Gerardine Mary "Ged" Kearney (born 29 October 1963) is an Australian politician and trade unionist. She has been a member of 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 March 2018, representing the

Division of Batman The Division of Batman was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It took its name from John Batman, one of the founders of the city of Melbourne. The division was created in 1906, replacing the Division of Northern Melbourn ...

and later the

Division of Cooper The Division of Cooper is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It takes in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. The division was contested for the first time at the 2019 federal election, with Ged Kearney of the Australian ...

for the Labor Party. She was previously president of the

Australian Council of Trade Unions The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), originally the Australasian Council of Trade Unions, is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and eight trades and l ...

(ACTU) from 2010 to 2018.

Early life

Kearney was born in Richmond, Melbourne, Victoria, as the second-youngest of nine children. Her father was a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

lican. She began to study for a

Bachelor of Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; th ...

degree at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university h ...

, but dropped out to pursue a nursing career. She qualified as a registered nurse in 1985 and participated in the nurses' strike in 1986. She also gained a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order fo ...

, and worked as a nurse and nurse educator, including a period managing clinical nurse education at Austin Health. Kearney has four children.

Union movement

Kearney was elected as an official of the

Australian Nursing Federation The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) is the largest union in Australia, with 274,956 members in 2018. The union is run by nurses, midwives and assistants in nursing to advance the industrial, political and professional intere ...

in 1997. She served as Assistant Federal Secretary, Federal President and Victorian Branch President, before being appointed Federal Secretary of the Federation in April 2008. Following the departure of

Sharan Burrow Sharan Leslie Burrow (born 12 December 1954) was the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) (2010-2022) and a former president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) (2000–2010). She was the first wom ...

, Kearney was elected President of the

from 1 July 2010.

Politics

In May 2013, Kearney indicated she was considering nominating for Labor

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 ...

for the

at the 2013 federal election. The seat was to become vacant following the retirement of Martin Ferguson. However, a short time later she announced that she would not run. In 2017, Kearney announced she would seek preselection for the state seat of Brunswick, after the decision by the sitting member

Jane Garrett Jane Furneaux Garrett (16 March 1973 – 2 July 2022) was an Australian politician. She was the Labor Party member for Brunswick in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2010 until 2018, when she transferred to the Victorian Legislative Cou ...

to try to move to a safe seat in the Legislative Council. Garrett's bid was unsuccessful. In February 2018, following the resignation of

David Feeney David Ian Feeney (born 5 March 1970) is a former Australian politician. He was the Labor member for the division of Batman in the House of Representatives from 7 September 2013 to 1 February 2018. Before that, he was a member of the Australian ...

from the seat of Batman, Kearney was selected by the ALP to contest the resulting by-election. She won the by-election on 17 March 2018 and was declared elected on Wednesday 21 March 2018. Kearney used her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

to advocate for a "humane refugee policy" in Australia. In 2019, Kearney was elected to the new

on a substantially increased two party preferred margin. The post-redistribution boundaries of the Division of Cooper are almost identical to the former Division of Batman. Following the 2019 federal election, newly-elected Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese appointed Kearney to his Shadow Ministry as Shadow Assistant Minister for Skills and Shadow Assistant Minister for Aged Care. Following a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle in 2021, Kearney was appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing. Kearney was re-elected at the 2022 federal election, and was subsequently appointed Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Ged 1963 births Living people Australian nurses Trade unionists from Melbourne Australian women nurses Labor Left politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Batman Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Cooper Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Monash University alumni Australian people of Irish descent