Janie Finlay (; born 2 August 1974) is an Australian politician currently the Member for Bass in 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 ...

Early life

Born in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

, Janie attended 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 ...

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

at what is now the School of Creative Arts and Media. Majoring in furniture design, she started her career running her own studio in

Glebe, New South Wales Glebe is an inner-western suburb of Sydney in New South Wales. Glebe is located southwest of the Sydney central business district in the Inner West region. Glebe is surrounded by Blackwattle Bay and Rozelle Bay, inlets of Port Jackson, Sydney ...

. She returned to Tasmania and took up a position with the Beacon Foundation as youth coordinator. Working at Launceston College she created programme at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre to help break the cycle of reoffending. After securing backing from Federal and State Governments for her scheme, she then had to convince her local government of the merits of such a programme.

Local Politics & Mayor of Launceston

After having her education plan for Ashley rebuffed by local council, she ran as a candidate and was duly elected to the

Launceston City Council Launceston City Council (or City of Launceston) is a Local government in Australia, local government body in Tasmania, located in the city and surrounds of Launceston, Tasmania, Launceston in the north of the state. The Launceston local gove ...

in 2000. From 2002 to 2005 served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

. When Finlay was elected to that position in February 2002, at age 27, she was the youngest female mayor to serve in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She lost her mayoral position in the October 2005 elections to

Ivan Dean Ivan Noel Dean (born 21 April 1945) is an Australian politician. He was an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 2003 to 2021, representing the electorate of Windermere. He also served as Mayor of Launceston from 2005 t ...

by a slim majority after the distribution of preferences. She had been the favourite in her race for a second term, and on 26 October 2005. ''The Examiner'' local newspaper ran a front-page story claiming she was winning by 2000 votes. But by the next day it was revealed

had secured the lead by some 400 votes after preferences. Finlay was, however, re-elected as an alderman, securing more than two quotas. She resigned from council in 2007. Finlay later regained her position in the 2014 local government elections, safely securing a position as Alderman on the

State Parliament

In May 2021 Finlay was elected to the

as a Labor representative for

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. As part of the opposition front bench, Finlay's portfolio included Primary Industries and Small Business. In March 2024 Finlay retained her seat at the

2024 Tasmanian state election The 2024 Tasmanian state election was held on 23 March 2024 to elect all 35 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly. The House of Assembly uses the proportional Hare-Clark system of voting, with the 35 members elected from five seven-memb ...

with an increase of 20% her votes.

Other interests

Janie served on the inaugural board of the

Tasmania JackJumpers The Tasmania JackJumpers are an Australian professional basketball team based in Hobart, Tasmania, who entered the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 2021–22 season, and play their home games at MyState Bank Arena and the Silverdome. T ...

in 2020, helping to establish a state-wide National Basketball League team in Tasmania. She has also been a board member of the

Launceston Tornadoes The Launceston Tornadoes are an Australian basketball team based in Launceston, Tasmania. The Tornadoes compete in the Women's NBL1 South and play their home games at Elphin Sports Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the See Eyeca ...

Women's Basketball team.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, Janie 1974 births Living people Mayors of Launceston, Tasmania Women mayors of places in Tasmania Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Tasmanian local councillors