Jane Prentice (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Righetti; born 22 June 1953) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of 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 ...

from 2010 to 2019, representing the

Division of Ryan The Division of Ryan is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The current MP is Elizabeth Watson-Brown of the Australian Greens. History The division was created in 1949 and is named after T. J. Ryan, Premier of Queensland from 19 ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. She previously served on the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

from 2000 to 2010. She is a member of the

Liberal National Party of Queensland The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major conservative political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. In most other states ...

and sat with 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. For example, while the political systems ...

in federal parliament.

Early career

Prentice was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 22 June 1953. She is one of two daughters born to Janet () and Alan Righetti. Her mother was the granddaughter of

George Pearce Sir George Foster Pearce KCVO (14 January 1870 – 24 June 1952) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1901 to 1938. He began his career in the Labor Party but later joined the National Labor Party, ...

, a long-serving federal cabinet minister. Her father, of Swiss-Italian descent, was a

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF) pilot in World War II, and spent two years as a prisoner of war after being shot down in Libya. Prentice spent her early years in north-east Victoria where her father farmed sheep with two of his brothers. The family moved to Sydney in 1960, where her father became a technical education instructor at the School of Sheep and Wool and later worked for Allied Feed Mills and Inghams. Prentice holds qualifications from the

Australian Institute of Company Directors The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) is a non-profit membership organization for directors. The AICD is a founding member of the Global Network of Director Institutes (GNDI). History The origins of the AICD can be traced ba ...

and Australian Institute of Management. She established an event management company in Brisbane in the early 1980s. She also worked as director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau in Brisbane, business manager at the Australian Telecommunications User Group, and managing director of Conventions Queensland.

Politics

While living in Sydney, Prentice was a state vice-president of the Young Liberals and chairman of its

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

branch. She served on the New South Wales state executive of the Liberal Party from 1976 to 1977 and was also a staffer for Liberal senator John Carrick. After moving to Queensland, she chaired the party's

Taringa Taringa is a suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser o ...

branch.

Brisbane City Council

Prentice was a

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

on the Liberal-controlled

from 2000 to 2010, representing Walter Taylor Ward.

Member of Parliament

At the 2010 federal election, Prentice comfortably defeated sitting local member, Michael Johnson, who was expelled from the Liberal Party in May 2010 for allegedly bringing the party into disrepute, having used his political position and entitlements to further his business interests and those of a company set up almost exclusively to fund his prolific overseas travel. On 26 February 2014, Prentice tabled in the house a petition organised by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia in response to proposed changes to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the impact on community pharmacies. This petition, signed by 1,210,471 people, is the largest petition ever received by the Australian parliament. Prentice also delivered the first speech in the House of Representatives to include Auslan. Prentice was appointed Assistant Minister for Disability Services in February 2016, as a member of the First Turnbull Ministry. Following a reshuffle after the July 2016 federal election, her title was changed to Assistant Minister for Social Services and Disability Services. She did not retain her position when Turnbull was replaced as prime minister by

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (born 13 May 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 30th prime minister of Australia from 2018 to 2022. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party and was ...

in August 2018. In May 2018, she was defeated for LNP preselection to recontest her seat at the

2019 Australian federal election The 2019 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 18 May 2019, to elect members of the 46th Parliament of Australia. The election had been called following the dissolution of the 45th Parliament as elected at the 2016 double dissol ...

by Julian Simmonds, a member of the Brisbane City Council.

Personal life

Prentice had two children with her husband

Ian Prentice Ian George Prentice (born 9 November 1948) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Quee ...

, whom she married in 1977. He was a barrister by profession who also served in the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

in the early 1980s.

References

External links

Hon Jane Prentice MP - Parliament of Australia web site

Jane Prentice – Jane Prentice web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prentice, Jane 1953 births Living people Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Ryan Members of the Australian House of Representatives Turnbull government Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian women politicians Government ministers of Australia Australian people of Swiss-Italian descent Australian MPs 2010–2013 Australian MPs 2013–2016 Australian MPs 2016–2019