Federal Member for Braddon
Anne Urquhart was born in Latrobe, Tasmania in 1957 and raised in nearby Ulverstone and Gawler.
Anne has been married to Graham Urquhart for five decades and they have two children and four grandchildren. Anne began her working life in the late 1970’s at Simplot, a vegetable processing factory in Ulverstone.
Her involvement with the Union movement began in 1979 when she joined the Food Preservers Union, which later amalgamated to become the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. One of the first battles Anne faced as a Union Official was gaining credibility amongst a predominantly male workforce who were not used to rallying behind a woman.
In 2004, Anne was elected to the position of State Secretary of the AMWU, the first female State Secretary in Australia and relocated to Hobart fill the position. After 28 years of representing workers in the fight for fairer pay and conditions, Anne was sworn into the Senate on 1 July 2011.
In October 2013 Anne was elected to the position of Deputy Opposition Whip in the Australian Senate. Following the double dissolution election in July 2016, at the commencement of the 45th Parliament in August 2016 Anne was elected to Chief Opposition Whip in the Australian Senate and continued in this role for the 46th parliament.
Anne was re-elected to the Senate at the federal election in May 2022, and was subsequently elected in the 47th parliament to the position of Chief Government Whip in the Senate
In 2024 the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese asked Anne if she would run for the seat of Braddon in the House of Representatives at the 2025 election.
With three years left in her Senate term, Anne stepped down from the Senate on the 28 March 2025 to become the candidate for Braddon.
Anne was elected, on the 3rd May 2025 as the Federal Member for Braddon but also recorded the highest swing in the nation at 15.2%.
Anne is proud to be part of an Albanese Labor Government and to represent Braddon.
