Rachel Mary Siewert (born 4 November 1961) is an Australian politician. She was 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

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

from 2005 to 2021, representing the Australian Greens, and served as the party's co-deputy leader from 2017 to 2018. She previously worked as coordinator of the Conservation Council of Western Australia.

Early life

Siewert was born in

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 ...

on 4 November 1961. Her family moved to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

when she was 13. She completed a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in agriculture at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

. At university she became involved in the anti-nuclear movement. She subsequently worked as a research officer with the state Department of Agriculture from 1984 to 1987, studying salinity and soil conservation in Jerramungup. Siewert was the coordinator of the Conservation Council of Western Australia from 1987 to 2004, initially as the organisation's only paid staff member. In 2003 she was awarded the Bessie Rischbieth Conservation Award. Siewert was co-convener of The Greens (WA) from 2002 to 2004.

Political career

Siewert was first elected to the Senate at the 2004 federal election, to a term beginning on 1 July 2005. She was re-elected to a second term at the 2010 election. She was placed second on her party's Senate ticket in Western Australia at the 2016 election, which followed a double dissolution, and was originally elected to a three-year term. However, following Scott Ludlam's disqualification during the parliamentary eligibility crisis she was declared elected to his six-year term expiring in 2022. Siewert was the Australian Greens Whip, chairs the Senate Community Affairs References Committee and was a member of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians. She served as co-deputy leader of the parliamentary Greens from November 2017 to December 2018, alongside Adam Bandt. From 2020, Siewert acted as the Greens' spokeswoman for the portfolios of health; mental health; family, ageing and community services; and gambling. Siewart has served on the "Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia", which delivered its interim report in December 2020.PDF
/ref> In July 2020, Siewert announced that she would not recontest her seat at the 2022 federal election. In August 2021, she announced she would resign from the Senate in September 2021, creating a casual vacancy. In September 2021, Siewert formally resigned from the Senate. A joint sitting of the Parliament of Western Australia appointed Dorinda Cox to fill the vacancy on 14 September 2021.

Personal life

Siewert is divorced and has one son, and resides in Perth, Western Australia.

References

External links

Archived Greens MP site

Greens WA profile

Australian Parliamentary biography
*
Summary of parliamentary voting for Senator Rachel Siewert on TheyVoteForYou.org.au
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siewert, Rachel 1961 births Living people Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Women members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate University of Western Australia alumni 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians