Alison Joy Byrnes (born 5 February 1974) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP) and was elected as a member for the New South Wales seat of

Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C *Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player * Abe Cunningham, American drummer *Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the 2022 federal election.

Early life

Byrnes was born on 5 February 1974 in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

, New South Wales. She is the daughter of Petronella and Ron Byrnes; her mother was born in the Netherlands and arrived in Australia as a child. Byrnes grew up in the suburb of

Woonona Woonona () is a suburb north of Wollongong, New South Wales, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney. It is served by Woonona railway station, New South Wales, Woonona Station on the South Coast railway line, New South Wales, Sou ...

, attending Woonona Public School and Woonona High School. She holds the degree of

Master of Management The Master of Management (MM, MiM, MMgt) is a master's degree comprising one or two years graduate level coursework in business management. In terms of content, it is similar to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree as it contain ...

from the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public university, public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately south of Sydney. , the university had an enrolment of more than 33,000 s ...

Politics

Byrnes has worked for the ALP since the age of 16. She was a staffer to Cunningham MP Sharon Bird for 18 years, including as chief of staff. Following Bird's retirement, she won ALP

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

for Cunningham in February 2022. She was chosen unopposed following the withdrawal of her main opponent, Misha Zelinsky. At the 2022 federal election, she retained Cunningham for the ALP with 65% of the two-party preferred vote.

Views

Local Energy Production and Storage

Illawarra Offshore Wind Zone

Byrnes has advocated for local

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

and especially

offshore wind power Offshore wind power or offshore wind energy is the generation of electricity through wind farms in bodies of water, usually at sea. There are higher wind speeds offshore than on land, so offshore farms generate more electricity per amount of ca ...

stating that "Unlocking offshore wind in the Illawarra will help to power households, businesses and industries while creating local jobs." During the initial consultation phase of the Illawarra Offshore Wind Zone proposal Alison Byrnes hosted two community consultation sessions in addition to the six sessions run by the

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is a department of the Australian Government. The department was established on 1 July 2022, superseding the water and environment functions from the Department of A ...

. Alison Byrnes released her offshore wind zone submission in favour of the proposal but recommended multiple changes. Alison Byrnes made multiple recommendations including resizing the zone to be no closer than 20 kilometres to shore, offshore wind turbines to be manufactured in

Port Kembla A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...

using local steel and a community benefit scheme which could be a discount on electricity for local residents or provide a dividend of revenue from the wind farm to local community interests and projects. On 15 June 2024, the Illawarra Offshore Wind Zone was declared with the new zone being 20 kilometres away from the coast. During the press conference the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy,

Chris Bowen Christopher Eyles Guy Bowen (born 17 January 1973) is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Climate Change and Energy in the Albanese government since June 2022. He is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was first elect ...

declined a local steel content quota and local economic benefit plan stating "What I can guarantee is that proposals for licence applications with strong local content plans, whether it be steel or other local economic benefit plans, will receive very strong consideration." and also said "If proponents put in a licence application which doesn't have any community benefit for the Illawarra, they won't be receiving much attention from me." Alison Byrnes reiterated her support for a community benefit scheme and for local steel content "My expectation is that all proponents not only make sure that their projects meet the highest environmental standards but also incorporate local content, including the use of locally produced steel, and local workforce and develop a strong benefit sharing scheme so that our community meaningfully benefits from hosting an offshore wind farm should one be developed,". A senate inquiry into the offshore wind zone consultation process passed the senate. In response, Alison Byrnes alongside fellow members of parliament, Stephen Jones and Fiona Phillips made a joint submission into the consultation process and the broader community awareness of the Illawarra Offshore Wind Zone.

Community batteries

During the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 May 2022, to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Morrison government, Liberal–National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, soug ...

, Alison Byrnes supported the establishment of community batteries in

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering . As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,954. History The name Dapto is said to be an Abor ...

and Warrawong. In 2023, it was announced that

Endeavour Energy Endeavour Energy is the operator of the electrical distribution network for Greater Western Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra region of NSW, Australia. Background It was formed from the previously state-ow ...

would receive $1 million in funding to build a 720 kilowatt hour battery in Warrawong and a 1040 kilowatt hour battery in Dapto.

Personal life

Byrnes is married to

Paul Scully Paul Stuart Scully (born 29 April 1968) is a former British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton and Cheam from 2015 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister for London from February 20 ...

, an ALP member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

. She has sometimes used the name "Alison Byrnes-Scully".

References

External link

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrnes, Alison 1974 births 21st-century Australian women politicians Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Australian MPs 2022–2025 Australian MPs 2025–2028 Australian people of Dutch descent Living people Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Cunningham People from Wollongong University of Wollongong alumni Women members of the Australian House of Representatives