Tania Lawrence

Tania Lawrence (born 13 September 1973)[2] is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2022 federal election, representing the Western Australian seat of Hasluck. She was a ministerial adviser and corporate manager before her election to parliament.

Tania Lawrence
MP
Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Hasluck
Assumed office
21 May 2022
Preceded byKen Wyatt
Personal details
Born (1973-09-13) 13 September 1973[1]
Perth, Western Australia
CitizenshipAustralian
Political partyLabor
Alma materMurdoch University
University of Western Australia
OccupationPublic servant
Corporate manager
Websitewww.tanialawrence.com.au

Early life

Lawrence was raised in York, Western Australia.[3] She holds the degrees of Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Arts from Murdoch University and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Asian studies from the University of Western Australia.[4]

Career

Lawrence was a policy advisor to WA state governments led by Richard Court, Geoff Gallop, Alan Carpenter and Colin Barnett.[5][6] From 2005 to 2010 she worked in the state government's Office of State Security and Emergency Coordination. She subsequently joined Woodside Petroleum as senior manager of global business integration.[1][7]

Lawrence left a government position in 2021 to work full-time as managing director of the Beelu Forest Distilling Company, a boutique distillery which she established on her property in Mundaring.[8] In 2021 her distillery received a $20,000 "innovation voucher" from the WA Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation under a program for start-ups. Her distillery was the only business in the hospitality industry to receive innovation funding, with the other 20 recipients focusing on medical technology, biotechnology and robotics. The voucher was awarded to undertake laboratory research to develop a premium Australian organic spirits distilled with novel proprietary koji strain.[9]

Politics

In May 2018, Lawrence was selected as the ALP candidate for the 2018 Darling Range state by-election, which followed the resignation of former Labor MP Barry Urban over the falsification of his credentials. She was nominated at the last minute following the discovery that the new ALP candidate Colleen Yates had also provided false credentials.[7] She lost the seat to the Liberal candidate Alyssa Hayden.[10]

Lawrence was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2022 federal election. She defeated the incumbent Liberal MP Ken Wyatt, a federal government minister, in the seat of Hasluck.[11][12] She is part of the Labor Right faction.[13]

Personal life

As of 2022, Lawrence lives with her husband on their rural property in Mundaring, Western Australia. She previously lost her house in the Toodyay bushfires in 2009.[14]

In 2015, Lawrence was elected as the first female president of Motorcycling Australia. She held a motorcycle racing licence and had competed in road races at Barbagallo Raceway. Her collection included a BMW S1000RR, a Ducati SuperSport, and a Husqvarna dirtbike.[15]

References
  1. Burrell, Andrew (1 June 2018). "Thwarted ALP comes clean on candidate". The Australian. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  2. "Ms Tania Lawrence MP". Parliament of Australia.
  3. "Tania Lawrence". Australian Labor Party. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  4. Kagi, Jacob (31 May 2018). "Labor names new Darling Range candidate Tania Lawrence after Colleen Yates, Barry Urban sagas". ABC News. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  5. Law, Peter (11 June 2021). "Hasluck: Labor set to choose Tania Lawrence to take on Ken Wyatt in Federal seat". The West Australian. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  6. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Ms Tania Lawrence MP". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 31 July 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. Hondros, Nathan (31 May 2018). "Take two: McGowan announces new Darling Range byelection candidate". WAtoday. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  8. Traill, Michael (16 April 2022). "Federal election 2022: Voters in key battleground seat of Hasluck reveal main concerns ahead of Poll". The West Australian. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  9. "Recipients of the 2021 Innovation Vouchers announced". Startup News. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  10. "Darling Range by-election: Liberal Alyssa Hayden wins as Labor, Tania Lawrence concede defeat". ABC News. 24 June 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  11. "You never know your Hasluck: can Labor pry away Ken Wyatt's seat?". Crikey. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  12. "'Clear rejection of the Liberal Party': Massive swing to Labor in WA as Hasluck, Swan, Pearce, Tangney fall". ABC News. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  13. Massola, James (26 June 2022). "The power behind the PM – who are Labor's powerbrokers in government?". WAtoday. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  14. "Hoping to incite change for Hasluck". Echo News. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  15. "Meet Tania Lawrence, President of M.A." MC News. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
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