Christine Maelisa Tonkin (born 15 March 1956) is an Australian politician, who was elected as a

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member for Churchlands in 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 ...

at the 2021 state election. She defeated

Sean L'Estrange Sean Kimberley L'Estrange (born 19 September 1967) is a former Australian politician. He was the Member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Churchlands from 2013 until 2021. He was the Minister for Finance; Minister for M ...

, who had held the seat since 2013, to become the first Labor member to win the seat.

Early life and education

Christine Tonkin was born on 15 March 1956 in

Subiaco, Western Australia Subiaco (known colloquially as Subi) is an inner-Western suburbs (Perth), western suburb of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is approximately west of Perth's central business district, in the City of Subiaco local government area. H ...

, to Haydn Joseph Tonkin, an electrical draftsman, and Irene May Tonkin (née Jones). She attended Our Lady Help of Christians Primary School, in

East Victoria Park East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

, St Joachim High School, in Victoria Park, and

Kent Street Senior High School Kent Street Senior High School is a Public school (government funded), public Mixed-sex education, co-educational specialist school, specialist Secondary education#Australia, high day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school in the Town ...

, in East Victoria Park. She studied for a Bachelor of Arts at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

in Melbourne, a Master of Business Administration at the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

, and a Graduate Diploma of Procurement Management, at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

Career

Tonkin is an expert in public procurement reform, having worked in it for 25 years, including for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in places such as

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. She joined the WA Labor Party on 13 July 2015. At the

2021 Western Australian state election The 2021 Western Australian state election was held on Saturday 13 March to elect members to the Parliament of Western Australia, where all 59 seats in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly and all 36 seats in the We ...

, she was elected to the

electoral district of Churchlands Churchlands is a Western Australian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly Electoral districts of Western Australia, electorate in the states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. Churchlands is named for the western subu ...

in the

, defeating

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. For example, while the political systems ...

member

, who had held the seat since 2013. She was the first Labor member to win this seat. Churchlands and its predecessor, Floreat (as the seat was called from its creation in 1966 until 1996) had historically been blue-ribbon Liberal territory, but was swept up in the massive Labor wave that left the Liberals with only one seat in Perth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonkin, Christine 1956 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians People educated at Kent Street Senior High School