Cheryl Zena Kernot (née Paton, formerly Young; born 5 December 1948) is an Australian politician, academic, and political activist. She was a member of the

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

representing

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 ...

for the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Austral ...

from 1990 to 1997, and the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats from 1993 to 1997. In 1997, she resigned from the Australian Democrats, joined the

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 t ...

, and won the seat of Dickson at the 1998 federal election. She was defeated at the 2001 federal election. Kernot was an unsuccessful

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

candidate to represent

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 ...

in the Australian Senate in the 2010 federal election.

Early life

Kernot was born Cheryl Paton in

Maitland, New South Wales Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England ...

, on 5 December 1948. She grew up working class and her father worked two jobs to provide for the family. Her maternal grandfather was an organiser for the

in the

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...

coalfields. She attended East Maitland Primary School and Maitland Girls' High School. Kernot received a Commonwealth scholarship to attend 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 ...

, where she studied government. She received a teaching diploma from the University of Newcastle and spent twelve years as a political activist while working as a school teacher in

and

. She also worked as an electorate officer and freelance radio producer. In 1984, Kernot was elected Queensland Secretary of the Australian Democrats, and later in the year, Queensland State President, a position she held until 1999. Kernot served as Deputy National President of the party between 1988 until her election to the Senate in 1990.

Political career

Democrats

She was first elected as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for Queensland at the 1990 election, taking over from the retiring Democrats Senator Michael Macklin. Kernot surprised party members by immediately contesting the parliamentary deputy leadership, even before taking her place in the Senate on 1 July 1990. In 1991, she controversially acted to discredit and depose the elected leader, Janet Powell, resulting in Powell's replacement by John Coulter. Kernot finally achieved her ambition to become the Democrats' Senate leader after the 1993 election. Meg Lees was elected as her deputy. Inside the party, she spearheaded a drive for central control of the state-based organisations, which resulted in protest resignations of members and the temporary closure of the Western Australian Division. Externally, however, she became a popular media spokesperson, leading the party to one of its best-ever results in the 1996 election and obtaining a primary vote of over 13% for herself.

Labor Party

On 15 October 1997, Kernot abruptly moved to the

, resigning her Senate seat and leaving the leadership of the Democrats to her deputy, Meg Lees, in what was described by journalist Monica Attard as a "defection

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

took the country by storm". In her resignation speech, Kernot did not criticise the Democrats, saying her motivation was due to a "growing sense of outrage at the damage being done to Australia by the Howard Government" and that her position leading a minor party in the Senate meant she "had a limited capacity to help minimise that damage". She also stated that she was "well aware of the political risks in this course of action". Some derided Kernot because of her ambition; and, according to journalist Julia Baird, she "found herself at odds with the leadership of the Labor Party". Baird went on to say that "... ernot..unravelled publicly under the stress, and she was portrayed in print as a has-been, a whinger and a poor performer". Kernot narrowly won the outer metropolitan Brisbane seat of Dickson for Labor at the 1998 election, before losing it at the 2001 election to the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidate

Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician who has been leader of the opposition and leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. He has represented the Queensland seat of Dickson in the House of Representatives sinc ...

. During her period as Member for Dickson, Kernot served in the Shadow Ministry, and held the roles of Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Services from 1998 to 1999, and Shadow Minister for Employment and Training from 1999 to 2001.

Life outside politics

After retiring from politics, Kernot wrote an autobiography called ''Speaking for Myself'', which was published in 2002. This book was focused on her political career, particularly her move from the Democrats to Labor. On 3 July 2002, in his regular weekly column in '' The Bulletin'', political journalist

Laurie Oakes Laurie Oakes (born 14 August 1943 in Newcastle, New South Wales) is an Australian retired journalist. He worked in the Canberra Press Gallery from 1969 to 2017, covering the Parliament of Australia and federal elections for print, radio, and ...

criticised Kernot for failing to mention an extramarital affair she had with Gareth Evans while she was leader of the Democrats. Evans was deputy leader of the Labor Party and key advocate of her move to Labor. Oakes claimed that the relationship began several years before Kernot joined Labor, and ended in October 1999. He made the claim based on leaked emails in his possession that proved Kernot had had a five-year relationship with Evans. Initially, Kernot and Evans made themselves unavailable for comment; however, Evans subsequently confirmed the nature of their relationship. Kernot worked in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

as Programme Director at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurs at the Said Business School at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and as the Director of Learning at the School for Social Entrepreneurs in London. Kernot is currently the Director of Social Business at the Centre for Social Impact, based at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

. She has also expressed support for Australia becoming a

republic A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...

Return to politics

On 30 July 2010, Kernot announced that she would run as a candidate for the Australian Senate representing New South Wales as an independent on a platform of "Change politics". She was not successful.

Other interests

Kernot was one of Australia's first fully qualified female cricket umpires. She was patron of the

Australian women's cricket team The Australian women's national cricket team (formerly also known as the Southern Stars) represent Australia in international women's cricket. Currently captained by Meg Lanning and coached by Shelley Nitschke, they are the top team in all wor ...

from 1994 to 2000. Kernot is on the founding committee of a UK charity which works to provide shelter and education for street children in Kampala, Uganda. In 2014 Kernot became the first patron of the Women in Prison Advocacy Network (WIPAN). WIPAN is a grassroots community charity dedicated to advancing the prospects and wellbeing of women and female youth affected by the criminal justice system. It does so through individual mentoring and advocacy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kernot, Cheryl 1948 births Living people Australian republicans Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Dickson Members of the Australian House of Representatives University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Women members of the Australian Senate Leaders of the Australian Democrats 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians