Liza Mary Harvey (née Browne; born 25 October 1966) is an Australian politician who was the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of

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 ...

from 2008 to 2021, representing the seat of Scarborough. She was a minister in the government of

Colin Barnett Colin James Barnett (born 15 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was the 29th Premier of Western Australia. He concurrently served as the state's Treasurer at several points during his tenure and had previously held various other po ...

, and in 2016 was appointed

deputy premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She became leader of the opposition after being elected unopposed to replace

Mike Nahan Michael Dennis Nahan (born 2 July 1950) is a former Australian politician who was Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia's Western Australian branch and Leader of the Opposition from the 2017 state election until his resignation in June 201 ...

as state Liberal leader on 13 June 2019. On 22 November 2020, she resigned as Liberal leader and was replaced by Zak Kirkup. She lost her seat at the 2021 election.

Early life

Harvey was born in

Manjimup, Western Australia Manjimup is a town in Western Australia, south of the state capital, Perth. The town of Manjimup is a regional centre for the largest shire in the South West region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Manjimup had a population of 4,349. ...

, to Jill Annette (née Randell) and Eugene Michael Browne.Liza Mary Harvey
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 July 2016. Her mother was a descendant of

George Randell George Randell (5 October 1830 – 2 June 1915) was an Australian businessman and politician. He served intermittently in the Parliament of Western Australia between 1875 and 1910, including as a minister in the government of Sir John Forrest. ...

, an early settler of Western Australia.Inaugural Speech: Mrs Liza Harvey MLA (Member for Scarborough)
Hansard (Legislative Assembly), 25 November 2008. Harvey attended primary schools in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

and

Port Hedland A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

, and secondary school at

Mercedes College, Perth , motto_translation = Praise the Lord , established = , founders = Sisters of Mercy , type = Independent single-sex secondary day school , denomination = Roman Catholicism , gender = Girls , affiliation = Alliance of Girls' ...

. She went on to study science 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 and various other facilitie ...

. Harvey worked for

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...

between 1989 and 2000, holding positions in customer service and at the Qantas Club. She also helped to run a recreational fishing business with her husband, and was involved with various local business associations.

Politics

Harvey entered parliament at the 2008 state election. She won the newly created Scarborough (a notionally Liberal seat) with 55.2 percent of the

two-party-preferred vote In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP ...

. In December 2010, Harvey was made parliamentary secretary to Simon O'Brien, in his capacity as the Minister for Small Business. She was elevated to the ministry in June 2012, replacing Rob Johnson as Minister for Police and Minister for Road Safety. After the 2013 state election, Harvey was additionally made Minister for Small Business and Minister for Women's Interests. In a ministerial reshuffle in August 2013, she lost the small business portfolio to

Joe Francis Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American entrepreneur, film producer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the syndicated program ''Real TV'' before rel ...

, but was made Minister for Tourism instead. In another reshuffle in December 2014, she took over from Kim Hames as

Minister for Training and Workforce Development Minister for Training and Workforce Development is a position in the government of Western Australia, currently held by Simone McGurk of the Labor party. The position was first created after the 1933 state election, for the government of Phili ...

, with Hames taking on the tourism portfolio.Hon. Liza Mary Harvey MLA
– Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 July 2016. In December 2015, Kim Hames announced his intention to resign as deputy leader of the Liberal Party (and to retire from parliament at the 2017 state election). Harvey was elected as his replacement unopposed in February 2016, and was sworn in as deputy premier a few days later, becoming the first woman to hold either position. In January 2017, Harvey confirmed that she would stand for the Liberal leadership once Colin Barnett retired. However, on 21 March former treasurer

was elected unopposed as the new leader of the party with Harvey continuing as his deputy.

Leader of the Opposition

Nahan resigned as leader on 13 June 2019, and Harvey was elected his successor unopposed. She was the first woman to be the leader of the WA Liberal Party and the second woman to serve as WA opposition leader after

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

. Harvey called for WA to open its borders during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. She was widely criticised for that position, including by some in her own party. Due to poor opinion polling, Harvey resigned as Liberal leader on 22 November 2020 and was replaced by Zak Kirkup at the following leadership election. At the 2021 election, Harvey lost her seat of Scarborough to Labor's

Stuart Aubrey Stuart Neil Aubrey (born 28 December 1990) is an Australian politician and former electrician, who was elected as a Labor member for Scarborough in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly at the 2021 state election. Early life and educat ...

Personal life

Harvey married her husband, Hal Lewis Harvey, in 1996. He had one daughter from a previous relationship, and they had a son and a daughter together. Her husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2011, and died from the disease in 2014, aged 55.Liam Ducey
"WA fishing icon Hal Harvey loses battle with pancreatic cancer"
WAtoday, 28 October 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Liza 1966 births Living people Deputy Premiers of Western Australia Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People from Manjimup, Western Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Leaders of the Opposition in Western Australia

Early life

Politics

Leader of the Opposition

Personal life

See also

References