Bridget Archer
MP
Archer in 2022
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Bass
Assumed office
18 May 2019
Preceded byRoss Hart
Personal details
Born (1975-05-18) 18 May 1975
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Political partyLiberal
Alma materUniversity of Tasmania
OccupationFarmer

Bridget Kathleen Archer (born 18 May 1975)[1] is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election. She is a member of the Liberal Party and represents the Division of Bass in Tasmania.[2]

Early life

Archer was born in Hobart, Tasmania,[3] to a teenage mother. As a six-week-old baby, she was adopted by bank workers Barry and Marian Whelan, who already had a son and daughter.[4] The Whelans separated when Archer was eight and she remained with her adoptive father. However, he died not long after, and Archer moved to Ravenswood, a suburb of Launceston, to live with her mother, who had remarried. Archer revealed that she was subjected to sexual abuse by her stepfather, whom she has described as "an aggressive, emotionally abusive and controlling alcoholic".[4]

She attended Ravenswood Primary School but was then sent to board at Launceston Church Grammar School, only ten minutes from her home, on the insistence of her stepfather.[5] The turmoil in her family life contributed to "misbehaviour and recklessness". She was expelled from Launceston Grammar, and failed Year 12.[4] Despite that, she was admitted to the University of Tasmania, although she soon dropped out.[6] She worked at the Tasmanian Herbarium from 1995 to 1999,[3] as a botanical curator,[6] and later worked in "a variety of mostly casual administrative and hospitality jobs",[7] including at the 2000 Summer Olympics, before returning to university.[6] She completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science, followed by a graduate certificate in international politics.[3]

Local government

Archer was elected to the George Town Council in 2009. She served as deputy mayor from 2011 to 2014 and then as mayor until resigning in 2019 to enter federal politics.[3]

State and federal politics

Archer is a member of the moderate faction of the Liberal Party.[8][9] She served as secretary and treasurer of the Liberal Party's George Town branch from 2012 to 2013.[3] She stood unsuccessfully in Bass at the 2018 state election, as one of five candidates on the party's ticket.[6]

In November 2018, Archer announced that she would run for Liberal preselection in Bass.[10] She was elected to parliament at the 2019 federal election, defeating the incumbent Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate Ross Hart.[3]

In December 2020, Archer publicly criticised the Morrison government's trial of a cashless debit card to deliver welfare payments, stating that she would oppose its use within her own electorate and describing it as a "punitive measure enacted on the presumption that all welfare recipients within the trial areas are incapable of managing their finances and require the government's assistance".[11] The House of Representatives passed legislation to make the card permanent by one vote, with Archer abstaining from voting despite her earlier criticism.[12]

Archer has crossed the floor several times:

  • 25 November 2021, to support a motion by Helen Haines that called for a debate on a national anti-corruption commission.[13]
  • 10 February 2022, with four other Liberal MPs, to include protection for transgender students in the government's modifications to the Sex Discrimination Act.[14]
  • 4 August 2022, the sole member of the Liberal/National coalition to cross the floor to vote in favour of the government's 43% carbon emissions reduction target legislation.[15]
  • 30 November 2022, the sole member of the Liberal/National coalition to cross the floor to vote in favour of the government's motion to censure former prime minister Scott Morrison over his secret appointment to several other ministries; she said that she was registering support, as a Liberal, for the rule of law.[16][17]
  • 19 October 2023, voting against a motion by Peter Dutton related to his call for a royal commission into child sexual abuse in indigenous communities and an audit of government spending on indigenous Australians. She was opposed to targeting indigenous people specifically, and against more talking when action was required.[18]

Personal life

Archer has five children with her husband Winston. After marrying, they moved to his family property outside George Town, where they farm sheep and beef cattle.[7]

References

  1. ↑ McCulloch, Daniel. "Morrison home to vote in beloved Shire". Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Bridget Archer is declared winner of Bass, becoming the Liberals' first female MP to hold the seat". The Mercury. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mrs Bridget Archer MP". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Fyfe, Melissa (27 May 2003). "We've got to have a revolution': This Liberal MP is spoiling for a fight. Within her own party". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  5. ↑ Fyfe, Melissa (26 December 2023). "Why one small detail in my story about a murdered woman still haunts me". The Age. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Inglis, Rob (8 June 2019). "Who is Bridget Archer, the new federal member for Bass?". The Examiner. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  7. 1 2 "First speech". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  8. ↑ Massola, James. "Who's who in the Liberals' left, right and centre factions?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  9. ↑ Massola, James. "How Morrison's shattering defeat gave Dutton a seismic shift in factional power". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  10. ↑ Murtough, Harry (17 November 2018). "George Town Mayor intends to run as Liberal candidate for Bass". The Examiner. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Henriques-Gomes, Luke (2 December 2020). "Liberal backbencher lambasts Coalition's 'punitive' cashless debit card welfare program". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  12. ↑ Holmes, Adam (7 December 2020). "Cashless welfare card expansion passes by one vote after Bass MHR Bridget Archer abstains". The Examiner. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  13. ↑ Hitch, Georgia; Doran, Matthew (25 November 2021). "Government nearly loses vote on federal corruption commission motion after MP crosses floor". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  14. ↑ Evans, Jake (10 February 2022). "The government lost a dramatic showdown on religious discrimination laws overnight. So what happened?". ABC.
  15. ↑ "Liberal MP Bridget Archer to cross the floor on climate bill – as it happened". the Guardian. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  16. ↑ "Live: Scott Morrison censured by House of Representatives over secret ministries". ABC News. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  17. ↑ Karp, Paul (30 November 2022). "Parliament censures Scott Morrison over secret ministries after Liberal Bridget Archer backs Labor and Greens". The Guardian.
  18. ↑ Murphy, Katharine (21 October 2023). "No matter how serious the issue, nuance becomes a thought crime for the Coalition's court jesters". The Guardian.
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