Roshena Campbell is an Australian barrister and politician who is currently the Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne since 2024 and has served as a member of the

City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the Melbourne central business district, central city area of Melbourne. In 2021, the city has an area of and had a populati ...

council since 2020. Campbell unsuccessfully contested the Division of Aston for the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

in the 2023 by-election.

Early life and education

Campbell's parents migrated from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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 ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in the 1970s. Speaking on her upbringing, Campbell stated that her parents were small business owners who supported the Liberal premiership of

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 ...

and the tenure of

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 ...

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

. At age 17, Campbell moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

by herself. She attended the Monash University Faculty of Law, and also 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 ...

where she received a

Master of Law A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree in 2010.

Career

After graduating from Monash University, Campbell worked for leading commercial law firm

Corrs Chambers Westgarth Corrs Chambers Westgarth (often referred to as ''Corrs'') is an Australian commercial law firm founded in 1841. Corrs has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Port Moresby. Corrs' clients include national and international corporat ...

. She went on to become a commercial and public law barrister in 2016. Campbell was elected a

councillor in the 2020 election. She was among the members of the council elected in alliance with

Sally Capp Sally Anne Capp (born 1967) is a former Australian politician who was the 104th List of mayors and lord mayors of Melbourne, lord mayor of Melbourne, elected on 18 May 2018 and sworn in on 26 May 2018 with her term ending on 30 June 2024. She ...

. As a councillor, Campbell has criticised what she calls " anti-car measures". In September 2022, Campbell stood down from her position as deputy chair of the council's transport portfolio after criticising the City of Melbourne's

bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor ...

rollout. Campbell argued the bike lane rollout was increasing traffic congestion and stunting the CBD’s economic recovery. Campbell has been a vocal opponent of a drug injecting room in the

. In 2021 Campbell became a regular contributor to

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

. In 2024, Campbell was the running mate of

Nicholas Reece Nicholas Reece (born 1974) is an Australian politician and policy activist, currently serving as the 105th Lord Mayor of the City of Melbourne. He is a senior executive at the University of Melbourne and a principal fellow at the Melbourne Scho ...

who was contesting the role of Lord Mayor at the

2024 Melbourne City Council election The 2024 Melbourne City Council election was held on 26 October 2024 to elect nine councillors and a leadership team (consisting of a List of mayors and lord mayors of Melbourne, lord mayor and List of mayors and lord mayors of Melbourne, deputy ...

. They were successful, defeating 10 other party tickets after preferences.

2021 parliamentary selection effort

In 2021, the

Australian Financial Review The ''Australian Financial Review'' (''AFR'') is an Australian compact daily newspaper with a focus on business, politics and economic affairs. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and has been published continuously since its foun ...

(AFR) reported that Campbell who had been considered a potential Senate preselection candidate instead sought preselection for the

Division of Casey The Division of Casey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The division was created in 1969 and is named ...

in the 2022 federal election. The AFR reported that journalist and former Liberal staffer James Campbell, the husband of the candidate, supported her pre-selection and became the primary carer of their children during the preselection period.

2023 Aston by-election

In 2023, Campbell contested the Division of Aston in a 2023 by-election following the resignation of Liberal MP Alan Tudge. Campbell was selected as the Liberal candidate by the state party's administration committee, defeating preselection candidates oncologist Ranjana Srivastava and former Liberal MP Cathrine Burnett-Wake. During the selection process, Campbell received the support of former MP and

Treasurer of Australia The Treasurer of Australia, also known as the Federal Treasurer or more simply the Treasurer, is the Federal Executive Council (Australia), minister of state of the Australia, Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing government revenu ...

Josh Frydenberg Joshua Anthony Frydenberg (; born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisi ...

. Had Campbell won, she would have made history as the first woman of Indian descent to serve as a Liberal member of parliament. Campbell ultimately lost the by-election to Mary Doyle, the candidate of the Labor Party. During her concession speech, Campbell stated that "I will always be proud to be a Liberal and I will always be proud to be Australian because we live in the greatest country in the world."

Personal life

Campbell is married to

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

political editor James Campbell and is the mother of 4 children. Campbell resides in

Brunswick, Victoria Brunswick is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Merri-bek Local government areas of Victoria, local go ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Roshena Australian lawyers Women local councillors in Australia Australian politicians of Indian descent Australian politicians of Asian descent Monash University alumni Australian Hindus Victoria (state) local councillors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people