Sharon Leah Bird (''née'' Reed, born 15 November 1962) is a former

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

politician. Sharon Bird served as 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 ...

(ALP) member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

, representing the

Division of Cunningham The Division of Cunningham is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History The division was created in 1949 and is named for Allan Cunningham, a 19th-century explorer of New South Wales and Queensland. The div ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

from 2004 to 2022. Bird served as a minister during the late Gillard-Rudd years until Labor lost government at the next election. Sharon Bird served as the Shadow Minister for Vocational Education from October 2013 until July 2016. In 2021, Bird announced she would not be re-contesting at the 2022 Federal Election, retiring from politics.

Background and early career

Bird was born in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

, and was educated at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

. She was a

TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...

and high-school teacher before entering politics. She worked as an electorate officer for

Colin Hollis Colin Hollis (born 30 May 1938) is a retired Australian federal politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001. Hollis was born in Wauchope, New South Wales, and received a BSc ...

, the member for the adjoining seat of Throsby, and was then a Senior Project Officer with the New South Wales Department of Juvenile Justice. Bird was a member of the Shellharbour Council between 1991 and 1995.

Political career

Bird first contested the seat of

Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C * Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer * Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

at the 2002 by-election held following the resignation of Labor's Stephen Martin. Despite Bird polling 38.13% of the primary vote, the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

Michael Organ Michael Keith Organ (born 22 September 1956) is a former Australian politician and archivist. He was an Australian Greens member of the Australian House of Representatives between 2002 and 2004, representing the Division of Cunningham, New Sout ...

won the seat on a

two-party-preferred 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, ...

basis. Bird contested Cunningham again in the 2004 general election. Although she took a large early lead, she was unable to secure victory until Organ was eliminated and his preferences flowed overwhelmingly to her, allowing her to win on the 10th count. On 2 March 2012, Bird was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Higher Education and Skills, and was promoted as Minister for Higher Education and Skills in a rearrangement of the Second Gillard Ministry on 25 March 2013. In July 2013, Bird was appointed as the Minister for Regional Development, the Minister for Regional Communications and the Minister for Road Safety in the Second Rudd Ministry. Bird is a supporter of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

, voting in favour on the issue 3 times. On 19 November 2021 Bird announced that she would not be contesting the 2022 election, retiring after 18 years as the member for Cunningham.

References

External links

* * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Sharon 1962 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Cunningham Labor Right politicians People from Wollongong University of Sydney alumni University of Wollongong alumni Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Government ministers of Australia Women government ministers of Australia

Background and early career

Political career

See also

References

External links