Helen Beatrice Polley (born 9 February 1957) is an Australian politician who is an
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 ...
member of 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 ...
, representing the state of
Tasmania
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, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
since 1 July 2005.
Early life and education
Born in
Ulverstone, Tasmania
Ulverstone is a town on the northern coast of Tasmania, Australia on the mouth of the River Leven (Tasmania), River Leven, on Bass Strait. It is on the Bass Highway (Tasmania), Bass Highway, west of Devonport, Tasmania, Devonport and east of ...
, Polley is the daughter of Michael and Eileen Polley, and the sister of
Michael Polley
Michael Robert Polley (born 4 November 1949 in Westbury, Tasmania) is a Labor Party politician and former member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly in the Division of Lyons. First elected in 1972 at age 22 he was the longest-serving member of ...
, former
Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
The Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly is the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of Tasmania. The role of Speaker has traditionally been a partisan office, filled by the governing party of the time.
Speakers of the Ta ...
Polley spent time working as an adviser to Senator Terry Aulich from 1984 to 1992, Premier Michael Field from 1992 to 1995, Senator Shayne Murphy from 1995 to 1998, and Premiers
Jim Bacon James or Jim Bacon may refer to:
*Jim Bacon (politician) (James Alexander Bacon, 1950–2004), Premier of Tasmania, 1998–2004
*Jim Bacon (rugby)
James Arthur Bacon (fourth ¼ 1896 – fourth ¼ 1968) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional ...
from 1998 to 2004 and
Paul Lennon
Paul Anthony Lennon (born 8 October 1955) is a Labor Party politician. He was Premier of Tasmania from 21 March 2004 until his resignation on 26 May 2008. He was member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the seat of Franklin from 1990 unti ...
from 2004 to 2005.
She was also the first female President of the Tasmanian branch of the ALP from 1992 to 1995, before being elected as Senator for Tasmania at the 2004 Federal Election.
Australian Senate (2005–present)
Polley took up her position on 1 July 2005 and retained her Senate seat at the 2010 and 2016 Federal Elections.
Polley is a committee member of the Joint Committee on the National Broadband Network and Law Enforcement – Parliamentary Joint Committee.
Polley served as Deputy Government Whip in the Senate in the Second Gillard Ministry and Second Rudd Ministry from 2010 to 2013, and then as Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care from 2013 to 2016.
Comcare Investigation
Following several staff alleging harassment and abuse by Polley, Commonwealth workplace health and safety agency
Comcare
Comcare is a statutory authority of the Australian Federal Government established under the ''Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act'' 1988
Travel expenditure
In 2014 Polley admitted to spending about $23,000 of taxpayer money on chartered flights between Hobart and Launceston, each lasting about 35 minutes. According to Polley this was within the entitlements of all Senators of Australia depending on their geographical location.
Use of "All lives matter" slogan
In 2020 Polley apologized after sharing the a variation of the All Lives Matter slogan that said "Instead of
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
how about every life matters no matter what the color of your skin is", on social media in an incident that she acknowledged was "careless" and "insensitive". She claimed that she had been unaware of the issues with the slogan.
Political views
Polley is a member of Labor's Unity faction. She is a member of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), and is linked with the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA).
Polley opposes marriage equality and voted against the Marriage Amendment Act 2017 following the
Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey
The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the postal service between 12 September and 7 November 2017. Unlike voting in e ...
.
Polley opposes
reproductive rights
Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health that vary amongst countries around the world. The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows:
Reproductive rights rest on t ...
. In 2006, Polley voted against the Therapeutic Goods Amendment Bill that would provide for medical abortions. Speaking against the Bill, Polley said:
"I dread to think that this chamber might very well be condemning our daughters to a horrible death or complications that may remove the opportunity for them to ever conceive again."
Senator Polley opposes assisted dying and the autonomy of the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory governments to legislate on the matter. Polley argues "...legislation will never be able to guarantee that a human life will not be prematurely ended due to abuse or flaws within such a legislative framework", and where assisted dying has been legalised "life has been extinguished prematurely and without the consent of the person. Effectively, in many jurisdictions the state is killing people where voluntary euthanasia laws have been established."