against Labor in Queensland.

Life

Born in

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

, Lamb was a teacher aide, then a lead organiser with

United Voice United Voice was a large Australian trade union, with over 130,000 members. United Voice members worked in a wide range of occupations including hospitality, childcare, teachers' aides, aged care, property services (cleaning, security, maintenan ...

from 2012. Lamb defeated the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other ...

's Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy in the

2016 Australian federal election The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It ...

. The LNP had expected to retain the seat located in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

's northern suburbs only to lose by a small margin of 0.79 points.Election guide
ABC. Retrieved July 2016 Lamb was implicated in the

as she was alleged to be a British citizen by descent through her deceased father, who was born in Scotland. She had attempted to renounce her British citizenship before nominating for election in 2016. However, her renunciation form was refused by UK authorities because they were not satisfied that she was, in fact, a British citizen and requested additional documents as evidence. Lamb claimed to have fulfilled all the requirements of section 44(i) as she believed she had taken all reasonable steps to renounce her citizenship – if it were the case that she was a British citizen – as she was unable to provide any further documents; she said she was "estranged" from her mother and that her father had died. On 7 February 2018, she gave a longer description of her life story in a speech to the House of Representatives. The British government asked for her British passport (she had never held one) and her parents' marriage certificate. She claimed her mother left the family when she was six years old and she had had no relationship with her mother because her father had died. However, Lamb's mother and stepmother later contradicted her version of the story. It was revealed that Lamb and her mother had maintained contact at least until 2014 and that her mother had helped organise her wedding. The government stated that it believed that her situation should be referred to the High Court for a decision on her eligibility. On 9 May 2018, Lamb announced her resignation from the House of Representatives following the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

ruling that Senator

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 ...

was ineligible to contest the 2016 election. On 15 May, the Labor Party released documentation from the UK Home Office confirming that Lamb's citizenship had been renounced the previous day, clearing her to nominate as a candidate for the Longman by-election. She was re-elected at the by-election held on 28 July. Her victory in the by-election has been cited for the downfall almost a month later of Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Susan 1972 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian people of Scottish descent Australian women trade unionists Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Longman People from Mackay, Queensland Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians