Cheryl Lynn Edwardes (; born 1 March 1950) is a former Australian politician. She was born at Mount Hawthorn in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia and was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics. In 1989 she was elected to the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House, Perth, Parliament House in the Western Australian capi ...

as the Liberal member for Kingsley. She was immediately promoted to the front bench as Shadow Minister for Education, and remained a senior frontbencher for the rest of her career, including serving as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

from 1993 to 1995, Family and Services Minister from 1995 to 1997, and Environment Minister from 1997 to 2001. She remained on the front bench in Opposition as Shadow Minister for Planning, Labour Relations and Employment, Public Sector Management and Censorship, and was Manager of Opposition Business from 2004 until her retirement from politics in 2005. During her time as Attorney-General she was embroiled in a corruption scandal involving Wayne Bradshaw, the mayor of Wanneroo Council and brother of her Liberal parliamentary colleague John Bradshaw. A Royal Commission however subsequently cleared her of any wrongdoing. Edwardes was appointed as a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in the

2016 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

. She was promoted to Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the

2025 Australia Day Honours The 2025 Australia Day Honours are appointments Australian honours system, to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2025 by the Governor General of Australia, Sa ...

References

1950 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Attorneys-general of Western Australia Officers of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub