Meg Heather Lees (née Francis, born 19 October 1948) is an Australian former politician who was a member of the

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

from 1990 to 2005, representing the state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. She represented the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...

from 1990 to 2002, and was her party's leader from 1997 to 2001. After being deposed by

Natasha Stott Despoja Natasha Jessica Stott Despoja AO (born 9 September 1969) is an Australian diplomat, gender equality advocate, former Australian of the Year nominee, and former politician. Starting her career in student politics, she became an advisor to the ...

, she quit the party to sit as an independent senator in 2002, adopting the party designation

Australian Progressive Alliance The Australian Progressive Alliance (APA) was a minor "small-l-liberal" political party in Australia, formed by Meg Lees, an independent senator and former leader of the Australian Democrats, in April 2003. The party ceased to operate and wa ...

from 2003 until her electoral defeat in 2005. As party leader, she controversially facilitated passage of the Howard government's Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Family life

Lees was born in the Blue Mountains, west of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. She became a teacher at Ingleburn High School and married Keith Lees, a fellow teacher, in about 1971. In 1974, they moved to

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with a population of 25,591 as of the 2021 census. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier (volcano), Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about ...

, where their two daughters were born. After both Keith and Meg became involved in the Australian Democrats, they moved to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, but the pressures of political activity led to the breakdown of their marriage. On Christmas Eve 2000, shortly before she was deposed as the Democrats' leader in the Senate, Lees married Adelaide lawyer Matthew Mitchell.

Leadership of the Australian Democrats

Cheryl Kernot Cheryl Zena Kernot (née Paton, formerly Young; born 5 December 1948) is an Australian politician, academic, and political activist. She was a member of the Australian Senate representing Queensland for the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 199 ...

defected to the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

in October 1997, and Lees was called upon to stand in as acting leader. She was officially chosen as Kernot's replacement in December, with

becoming her deputy. During her time as leader, the Democrats strengthened the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act, improved the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, negotiated the GST tax reform and maintained the general oversight role of the Democrats in the Senate through a number of Senate inquiries.Wright, Tim. (ed), 2007, 30 Years Australian Democrats In 1999, Prime Minister

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. His eleven-year tenure as prime min ...

proposed the idea of a Goods and Services Tax. It was opposed by the Labor Party, the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly referred to simply as the Greens, are a Left-wing politics, left-wing green party, green Australian List of political parties in Australia, political party. As of 2025, the Greens are the third largest politica ...

and independent Senator

Brian Harradine Richard William Brian Harradine (9 January 1935 – 14 April 2014) was an Australian politician who served as an independent member of the Australian Senate, from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving indep ...

, which meant that it required Democrat support to pass. In an election fought on tax, the Democrats publicly stated that they liked neither the Liberal (GST) tax package nor the Labor package, but pledged to work with whichever party was elected to make their tax package better. They campaigned with the slogan "No GST on food". A majority of the senators in the party room agreed to pass the bill if some amendments were made, mostly to exclude fresh food and essential items such as basic medicines. Stott Despoja stated that she was unhappy with the outcome, particularly the GST on books. Both Stott Despoja and Queensland Senator Andrew Bartlett ultimately crossed the floor to vote against the GST package. However, a significant number of Democrat members remained unhappy with the GST deal, and began to agitate for a change in leadership. Under the Democrat constitution, a petition of 100 members can trigger a leadership ballot of all the members. On the initial ballot, Meg Lees was returned unchallenged. Subsequently, the Democrats faced a decline in the polls which, by April 2001, were indicating that several senators would lose their seats at the elections due for later that year. The members agitated again for a leadership ballot and, this time, Stott Despoja announced her intention to challenge Lees for the leadership, and was successful, replacing her on 6 April 2001. In mid-2002, Lees began vocally opposing Stott Despoja's leadership, claiming that it had moved the party too far to the left. This culminated in Lees leaving the party to sit as an independent in July 2002.

Australian Progressive Alliance

In April 2003, Lees announced the founding of the

, which she claimed would have a more

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

view than the Democrats. However, she was defeated at the October 2004 election and her term expired on 30 June 2005.

References

External links

Meg Lees, Senate Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lees, Meg 1948 births Living people Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of Australia Independent members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for South Australia Women members of the Australian Senate Australian Progressive Alliance members of the Parliament of Australia Leaders of the Australian Democrats Officers of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians