Joanne Lesley Palmer (née Dick, formerly Cornish; born 10 April 1971) is an Australian politician and former television journalist and newsreader. Palmer was born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, and moved to Tasmania as a baby after being adopted by an Australian family. Originally employed by the station in

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 ...

as a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, she is a former Miss Tasmania and in 1993 she was awarded Miss Australia. She presented the hour-long Nightly News on 7 Tasmania, until leaving 7 Tasmania after 18 years to spend more time with her family. Palmer was elected to the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two Chambers of parliament, chambers of the Parliament, the other being the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly. Both ho ...

for the division of Rosevears at the 2020 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election, representing 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 April 2022, Palmer was elevated to cabinet and was appointed as Minister for Primary Industries and Water, Minister for Disability Services and Minister for Women.

References

External links

Tasmanian Parliament profile
1971 births Living people Australian television newsreaders and news presenters Tasmanian newsreaders and news presenters Politicians from Launceston, Tasmania Australian beauty pageant winners Australian women television journalists Members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Women members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council New Zealand emigrants to Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-tv-bio-stub