Alannah MacTiernan

The Honourable Alannah MacTiernan MLC
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for South West
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 May 2021
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for North Metropolitan
In office 22 May 2017 – 21 May 2021
Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Perth
In office 7 September 2013 – 9 May 2016
Preceded by	Stephen Smith
Succeeded by	Tim Hammond
4th Mayor of the City of Vincent
In office 16 October 2011 – 26 September 2013
Preceded by	Nick Catania
Succeeded by	John Carey
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for Armadale
In office 14 December 1996 – 19 July 2010
Preceded by	Kay Hallahan
Succeeded by	Tony Buti
Member of the Western Australian Legislative Council for East Metropolitan
In office 6 February 1993 – 21 November 1996
Preceded by	Kay Hallahan
Succeeded by	Paul Sulc
Councillor of the City of Perth
In office 1988–1994
Personal details
Born	(1953-01-10) 10 January 1953 (age 68) East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Education	University of Western Australia BA LLB

Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan (born 10 January 1953 in East Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian politician. A member of the Australian Labor Party, she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council in 1993, moving to the Legislative Assembly in 1996, where she served as a senior minister in the Gallop state Labor government. She resigned from state politics in July 2010 in an unsuccessful attempt to win the federal seat of Canning at the 2010 federal election, then moved to local politics as the mayor of the City of Vincent from 2011 to 2013. She was elected to the federal seat of Perth at the 2013 federal election, though did not contest the seat at the 2016 federal election. She returned to Western Australian state politics at the 2017 state election as a Legislative Council member for the North Metropolitan region, moving to South West region at the 2021 election.

Political career[]

MacTiernan studied at the University of Western Australia, where she completed an arts degree and a law degree. She started her career with the federal government, in the area of Aboriginal employment and training. She was elected to the Perth City Council in 1988, where she remained until 1994. In 1993, she was elected as the member for the East Metropolitan region in the Western Australian Legislative Council.

She was Minister for Planning and Infrastructure in the Western Australian government from 2001 to 2008. During that time she established the Public Transport Authority (Western Australia), which helped to transform the planning and management of public transport, particularly in Perth. Her period in office saw the construction of many railway and road projects, including the building of the 70-kilometre-long Mandurah railway line (including a tunnel under central Perth), the extensions of the Joondalup railway line, Mitchell Freeway, and the Roe and Tonkin Highways, as well as the Kwinana Freeway/Forrest Highway extensions.

In early 2010, she announced her plans to contest the Liberal-held federal seat of Canning, which included her state seat, and on 26 February 2010 resigned from the shadow ministry.

She officially resigned from state parliament on 19 July 2010, two days after prime minister Julia Gillard had announced the timetable for the 2010 federal election. Despite particularly strong results in areas which she had previously represented, MacTiernan came up short of victory, only garnering a 2.16 percent swing—three points short of what she needed to take the seat from Liberal incumbent Don Randall. She was elected as the mayor of the City of Vincent in October 2011.^[1]

After Stephen Smith revealed that he was going to retire as member for the federal electorate of Perth at the 2013 federal election, MacTiernan announced her intention to contest the seat for the ALP, and the only other candidate for Labor pre-selection Matthew Keogh withdrew his nomination.^[2] At the election on 7 September, MacTiernan was successful in winning the seat despite a 1.5% swing against her.

In July 2014 it was reported that a UMR^[clarify] "robo-poll" of 23 federal electorates, conducted for the National Tertiary Education Union, had found that MacTiernan was the second most popular federal MP, with an approval rating among her own constituents of +30.^[3]

MacTiernan announced in February 2016 that she would not be contesting her seat at the 2016 federal election.^[4] She was succeeded by Labor's Tim Hammond.

In August 2016 MacTiernan announced she would return to Western Australian state politics, and was placed as WA Labor's first candidate for the North Metropolitan electoral region.^[5] The landslide victory for WA Labor at the 2017 state election ensured her return to the Legislative Council.

In 2019 MacTiernan was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent surgery and chemotherapy.^[6]

References[]

External links[]

• MacTiernan's ALP profile