Sophie Mirabella

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Sophie Mirabella
MP
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Indi
In office
10 November 2001 – September 2013
Preceded by Lou Lieberman
Succeeded by Cathy McGowan
Personal details
Born Sophie Panopoulos
(1968-10-27) 27 October 1968 (age 44)
Melbourne, Victoria
Nationality Australian
Political party Liberal Party of Australia
Spouse(s) Greg Mirabella
Children 2
Residence Wangaratta East, Victoria
Alma mater University of Melbourne (BCom, LLB)
Occupation Lawyer
Religion Greek Orthodox
Ethnicity Greek
Website http://www.sophiemirabella.com.au/

Sophie Mirabella (née Panopoulos) (born 27 October 1968) is an Australian lawyer who has been a Liberal Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of Indi, Victoria. After spending a number of years on the backbench, she moved to the position of Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government after the Coalition lost government in 2007, and to the role of Spokeswoman on Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women and Youth in 2008. Mirabella was the Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research up to the 2013 election.

Personal life[edit source | edit]

Mirabella was born Sophie Panopoulos in Melbourne, Victoria, her parents having arrived in Australia from Greece in 1956. She was educated at St Catherine's School, Toorak while working part-time at her father's milk bar. Upon finishing secondary school, Mirabella attended Melbourne University where she studied law and became involved in student activism through the Melbourne University Liberal Club, of which she was president, and as vice-president of the Australian Liberal Students' Federation.[1] After graduating from Melbourne University with degrees in law and commerce,[2] Mirabella worked as a solicitor and articled clerk from 1995 to 1997. From 1998 until her election to Parliament, she worked as a barrister.

In 1995, she began a live-in relationship with Colin Howard, then dean of law at Melbourne University, who was forty years her senior. The relationship ended in 2001, although they remained close until his death in 2011. Her relationship with Howard was later the subject of a bitter dispute between Mirabella and Howard's adult children. Mirabella was granted power of attorney over Howard's estate, and made herself the sole beneficiary.[3]

In June 2006 she married Lieutenant-Colonel Greg Mirabella, a former army reserve officer still working in the defense industry.[4] The couple have two daughters.[1]

Political career[edit source | edit]

Mirabella has been a member of the Liberal Party since 1987. She became well known during the debate on Australia becoming a republic as a prominent advocate for retaining the constitutional monarchy, and was an elected member of the 1998 Constitutional Convention.[5] In 2001 Mirabella won preselection as the Liberal candidate to succeed Lou Lieberman as the Member for Indi, standing against Sussan Ley,[6] which she won in the 2001 federal election with a vote of 61.15% on a two-party preferred basis.[7] Mirabella received a well above-average[citation needed] 5.6% swing to her in the 2004 federal election, giving her 66.3% of the two-party preferred vote and making Indi a safe Liberal seat.[8] After the 2010 election, she held her seat with a margin of 19.88% two party preferred against Labor.[9] As of 5 September 2013 (2013-09-05) Mirabella is "battling to hold onto her seat"[10] as counting of the 2013 Federal election continues, with a swing of 7.49%[11] against her; Mirabella commented "The truth is Indi has never been the safe Liberal seat".[10]

Within the federal government, Mirabella sat in the backbench until 2007. During this time, in 2005, she attracted public attention as a key member of an informal "ginger group" of Liberal backbenchers. She chaired this group with Victorian Senator Mitch Fifield. The group argued for "tax reform" (in essence, tax cuts paid for by reductions in government spending), sparking public debate on the topic.[12] Although Fifield stepped away from the group after budget cuts in 2005, Mirabella continued for a time as the group's chair.[13] While on the backbench, Mirabella took a strong stance on the prominent issue of asylum seekers, criticising a group of four fellow Liberal backbenchers, including Petro Georgiou and Judi Moylan, for opposing government policy on mandatory detention.[14] In August 2005, she called for Muslim women to be required to remove their head dress when posing for photo identification.[15] Mirabella has been an advocate of voluntary student unionism (VSU) and strongly supported the legislation proposed by Brendan Nelson.[16]

