Suzie Holt

Suzie Holt (born 10 December 1972) is an Australian politician. Before entering politics, she had a career as a social worker. Holt ran for federal parliament in the Division of Groom in the 2022 Australian federal election, receiving 43.11% of the 2CP vote. She has announced her candidacy for the upcoming 2025 Australian Federal Election. She is a Community Independent.

Early life and career

Holt and her family relocated to Toowoomba in 1993. She retired from social work to raise her two daughters, Lucy and Jemima, and manage the medical practice of her husband Miles Brodie, an anaesthetist. She also became a trustee of the Empire Theatre Foundation.

Political career

After a tightly contested Liberal National Party preselection battle in 2020 led to conservative Garth Hamilton winning the seat at a by-election, Holt was approached by members of the moderate faction to join the LNP and run for preselection. Instead she chose to join the Voices movement and established Voices of Groom, a community group with the aim of finding a local candidate to run for parliament.

Several prominent local figures were invited to stand as Voices of Groom's independent candidate, but declined, believing the seat to be unwinnable and candidacy too professionally and socially toxic. Holt eventually stood and was chosen as the group's endorsed candidate.

Holt ran on a platform of More 4 Groom, focusing on business, agriculture, climate, women, and health. She received positive media coverage in The Chronicle and The Saturday Paper. Despite Groom being considered one of the safest seats in the country and having always been represented by a member of the Liberal National Party, and an aggressive counter-campaign by incumbent Hamilton, Holt achieved 43.11% of the vote in a swing that was described on election night as ‘historic’.

Holt continued her community advocacy work, travelling to Canberra to promote local issues. In 2024 she announced she would contest the 2025 federal election as the Community Independent for Groom, with the endorsement of both Voices of Groom and the Community Independents Project.