Political Profiles of Water Ministers, Plibersek, Jackson, and Shing

Tanya Plibersek. Federal Water Minister.

The image above is the vote tally recorded on the Australian Electoral Commission website.

Tanya Plibersek is the Labor Member of the House of Representatives for the division of Sydney.

In the 2022 Federal election Tanya was elected with 50.82% of the primary vote. After distribution of preferences (which was actually unnecessary as she was already elected with over half the vote) Tanya achieved 66.69% of the vote.

The candidate with the next highest primary vote was The Greens’ Chetan Sahai with 23.01%. After the distribution of preferences, Chetan achieved another 10,623 votes and was the losing candidate on the two party preferred basis with 33.31% of the total.

Interestingly, Chetan’s 10,634 preference votes means that a large number of the 20,276 Liberal Party voters (probably around 8,000) cast their preference votes for Chetan rather than Tanya. This could be because these Liberal voters preferred The Greens policies to Labors’, or because they considered the Labor candidate their primary opponent and listed Tanya last on the voting ballot in an attempt to prevent Labor from winning. Or of course, they could have voted as such for some other reason.

There is no indication of any influential interest or support in the division of Sydney for the irrigation and timber industries that are so important to many people in the Riverina. There is in fact great interest and support for suppressing these industries, as expressed in The Greens primary and preferential votes. Tanya Plibersek can be expected to act accordingly.

Tanya Plibersek Parliamentary profile here.

Tanya Plibersek Wikipedia profile here.

Rose Jackson. NSW Water Minister.

Appointed to the NSW Legislative Council by the Labor Party as the replacement Member following Linda Voltz’s election to the NSW Legislative Assembly in 2019 and consequent resignation from the Legislative Council.

Rose is associated with the left faction of the Labor party.

There is no indication of any interest in, or support for, the irrigation, timber, or other natural resource based industries.

Rose can be expected to continue the suppression of the irrigation, timber and other natural resource based industries.

Rose Jackson NSW Parliamentary profile here.

Rose Jackson Wikipedia profile here.

Harriet Shing. Victorian Water Minister.

First elected to the Legislative Council in 2014 and re-elected in 2022. Located in Gippsland (Morwell).

Harriet is associated with the left faction of the Labor party.

There is no indication of any interest in, or support for, the irrigation, timber, or other natural resource based industries, despite Harriet being from the coal mining centre of Morwell.

Harriet can be expected to continue the suppression of the irrigation, timber and other natural resource based industries.

Harriet Shing Parliamentary profile.

Harriet Shing Wikipedia profile.

Note that Jackson and Shing, as members of the Legislative Councils of NSW and Victoria respectively, are practically elected ‘above the line’ as one of a list of candidates on their party’s ticket. They are not elected by voters completing an individual ballot as are the members of these States’ Legislative Assemblies, or as Tanya Plibersek was.

David Landini