Rosanna Natoli is an Australian politician and former television presenter. She has served as the mayor of the Sunshine Coast since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Early life

Natoli was born in Bundaberg, but grew up in Brisbane where she attended

Aspley State High School Aspley State High School is a secondary school situated in the northern suburbs of Brisbane, in the Australian state of Queensland. As of August 2023 it has a student population of 1,081. History Aspley State High School opened on 29 January 1 ...

. She was school captain and dux of the school. Some of her early employment experience includes working at clothing retailer

Best & Less Best & Less is an Australian retailer of clothing and household linens. As of October 2022, Best & Less has 182 stores as well as an online platform. History Best & Less was founded by Berel Ginges in January 1965, by occupying part of the grou ...

and the Sheraton Hotel. She graduated from the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

with 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 ...

majoring in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

before receiving a Graduate Diploma in Communication – Journalism from the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

Media career

Journalism

Natoli was a presenter for the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

's regional network,

Seven Queensland STQ is an Australian television station, licensed to, and serving the regional areas of Queensland. The station is owned and operated by the Seven Network from studios located in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. The callsign STQ stands for ...

. Natoli commenced working for the network as a journalist, initially based in

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

and then Maryborough before relocating to the Sunshine Coast where she has lived ever since. Although based on the Sunshine Coast, Natoli was seen throughout the state reading local ''

Seven News Seven News (stylised 7NEWS) is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in South Eveleigh, Sydney, while its flags ...

'' updates for the various geographical areas of Queensland while also filling in for weather forecaster Livio Regano on the main 6pm bulletin in each market. Natoli was also a journalism lecturer at the

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC; formerly abbreviated as USC until 2022) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it ...

. She took leave from both positions in the lead up to the 2024 local elections. After being declared the new mayor of the Sunshine Coast, Natoli officially resigned from both positions.

''Fake or Fortune?''

In 2017, Natoli and her husband Joe Natoli appeared on the BBC's ''

Fake or Fortune? ''Fake or Fortune?'' is a BBC One documentary television series which examines the provenance and attribution of notable artworks. Since the first series aired in 2011, ''Fake or Fortune?'' has drawn audiences of up to 5 million viewers in t ...

'' which investigated the authenticity of a

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe i ...

oil painting, entitled ''

Rejected ''Rejected'' is an animated surrealist short comedy film directed by Don Hertzfeldt that was released in 2000. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the following year at the 73rd Academy Awards, and received 27 a ...

'', which the Natoli's had purchased from an English auction website in 2013. The Natoli's initially believed the work to be genuine and had it estimated prior to auction at $30,000 before a Tom Roberts expert cast doubt on its authenticity. Thinking it was worthless, Natoli stored the painting in a cupboard until a friend suggested approaching ''Fake or Fortune?'' At the conclusion of their investigation, art historian

Mary Eagle Mary Eagle is an Australian art critic, curator and art historian, the author of books, articles and papers on Australian art and artists. Early life and education Eagle was born in Bairnsdale, Victoria in 1944. In her late 20s she took a Bachel ...

concluded the work to be genuine.

Political career

In December 2023, Natoli announced she would contest the 2024 Queensland local government elections as a mayoral candidate for the

Sunshine Coast Regional Council The Sunshine Coast Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia, from which it takes its name. It was created by the amalg ...

, vying to be the successor of

Mark Jamieson Mark Ian Jamieson (born 4 May 1984, in Dandenong) is an Australian professional racing cyclist. He started competing at the age of 10 in 1994, he first represented his country in the World Junior Track Championships in 2001. He was an Australi ...

who had announced he would not be recontesting the position. Natoli achieved 27% of the primary vote, defeating her nearest rival Ashley Robinson on 24% and was subsequently elected as the new mayor of the Sunshine Coast Region. Her election resulted in Natoli becoming the first woman to be elected mayor of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

Personal life

Natoli married her husband Joe Natoli in 1989, and has three children. Her husband is a councillor on the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, the same council which she now leads. This has led to some concerns around potential

conflicts of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations in whi ...

, which both Natoli and her husband dismissed. In 2004, her husband became the final person to be elected as mayor of the

Maroochy Shire Council The Shire of Maroochy was a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1890 until 2008, when it ...

prior to the council being merged into the new larger Sunshine Coast Regional Council which was formed as a result of the 2008 Queensland council amalgamations. Although he attempted to be elected as inaugural mayor of the new council, he was defeated by former Noosa Shire mayor Bob Abbot. Natoli has an interest in performing, beginning when she played the lead role in a school musical at Aspley State High School. In 2017, she played the

Wicked Witch The Wicked Witch of the West, a fictional character in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) by the American author L. Frank Baum, is the evil ruler of the Winkie Country, the western region in the Land of Oz. S ...

in a stage production of ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

''. In March 2022, Natoli was ranked at #64 in the list of Sunshine Coast's 100 most inspirational women, compiled by the ''

Sunshine Coast Daily The Sunshine Coast Daily is an online newspaper specifically serving the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland, Australia. It is owned by News Corp Australia. It was originally founded as a print newspaper, however since 2020 the publication is ...

''. In August 2022, Natoli was injured when she slipped and fell just prior to her taking to the stage to MC the Victory in the Pacific ball on the Sunshine Coast. She was treated by paramedics at the scene before being transported to hospital where she underwent surgery for a break in her forearm.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natoli, Rosanna Living people Mayors of places in Queensland Women mayors of places in Queensland Australian women television presenters Australian television newsreaders and news presenters Seven News presenters University of Queensland alumni Queensland University of Technology alumni Year of birth missing (living people) People from Bundaberg