In opposition[edit source | edit]

In 2007 the Coalition lost the federal election and entered opposition. After the election, Mirabella was promoted to the role of Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government under the leadership of Brendan Nelson.[17] While serving as a Shadow Parliamentary Secretary, Mirabella attracted controversy in January 2008 when she launched an attack on former Liberal Party Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, after a speech he gave at Melbourne University on "the Bush Administration (reversing) 60 years of progress in establishing a law-based international system", claiming errors and "either intellectual sloppiness or deliberate dishonesty", and that he tacitly supports Islamic fundamentalism, should have no influence on foreign policy, and that his stance on the war on terror has left him open to caricature as a "frothing-at-the-mouth leftie".[18][19][20] She was also one of five Liberal Party of Australia MPs not present in February 2008, when a motion was passed unanimously apologising to the stolen generations of indigenous children between federation and the 1970s.[21] She explained her decision by asserting that there had never been a formal policy in Victoria of removing children from their families and that there is no evidence for any "truly stolen" children,[22] despite the fact that the first laws passed giving authorities the right to take children from their parents were passed and used in Victoria.[23]

Malcolm Turnbull challenged Brendan Nelson for leadership of the Liberal Party in September 2008, and Mirabella was one of those who pledged their support to Turnbull. She was promoted as part of the subsequent reshuffle, becoming the opposition Spokeswoman on Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women and Youth.[24] Her move to the Shadow Cabinet came in 2009 when she was promoted to the role of Spokeswoman for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, after Tony Abbott defeated Malcolm Turnbull in a leadership spill.[25] Mirabella had joined Abbott in resigning from the frontbench over Turnbull's climate change policy,[26] and her move to the Shadow Cabinet was seen as part of the rise of the social-conservative right within the party.[1]

Parliamentary style[edit source | edit]

According to Fenella Souter in the Sydney Morning Herald, Mirabella is known for her "caustic, confrontational manner".[1] Her behaviour has led her to be ejected from parliament on at least two occasions. In 2007, David Hawker expelled Mirabella from parliament for shouting at him after being warned twice to resume her seat. She defied parliamentary orders under Standing Order No. 94A and thus was removed from the House of Representatives for misconduct.[27] In 2010, Peter Slipper expelled Mirabella from parliament for 24 hours on the eve of the vote on the carbon tax, when she "refused to accept a ruling barring her from tabling an anti-carbon tax petition".[28]

On a number of occasions her comments both inside and outside of parliament have attracted controversy. In 2008, Mirabella stated in parliament to Julia Gillard, who is childless, "You won't need his (ex-PM Kevin Rudd) taxpayer-funded nanny, will you?"[29] Mirabella again created controversy on 2 March 2011, when she compared the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, to Muammar Gaddafi, claiming that both were delusional.[30] The Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, refused to condemn Mirabella, instead terming the comparison colourful and not language he would use.[31] And in 2012, Mirabella denounced fellow Liberal NSW Senator Bill Heffernan by telling him to "Oh, why don't you go and pop your Alzheimer's pills." This was in response to Heffernan branding a fellow Liberal senator a "fuckwit."[32]

Prior to the 2013 Federal Election, retiring independent MP Tony Windsor nominated Mirabella for "the nasty prize" when asked who the person he would miss least in politics on the ABC "Insiders" program. "She is the nastiest — I reckon if you put it to a vote to all politicians, she’d come up No.1.” [33]

Media[edit source | edit]

On 2 July 2012 Mirabella appeared as a panellist on the ABC panellist TV talkback show Q&A. In an incident where a fellow panellist (GetUp! director Simon Sheikh) fainted live on air, Mirabella was criticised for not responding to Sheikh's situation.[34][35] A spokesperson for Mirabella said she was unaware that it was a medical emergency.[36]

