Yvette Simone Berry (born 1 August 1968) is an Australian politician and
Deputy Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory. She has been a
Labor Party member for the seat of
Ginninderra in the
ACT Legislative Assembly since the
2012 ACT election. Berry is the daughter of
Wayne Berry who was a Member of the ACT Assembly for Ginninderra from 1989 to 2008, Deputy Chief Minister from 1991 to 1994,
Opposition Leader from 1997 to 1998 and
Speaker from 2001 to 2008. Berry is the first family member of a current or previous member to be elected to the ACT assembly.
Biography
For schooling, Berry attended Holt Primary School, Ginninderra District High School and
Hawker College
Hawker College is a senior secondary college in Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Aus ...
.
Prior to her election to the Assembly Berry worked as a community organiser for the
United Voice
United Voice was an Australian trade union from 1992 to 2019. It merged with the National Union of Workers to form the United Workers Union in 2019. United Voice was part of the Labor Left faction of the Australian Labor Party.
The union was ...
(formerly called the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU)) trade union for more than 15 years representing workers and their families to win fairer wages and better conditions.
She was active in the
Clean Start campaign to improve jobs for cleaners in the CBD office cleaning industry and coordinated the
Big Steps campaign to win professional wages for Early Childhood Educators in the early childhood education sector. Before she started working at the LHMU Berry commenced her working life in the hospitality industry where she worked for 8 years.
Berry is a full-time working mother with two children who lives with her family in the
West Belconnen suburb of
Macgregor.
Political career
Berry chaired the Legislative Assembly's ‘Select Committee on Regional Development’ which undertook an inquiry into regional development from February 2013 to February 2014.
In 2014 Berry was a member of the following Standing Committees: Public Accounts (PAC), Health, Ageing, Community and Social Services (HACS), Education, Training and Youth Affairs (ETYA) and Chair of the Planning, Environment and Territory and Municipal Services (PETAMS) Standing Committee.
Berry voted for the Legislative Assembly's 'Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013'
On 20 January,
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...
Andrew Barr appointed Berry a Minister in his Government. She assumed the following portfolios: Women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Housing, Community Services and Social Inclusion, Multicultural and Youth Affairs and she was made Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Social Inclusion and Equality.
Following the
ACT 2016 election, Berry was appointed Deputy Chief Minister in the re-elected Barr Labor Government. This is the same position her father, Wayne, held between 1991 and 1994. She assumed portfolio responsibilities for Education and Early Childhood Development, Housing and Suburban Development, Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Sport and Recreation, while retaining portfolio responsibilities for Women.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Yvette
1968 births
Living people
Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
Australian trade unionists
21st-century Australian politicians
21st-century Australian women politicians
People educated at Hawker College
Women members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
Politicians from Canberra