Suzanne Kay Boyce (born 15 March 1951, in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Queensland), Australian politician, businesswoman and disability advocate, is a former member of the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

for Queensland. She was selected by 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 ...

in Queensland to replace

Santo Santoro Santo Santoro (born 27 April 1956) is an Australian former politician and a former deputy leader of the Liberal Party in Queensland. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1989 to 2001; and a member of the Australian Sen ...

in the Senate, a decision formally endorsed by the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

. She was Queensland's first female Liberal senator since 1984 and was sworn in a senator on 8 May 2007. Boyce was educated at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, and has a Masters of Business 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 ...

. Boyce was the chair of Everhard Industries, a plumbing supplies company founded by her father Alfred Davis, a position from which she resigned from after her elevation to the Senate. She has also been significantly involved in advocacy for the rights of people with disability, particularly children and adults with intellectual disability. In 2009, she was one of two Liberal senators to support the federal Labor government's

emissions trading scheme Carbon emission trading (also called carbon market, emission trading scheme (ETS) or cap and trade) is a type of emissions trading scheme designed for carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). A form of carbon pricing, its purpose ...

. In 2013, she was the only one from her party to cross the floor to vote for same-sex marriage bill. This made her the first and only federal Liberal politician to vote for marriage equality before the 2017 postal survey. On 8 October 2012, Boyce announced her intention to retire and therefore not contest the

2013 federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal ...

. Her Senate term ended 30 June 2014.

References

External links

Senate of Australia biography
1951 births Living people Monash University alumni Queensland University of Technology alumni Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Liberal National Party of Queensland members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Women members of the Australian Senate Politicians from Brisbane 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians {{Australia-LiberalNational-politician-stub