Amanda Vanstone

Amanda Eloise Vanstone (born 7th December 1952), Australian politician, has been a Liberal Party member of the Australian Senate since December 1984. She was educated at the University of Adelaide and the South Australian Institute of Technology (now the University of South Australia), and was a solicitor and businesswoman before entering politics.

Related Topics:
7th December - 1952 - Australia - Liberal Party - Australian Senate - 1984 - University of Adelaide - South Australian Institute of Technology - University of South Australia

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Vanstone was a member of the Opposition Shadow Ministry from 1987 to 1988, from 1989 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996, serving as Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Justice from 1994 to 1996.

Related Topics:
1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1993 - 1996 - 1994

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In March 1996 Vanstone became the only woman in John Howard's cabinet when she was appointed Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. In this portfolio she presided over heavy cuts to the employment programs established by the Keating government, which drew strong criticism. In October 1997 she was dropped from Cabinet and appointed Minister for Justice, a title which was changed to Minister for Justice and Customs in October 1998.

Related Topics:
1996 - John Howard - Keating - 1997 - 1998

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Vanstone made a comeback in January 2001 when she was re-appointed to Cabinet as Minister for Family and Community Services. During this period she was also Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. In the Family and Community Services portfolio she presided over the massive government pensions and welfare system whose service delivery agency, Centrelink, is a frequent target of criticism by welfare activists.

Related Topics:
2001 - Centrelink

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Vanstone proved to be a robust defender of government policies, not afraid to use strong language or offend interest groups. The Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services, Wayne Swan, described her as "a political hyena who takes delight in attacking society's most vulnerable." Her defenders said that she was only carrying out Cabinet policy.

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In his reshuffle in October 2003, Howard showed his confidence in Vanstone by appointing her Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Reconciliation, one of the most difficult portfolios in the government. Her biggest decision in this portfolio was to abolish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), which she said had become a corrupt bureaucracy not serving the interests of indigenous Australians.

Related Topics:
2003 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission - Indigenous Australians

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During 2005 Vanstone became involved in three major controversies, two of them involving the treatment of asylum-seekers by her department - the Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez Solon cases - and a third involving a defecting Chinese diplomat, Chen Yonglin. An inquiry by the former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Palmer was severely critical of the Immigration Department's treatment of Cornelia Rau.

Related Topics:
2005 - Cornelia Rau - Vivian Alvarez Solon - Chen Yonglin - Australian Federal Police - Mick Palmer

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