References[edit source | edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Souter, Fenella (26 May 2012). "Will to Power". Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). p. 10. 
  2. ^ "Sophie Mirabella". Q&A. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  3. ^ "Power, love and money". The Age. Fairfax Media. 23 September 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2011. 
  4. ^ Bugelly, Chloe (11 July 2006). "Sophie weds in military theme". The Border Mail. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 July 2010. 
  5. ^ Schubert, Misha (18 June 2005). "A tale of two Liberals". The Age Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  6. ^ Ramsey, Alan (19 March 2005). "Women the power behind the PM". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  7. ^ "2001 Profile of the division of Indi". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  8. ^ "2004 Profile of the division of Indi". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 August 2012. 
  9. ^ "VIC DIVISION – INDI". Election 2010. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 August 2012. 
  10. ^ a b "Outcome of northern Victorian seat of Indi may not be known for days". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013. 
  11. ^ "Vic Division - Indi". Election 2013: Virtual Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013. 
  12. ^ Karvelas, Patricia (7 June 2005). "Ginger group eyes capital gains tax". The Australian. p. 2. 
  13. ^ Colman, Elizabeth (9 September 2005). "Ginger group to meet again". The Australian. p. 2. 
  14. ^ "Rebel MPs 'behaving like political terrorists'". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 June 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2012. 
  15. ^ "Bishop backs headscarf ban". The Age 28 August 2005. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  16. ^ Woe, David (10 August 2005). "Student unionism divides Coalition". The Age Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  17. ^ "Mrs Sophie Mirabella MP". Parliament of Australia. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  18. ^ Sexton, Reid (6 January 2008). "Liberal MP attacks 'frothing' Fraser". theage.com.au. The Age Company. Retrieved 23 July 2010. 
  19. ^ Hedge, Mike (8 September 2013). "Mirabella fighting for political life". news.com.au. News Corp. Retrieved 9 September 2013. 
  20. ^ [Paula] (1 July 2013). "Michaelia Cash's attack: Coalition women take nastiness to a new low". theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 9 September 2013. 
  21. ^ Schubert, Misha; Dewi Cooke (15 February 2008). "Outspoken Liberal MP defends apology boycott". theage.com.au. The Age Company. Retrieved 23 July 2010. 
  22. ^ "Children removed 'for own good', says Mirabella". news.com.au. News Corp. 13 February 2008. Retrieved 23 July 2010. 
  23. ^ Christie, M.F. (1979). Aboriginal People in Colonial Victoria 1835–86. Sydney: Sydney University Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN 9780424000664. 
  24. ^ Berkovic, Nicola (23 September 2008). "Women rewarded in Liberal reshuffle". The Australian. p. 4. 
  25. ^ Cronin, Danielle (9 December 2009). "Fighting Abbott to lead with his right". The Canberra Times. p. 1. 
  26. ^ Franklin, Matthew; Shanahan, Dennis (27 November 2009). "Malcolm Turnbull defies mutineers". The Australian (News Limited). Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2010. 
  27. ^ Bunn, Anthony (27 February 2007). "Mirabella ordered to the sin bin". The Border Mail (Albury-Wodonga). Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  28. ^ Vasek, Lanai (12 October 2011). "Expulsion of Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella eases passage of carbon tax in the lower house". The Australian. Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  29. ^ Hein, Tim (22 May 2012). "The 10 Most Publicised Abusive Comments about Julia Gillard". Tim Hein. Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  30. ^ Leslie, Tim (2 March 2011). "Swan appalled by Gillard-Gaddafi comparison". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 August 2011. 
  31. ^ "Comparing Gillard to Gaddafi 'colourful', says Abbott". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 March 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011. 
  32. ^ Coorey, Phillip (29 February 2012). "Coalition in a froth over milk". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  33. ^ Kotsios, Natalie (2 July 2013). "Windsor: Sophie Mirabella doesn't get country people". The Border Mail Local News. Retrieved 10 September 2013. 
  34. ^ "downs GetUp! boss on live TV". smh.com.au. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012. 
  35. ^ http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/mirabella-reaction-awakens-twitterati/story-e6frg996-1226415259739 "Mirabella Reaction Awakens Twitterati"
  36. ^ "Rattled by Sheikh". The Project. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2012. 

External links[edit source | edit]

Parliament of Australia
Preceded by
Lou Lieberman		 Member for Indi
2001–present		 Incumbent
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