Christine Anne Milne (; born 14 May 1953) is an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Tasmania. She was the leader of the parliamentary

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

of the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

from 2012 to 2015. Milne stepped down as leader on 6 May 2015, replaced by Richard Di Natale.

Early life and education

Milne was born in

Latrobe, Tasmania Latrobe is a town in northern Tasmania, Australia on the Mersey River (Australia), Mersey River. It is 8 km south-east of Devonport, Tasmania, Devonport on the Bass Highway (Tasmania), Bass Highway. It is the main centre of the Latrobe Co ...

, the second daughter of Wesley Vale dairy farmers Tom and June Morris. She attended Wesley Vale Area School from 1959 to 1963, St Mary's College, Hobart as a boarder from 1964 to 1969, and completed her final year of schooling at Devonport High School in 1970. She studied history and political science at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

from 1971 to 1974, where she resided at Ena Waite University College and was elected its President. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in Australian History, and a Certificate of Education in March 1975. From 1975 to 1984 Milne worked as a secondary school teacher, teaching English, History and Social Science at Parklands High School, Devonport High School and

Don College Don College is a government comprehensive senior secondary Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or ...

. She first came to public attention for her role in opposing the building of the Wesley Vale pulp mill near

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

in North Western Tasmania on the basis of its environmental impact. She also participated in the ultimately successful campaign opposing the Franklin Dam and was arrested and jailed in 1983. She worked as a research officer with the Australian Bicentennial Historical Records Search from 1987 to 1988.

Political career

Milne was first elected to the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

in 1989 as a member of the Tasmanian Greens in the electorate of

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, one of five Green politicians elected at that election. She was part of the Labor–Green Accord, a political agreement between 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 the Tasmanian Greens to form government after the 1989 general election had resulted in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...

. When

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a Australian Senate, senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian ...

stood down in 1993 to contest the federal election, she became leader of the Greens in the Tasmanian Parliament and the first female leader of a political party in Tasmania. 2014-09-21 Christine Milne Peoples Climate March Melbourne 600 0479

2014-09-21 Christine Milne Peoples Climate March Melbourne 600 0479

She oversaw a loose alliance between the Greens and Labor after the 1996 general election. During that time, Tasmania saw significant economic and social reform. Measures included gun law reform, liberalisation of gay laws, an apology to the Indigenous

stolen generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Aboriginal Australians, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Gover ...

and support for an Australian republic. In 1998, the major parties voted to restructure the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from 35 to 25 seats, increasing the quota of votes required to be elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. Liberal Premier Tony Rundle immediately called an election, which his party subsequently lost. Due to the changes, Milne lost her seat, leaving the Greens with one remaining seat. After her career in state politics, Milne was an adviser to Senator Brown from 2000 until she was elected to represent Tasmania in the Federal

Senate 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 ...

at the 2004 federal election. Preferences to Family First from the

almost prevented her from being elected; however, she managed to reach a quota mostly as a result of the high level of below-the-line voting in Tasmania. The other Green elected at that election was Rachel Siewert from Western Australia. Milne was part of Bob Brown's frontbench covering the portfolios of Arts, Climate change, Competition Policy & Small Business, Finance & Administration, Food Security, Regional Australia, Resources & Energy, and Trade. Milne was Vice-President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, also known as the

World Conservation Union The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the statu ...

) from 2005 to 2008. She became Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens on 10 November 2008. In 2009, Milne debated the shortcomings of Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 in the federal parliament. On 13 April 2012, Milne became the leader of the Australian Greens after the resignation of Brown. She reorganised the Greens front bench. On 6 May 2015, Milne announced her immediate resignation from the leadership of the Australian Greens, and foreshadowed her departure from the Senate.Christine Milne announces her resignation and leaves the Senate
– Retrieved 6 May 2015. Milne resigned from the Senate on 10 August 2015.

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, Christine 1953 births Living people Australian environmentalists Australian women environmentalists Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Tasmania Australian republicans Australian schoolteachers Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians Australian LGBTQ rights activists Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly People from Latrobe, Tasmania Women members of the Australian Senate University of Tasmania alumni Leaders of the Australian Greens 20th-century Australian women politicians 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Officers of the Order of Australia Women civil rights activists