Preceded by Warren Snowdon Name Fiona Nash Nationality Australian Role Australian Senator | Spouse(s) David Nash Children Two Residence Young, Australia | |
 | ||
Prime Minister Tony Abbott
Malcolm Turnbull Born 6 May 1965 (age 59)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ( 1965-05-06 ) Political party National Party of Australia Office Australian Senator since 2005 Party National Party of Australia Books Matters Relating to the Establishment of an Australian Football League Team for Tasmania: Report Profiles | ||
Education Charles Sturt University | ||
Rma15 senator the hon fiona nash at rma15 adelaide
Fiona Joy Nash (née Morton; born 6 May 1965) is an Australian politician. She has represented the National Party of Australia in the Australian Senate for the state of New South Wales since 1 July 2005 and has served as the Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Parliament of Australia since 11 February 2016, having previously served as the party's deputy Senate leader since 2008.
Contents
- Rma15 senator the hon fiona nash at rma15 adelaide
- Otcc 2015 opening address senator the hon fiona nash
- Career
- Personal life
- References
In the Turnbull Government, Nash has served as the Minister for Local Government and Territories since 19 July 2016, and the Minister for Regional Development, and the Minister for Regional Communications since 18 February 2016. Nash had previously served as the Minister for Rural Health between 21 September 2015 and 19 July 2016, and as the Assistant Minister for Health in the Abbott Government between 18 September 2013 and 21 September 2015.
Otcc 2015 opening address senator the hon fiona nash
Career
Between 1999 and 2004, she worked as staff member for National Party federal ministers, Mark Vaile, Larry Anthony, and De-Anne Kelly before her election to the Senate. In 2008, she was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Water Resources and Conservation on the Opposition frontbench, but was asked to resign by Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull when she expressed her support for a motion by the Australian Greens to block the introduction of up-front tax breaks for carbon sinks. She did so, and subsequently crossed the floor with four other National senators to vote for the motion. After the 2010 election she returned to the Opposition frontbench when appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in September 2010.
Following the 2013 federal election, Nash was appointed as Assistant Minister for Health in the Abbott Government. In February 2014 she came under scrutiny after it was revealed that her chief of staff, Alastair Furnival, held shares in a lobby group, which culminated with his resignation the same month. In March the Senate formally censured Nash after she missed a deadline to produce a letter Furnival apparently wrote, outlining how he would avoid conflicts of interest, given that his wife owned a lobbying company, Australian Public Affairs, which represented junk food clients.
On 17 August 2017, Nash became embroiled in the 2017 Australian constitutional crisis. Nash informed the Senate that she was a British citizen by descent from her Scottish-born father. Her eligibility will be referred to the High Court of Australia alongside numerous other cases of potential breaches of Section 44 of the Australian Constitution.
Personal life
Nash was born in Sydney and was educated at Mitchell College of Advanced Education in Bathurst, New South Wales, where she graduated in arts. Nash is married to David Nash, a farmer, and they have two sons. They live in the Young district in the south-west region of southern New South Wales.