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Fiona Nash

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The Honourable
Fiona Nash
Nash in 2017
Deputy Leader of the National Party
In office
11 February 2016 – 7 December 2017
LeaderBarnaby Joyce
Preceded byBarnaby Joyce
Succeeded byBridget McKenzie
Minister for Local Government and Territories
In office
19 July 2016 – 27 October 2017
Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull
Preceded byPaul Fletcher (as Minister for Territories, Local Government and Major Projects)
Succeeded byDarren Chester
Minister for Regional Development
In office
18 February 2016 – 27 October 2017
Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull
Preceded byWarren Truss (as Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development)
Succeeded byDarren Chester
Minister for Regional Communications
In office
18 February 2016 – 27 October 2017
Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull
Preceded bySharon Bird (2013)
Succeeded byBridget McKenzie
Minister for Rural Health
In office
21 September 2015 – 19 July 2016
Prime MinisterMalcolm Turnbull
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byBridget McKenzie (2017)
Assistant Minister for Health
In office
18 September 2013 – 21 September 2015
Prime MinisterTony Abbott
Malcolm Turnbull
Preceded byChristopher Pyne (as Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing)
Succeeded byKen Wyatt
Senator for New South Wales
In office
1 July 2005 – 27 October 2017
Succeeded byJim Molan
Personal details
Born
Fiona Joy Morton

(1965-05-06) 6 May 1965 (age 59)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Political partyNational
Spouse
David Nash
​
(m. 1989)​
Children2
Alma materMitchell College of Advanced Education
OccupationFarmer
Politician

Fiona Joy Nash (née Morton; born 6 May 1965) is an Australian former politician. She served as a Senator for New South Wales from 2005 to 2017, representing the National Party. She was the party's deputy leader from 2016 to 2017 and was a cabinet minister in the Turnbull government.

Nash was a farmer in Crowther, New South Wales, prior to entering politics. She was elected to the Senate at the 2004 federal election. After a period as whip, she was elected as deputy Senate leader of the National Party in 2008. Nash was an assistant minister in the Abbott government from 2013 to 2015. In the Turnbull government she served as Minister for Rural Health (2015–2016), Regional Development (2016–2017), Regional Communications (2016–2017), and Local Government and Territories (2016–2017). Nash was elevated to cabinet upon her election as deputy leader of the National Party in February 2016, the first woman to hold the position. Her political career came to an end as a result of the parliament eligibility crisis of 2017, where she was disqualified from parliament for holding British citizenship in breach of section 44 of the constitution.

Early life

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Nash was born in Sydney on 6 May 1965,[1] the daughter of Joy Stuart (née Hird) and Raemond Lothian Morton; her mother was born in Sydney and her father was born in Scotland. Her parents met in the UK where her mother was working as a doctor, moving to Australia in the early 1960s. They divorced in 1973 and she was subsequently raised by her mother.[2]

Nash completed a Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies at the Mitchell College of Advanced Education.[1] In 1991, she and her husband bought a farm in Crowther, New South Wales. They engaged in mixed farming, initially growing grain and bred Merino sheep for wool but later switching to sheep agistment and diversifying their crops. As of 2011, their property of 600 acres (240 ha) was split into sections for wheat and canola, hay, and sheep grazing.[3]

Politics

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Nash joined the National Party in 1995.[3] She was elected to the party's New South Wales state council in 1997 and to the state executive in 1999. She was also a delegate to the federal council from 2002 and treasurer of the women's federal council.[1] Between 1999 and 2004, Nash worked as a staffer for National Party federal ministers Mark Vaile, Larry Anthony, and De-Anne Kelly.[3]

Nash was elected to the Senate at the 2004 federal election, to a term beginning on 1 July 2005.[1] She was only the third woman from her party elected to the Senate, after Agnes Robertson and Florence Bjelke-Petersen. 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.[4] 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.[1]

Following the 2013 federal election, Nash was appointed Assistant Minister for Health in the Abbott government.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] Nash was appointed Minister for Rural Health on 21 September 2015, when Malcolm Turnbull replaced Tony Abbott as prime minister.[1]

On 11 February 2016, Nash was elected deputy leader of the National Party, the first woman to hold the position. She replaced Barnaby Joyce, who had succeeded Warren Truss as party leader upon his retirement.[8][9][10] Nash was consequently appointed to cabinet and given the additional portfolios of Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Regional Communications.[11] She was also appointed Minister for Local Government and Territories on 19 July 2016.[1]

Parliamentary eligibility and disqualification

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On 17 August 2017, Nash became embroiled in the Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, when she informed the Senate that she had received advice that she was a British citizen. Her citizenship had been acquired at birth, by descent from her Scottish-born father. She completed a declaration of renunciation of British citizenship on 18 August 2017.[12] Her eligibility was considered by the High Court of Australia alongside numerous other cases of potential breaches of Section 44 of the Australian Constitution.[13] On 27 October 2017, the court ruled that Nash had been ineligible to have been elected.[14] She was replaced by Liberal candidate Jim Molan.

Later activities

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Nash took the role of Strategic Adviser, Regional Development at Charles Sturt University in early 2018.[15]

In December 2021, Nash was appointed as Australia's first Regional Education Commissioner by the Morrison government, with the objective of championing greater equity between regional and city education.[16][17]

Personal life

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Nash has two sons with her husband David Nash, whom she married in 1989.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Senator Fiona Nash". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Submissions of Senator The Hon Fiona Nash" (PDF). Re Senator The Hon Fiona Nash. Court of Disputed Returns. 28 September 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Bettles, Colin (25 September 2011). "Nash's heart is on the farm". Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  4. ^ Arup, Tom (2 December 2008). "Nats senator axed then crosses floor". The Age.
  5. ^ "Tony Abbott's cabinet and outer ministry". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australian Associated Press. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  6. ^ Metherell, Lexi (13 February 2014). "Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash admits chief of staff holds shares in lobby group". PM (ABC Radio). Australia. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  7. ^ Jabour, Bridie (5 March 2014). "Senate votes to censure Fiona Nash after she fails to hand over document". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  8. ^ Murphy, Katharine (11 February 2016). "Barnaby Joyce wins Nationals leadership, Fiona Nash named deputy". The Guardian. Australia. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  9. ^ Gartrell, Adam (11 February 2016). "Parliament pays tribute to retiring deputy PM Warren Truss ahead of Barnaby Joyce elevation". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  10. ^ Keany, Francis (11 February 2016). "Barnaby Joyce elected unopposed as new Nationals leader". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  11. ^ "Ministerial Swearing-in Ceremony". Events. Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. 18 February 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  12. ^ Submissions of Senator the Hon Fiona Nash (PDF), 28 September 2017, p. 5
  13. ^ "Nationals deputy leader Fiona Nash reveals she is a British citizen, won't be standing aside". ABC News. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  14. ^ "Barnaby Joyce disqualified by High Court". ABC News. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  15. ^ "CSU strengthens regions" (Press release). Charles Sturt University. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Former Nationals Senator Fiona Nash appointed Australia's first regional education commissioner to address city-country gaps". ABC News. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Australian Government appoints first Regional Education Commissioner". Ministers' Media Centre - Department of Education, Skills and Employment. Department of Education, Skills and Employment. 6 December 2021. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
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Parliament of Australia
Political offices
Preceded byas Minister for Territories, Local Government and Major Projects Minister for Local Government and Territories
2016–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister for Regional Development
2016–2017
Vacant
Title last held by
Sharon Bird 		Minister for Regional Communications
2016–2017 		Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Warren Snowdon
as Minister for Indigenous Health 		Minister for Rural Health
2015–2016 		Succeeded byas Assistant Minister for Rural Health
Vacant
Title last held by
Christopher Pyne
as Assistant Minister for Health and Ageing 		Assistant Minister for Health
2013–2015 		Vacant
Title next held by
Ken Wyatt
Party political offices
Preceded by Deputy Leader of the National Party of Australia
2016–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Deputy Leader of the National Party in the Senate
2008–2017
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