Australian politician
Helen Mary Haines
(born 21 September 1961) is an Australian politician who has served as the
independent
MP for the Victorian seat of
Indi
since the
2019 federal election
.
[2]
Early life and education
[
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]
Haines grew up on a dairy farm in
Colac
in southwestern
Victoria
with four brothers, and attended a public school in Eurack. She trained as a registered nurse at St Vincent's Hospital and later as a midwife at
Mercy Hospital for Women
in
Melbourne
. In 1986, she moved to northeastern Victoria and began working as a midwife at Wangaratta Base Hospital before being appointed matron and Director of Nursing at the Chiltern Bush Nursing Hospital. Haines completed a bachelor's degree at
Deakin University
and a master's degree in
epidemiology
and
public health
at the
University of New South Wales
. In 2004, she travelled to
Stockholm
to study at
Uppsala University
, completing a doctoral degree in medical science in 2012. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the
Karolinska Institute
, with her doctoral thesis titled "‘No worries’: A longitudinal study of fear, attitudes and beliefs about childbirth from a cohort of Australian and Swedish women".
[3]
[4]
Haines was one of eleven MPs elected to the
46th Parliament of Australia
who possessed a PhD, the others being
Katie Allen
,
Fiona Martin
,
Anne Aly
,
Andrew Leigh
,
Daniel Mulino
,
Jess Walsh
,
Adam Bandt
,
Mehreen Faruqi
,
Anne Webster
and
Jim Chalmers
.
[5]
Politics
[
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]
On 13 January 2019, Haines was endorsed by community organisation
Voices 4 Indi
as the potential successor to incumbent MP
Cathy McGowan
for the division of Indi in the 2019 federal election. McGowan, an independent, had won the seat from the
Liberal Party
in the
2013 election
and retained it in
2016
, and had stated that she would retire at the 2019 election if she was confident that an independent successor, chosen by Voices 4 Indi, would be able to retain the seat.
[6]
On 14 January 2019, McGowan formally announced her pending retirement, stating her confidence in Haines and endorsing her for the election.
[7]
In the lead up to the election, Haines advocated for an increase to the Jobseeker Payment and strong action on
climate change
, including a target of 50% renewable energy by 2030. She was one of seven independent candidates in the election to sign a joint agreement to cooperate on climate action in the new parliament; she also voiced her opposition to the proposed
Adani coal mine
in
Queensland
. She stressed the need for a national rural health service strategy and greater investment in rural infrastructure. She did not express a preference for either the
Coalition
or the
Labor Party
, stating that she would be willing to work with the government in either majority or minority. She also promised to hold the government accountable for promises it had made for Indi during the campaign.
[2]
In the 2019 federal election, Haines won Indi, winning 32.4% of the primary vote and 51.4% of the
two-party preferred
vote. She defeated Liberal Steve Martin on the sixth count on
Labor
preferences.
[8]
She became the first independent in Australian history to succeed another independent in a federal seat.
[2]
[9]
In November 2021, Haines introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to create a
Federal Independent Commission Against Corruption
. The bill had majority support from independents, the Greens, the opposition Labor Party, and even
Bridget Archer
(the Liberal Party MP for
Bass
, who
crossed the floor
to vote in favour of debate). Despite this, the governing Liberal/National Coalition voted down debate on the bill, they were able to win the vote due to not all MPs being present in the chamber.
[10]
At the 2022 federal election, Haines was
re-elected
with a significantly increased margin.
Personal life
[
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]
Haines and her husband live on a beef farm outside
Wangaratta
. They have three children.
[4]
References
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]
External links
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]