Kate Jennifer Jones (born 10 April 1979) is an Australian former politician from

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. She served as a Labor Party Member of Parliament in the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

from 2006 to 2012, and again from 2015 to 2020. Jones first represented the seat of Ashgrove until she was defeated by eventual

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is a former Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Quee ...

at the 2012 state election. Jones retook the seat for the Labor Party at the 2015 state election. The seat was abolished prior to the 2017 state election, so Jones contested and won the new seat of

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

at that election. In the Palaszczuk Government, she was the Minister for Innovation and Tourism Industry Development, Minister for State Development and the Minister for the Commonwealth Games.

Education and community involvement

Jones attended Kelvin Grove State High School in Kelvin Grove. In 1995 she was the Premier of the first ever YMCA Queensland Youth Parliament, a non-partisan political program for young people. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Journalism at the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The unive ...

while working part-time at The Gap Markets, and graduated with a Master of Environmental Law from the Australian National University in 2014. Jones is a member of the Ashgrove Historical Society, Ashgrove Climate Change Action Group and sits on the management committee of the Enoggera Respite Centre. She is also a member of

The Fred Hollows Foundation The Fred Hollows Foundation is a non-profit aid organisation based in Sydney, Australia, which was founded in 1992 by eye surgeon Fred Hollows. The foundation focuses on treating and preventing blindness and other vision problems. It operat ...

and

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

Political career

Before entering Parliament, Jones worked as a Senior Media Adviser to Queensland Minister for Public Works, Housing and Racing

Robert Schwarten Robert Evan Schwarten (born 6 October 1954) is an Australian politician. Early life Schwarten was born in Rockhampton, and is married with two sons. Before his entry into politics, he was a teacher and a ministerial advisor to the Deputy P ...

and as Media Adviser to former Queensland Treasurer David Hamill. Jones was elected to state Parliament for the seat of Ashgrove at the 2006 general election to succeed

Jim Fouras Demetrios "Jim" Fouras, (8 March 1938 – 12 November 2021) was an Australian politician. He was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. Early life Born in Manesi, Kalavryta, Greece, he migrated to Queensland at the age of ten with ...

, who had served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly during the 1990s. After retaining her seat in the 2009 election, she was appointed Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability in the new Bligh cabinet, replacing

Andrew McNamara Andrew Ian McNamara (born 19 August 1959) is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 2001 to 2009, representing the district of Hervey Bay. He served as Minister for Sustainability, Clima ...

2012 election

Jones stood down from cabinet on 19 June 2011 to focus on defending her seat against newly elected LNP leader

at the 2012 state election. During the campaign Jones used lolly-pink branding rather than Labour's color of red; this tactic was copied from an approach used by

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...

. Jones' supporters were issued pink T-shirts with the words "Keep Kate". At that election, Jones was defeated, suffering a 13 percent swing as part of the LNP's massive victory. Newman became Premier.

2015 election

Jones sought to regain her old seat in the January 2015 state election. She won, defeating Newman on a swing of 10 percent—more than double what she needed. She became the second challenger to unseat a sitting premier in Queensland, the previous time this happened was in 1915.

2017 election

Ashgrove was abolished prior to the 2017 state election, so Jones contested and won the new seat of Cooper.

Palaszczuk government

On 16 February 2015, Jones was sworn in as Minister for Education, Minister for Tourism, Major Events and Small Business and Minister for the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the ex ...

in the Palaszczuk Ministry, positions she held until 11 December 2017. On 12 December 2017, she was sworn in as Minister for Innovation and Tourism Development and Minister for the Commonwealth Games. Jones announced her retirement on 10 September 2020, the last sitting day before the

2020 Queensland state election The 2020 Queensland state election was held on 31 October to elect all 93 members to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The Labor Party was returned to government for a third-term, led by incumbent premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. With 47 ...

in October.

Personal life

Kate Jones is married to Paul Cronin (former chief media adviser to Queensland Premiers

Anna Bligh Anna Maria Bligh (born 14 July 1960) is a lobbyist and former Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of Queensland, in office from 2007 to 2012 as leader of the Labor Party. She was the first woman to hold either position. In ...

and

Peter Beattie Peter Douglas Beattie (born 18 November 1952) is an Australian former politician who served as the 36th Premier of Queensland, in office from 1998 to 2007. He was the state leader of the Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch), Labor Party ...

, and who now heads media relations at Queensland Rail). They have a son, Thomas Anthony Cronin, who was born in 2010.Climate Change Minister gives birth to a boy
— ''The Courier-Mail''

References

External links

Kate Jones — State Member for Ashgrove
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Kate 1979 births Living people Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Politicians from Brisbane Queensland University of Technology alumni Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland Labor Right politicians 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly