Karen Margaret Synon (born 15 September 1959) is an Australian public servant and former politician. She served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

from 1997 to 1999, 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 ...

. She was appointed to the

Administrative Appeals Tribunal The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was an Australian tribunal that conducted independent merits review of administrative decisions made under Commonwealth laws of the Australian Government. The AAT reviewed decisions made by Australian G ...

in 2015.

Early life

Synon was born in

Moe, Victoria Moe ( ) is a town in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is approximately east of the central business district of Melbourne, due south of the peak of Mount Baw Baw in the Great Dividing Range and features vi ...

. She attended Blackburn South High School and Whitehorse Technical School, later completing an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. In 1986, Synon established the Westgate Community Initiatives Group, a non-profit employment services provider based in Melbourne's western suburbs. She served as general manager until 1993, when she took up a position with the Victorian government as director of employment in the Department of State Development.

Politics

Synon joined the Young Liberal Movement at the age of 16. She was active in the

Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) The Victorian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division), and branded as Liberal Victoria, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in ...

for two decades prior to her appointment to the Senate, including as president of the Williamstown branch. She was an ally of Liberal powerbroker

Michael Kroger Michael Norman Kroger (born 30 May 1957) is a former Australian lawyer. He was president of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1987 to 1992 and from 2015 to 2018, and is considered a member of the conservative faction. Early life Kroger was edu ...

, whom she first met in the Young Liberals during the 1970s.

Senate

Synon was appointed to the Senate on 13 May 1997 to fill the

casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...

caused by the resignation of Jim Short, whose original six-year term was due to conclude on 30 June 1999. In the Senate she advocated for industrial relations reform, welfare reform, and

voluntary student unionism Voluntary student unionism (VSU), as it is known in Australia, or voluntary student membership (VSM), as it is known in New Zealand, is a policy under which membership of – and payment of membership fees to – university student organisations ...

. In her maiden speech she spoke against the "entitlement mentality" and "culture of dependency" that she believed had developed in Australia. She also "often raised human rights concerns in the Senate" and was a parliamentary observer at the

1999 Indonesian legislative election Early legislative elections were held in Indonesia on 7 June 1999. They were the first elections since the fall of Suharto and end of the New Order, the first free elections in Indonesia since 1955, and the first and only free legislative electi ...

. Prior to the 1998 federal election, Synon was placed in the "unwinnable" fourth position on the

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

Senate ticket in Victoria. Her failure to be placed higher was due to her alignment with Michael Kroger and

Peter Costello Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in Howard government, government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving trea ...

during a time of factional conflict with

Jeff Kennett Jeffrey Gibb Kennett (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian former politician who served as the 43rd Premier of Victoria between 1992 and 1999, Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1982 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1999, and the Member for ...

's supporters. She was defeated for the third position on the ticket by

Tsebin Tchen Tsebin Tchen () (10 March 1941 – 25 November 2019) was a Chinese-Australian Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1999 to 2005, as Senator of Victoria. Early life Tchen was born in Chongqing to refugees during WW2. His father w ...

, a Kennett ally, who defeated Synon by eight votes after Kennett intervened personally on his behalf.

Later career

Synon was appointed to the

Refugee Review Tribunal The Refugee Review Tribunal was an Australian administrative law tribunal established in 1993. Along with the Migration Review Tribunal, the Refugee Review Tribunal was amalgamated to a division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 1 July 2 ...

in 2001 and the

Migration Review Tribunal The Migration Review Tribunal was an Australian administrative law tribunal established in 1989. Along with the Refugee Review Tribunal, the Migration Review Tribunal was amalgamated to a division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 1 J ...

in 2004, in both cases as a part-time member. In 2015, she was appointed to a five-year term on the

(AAT). In 2019, she was also announced as an independent director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. In 2020, Synon was appointed as a deputy president of the AAT and division head with responsibility for the social services and child support division.

References

1959 births Living people University of Melbourne alumni Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Women members of the Australian Senate 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub