Rose Jackson

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The Honourable
Rose Jackson
MLC
Jackson in 2019
Minister for Water
Assumed office
5 April 2023
PremierChris Minns
Preceded byKevin Anderson
Minister for Housing
Minister for Homelessness
Assumed office
5 April 2023
PremierChris Minns
Preceded byAnthony Roberts
Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Assumed office
8 May 2019
Preceded byLynda Voltz
Councillor of Waverley Council
for Lawson Ward
In office
13 September 2008 – 8 September 2012
Personal details
Born1984 or 1985 (age 38–39)[1]
Political partyLabor Party
ResidenceRockdale[2]
Alma materUniversity of Sydney

Rose Butler Jackson is an Australian Labor Party politician serving as a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since 8 May 2019. Since 5 April 2023, she has been serving in the Minns ministry as Minister for Water, Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness, Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Youth, and Minister for the North Coast. She is the former Assistant General Secretary of NSW Labor.

Jackson is a former Secretary of the New South Wales Labor Left faction and associated with the majority hard-left subfaction within Labor Left.[3][4]

As a member of the NSW Labor Parliamentary Caucus, Jackson has called on the party to implement drug law reform including the legalisation of cannabis.[5] Jackson has also called for strong industrial relations reform, like criminalising wage theft, and criminal justice reform in NSW.[6]

Early life and education[edit]

Jackson is the daughter of the late Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Liz Jackson and film maker Martin Butler.[7]

Jackson grew up in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, attended Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and graduated with a Bachelor of Economic and Social Sciences and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney.[8][9]

Student politics[edit]

Jackson was heavily involved in Labor Left student politics. She was originally a member of the Sydney University Socialist Left faction, which was an affiliate of the National Organisation of Labor Students (NOLS). In 2005 she served as President of the University of Sydney Students' Representative Council, where she gained national prominence for her part in organising the student campaign against the Howard government's Voluntary student unionism laws.[7][10]

In 2006, Jackson successfully advocated to re-unify both major Labor Left student factions, NOLS and the Victorian-based Australian Labor Students, and subsequently became the first National Labor Students President of the National Union of Students.[7]

After her involvement in student politics, she became the President of Young Labor Left and a member of the Young Labor State Executive.[7] During this time she worked as a political staffer for state Minister for Education Verity Firth.[8][11]

Career[edit]

For the 2007 Federal Election, Rose was the campaign manager for Labor's Candidate for the marginal Sydney seat of Wentworth, George Newhouse.[citation needed]

On 21 November 2007, it was alleged Jackson had "espoused anti-Zionism" during her tenure in the NUS. The Australian reported on its front page[12] a leaked email which Jackson had addressed to "Dear Activists", stating "I oppose Zionism because it calls for the creation of a Jewish state, and I think all governments should be secular". The incident attracted significant media coverage because of Jackson's role as a staffer for candidate George Newhouse whose electorate of Wentworth has the highest Jewish population of any in Australia. The Australian Jewish News said Jackson's comments "attacked the heart and soul of every Jewish voter".[12] Jackson said she had not understood the definition of Zionism at the time she wrote the email, saying "I support Israel."[13][14][15] In 2014, Jackson toured Israel as part of the first Australia Israel Labor Dialogue study mission.[16]

In September 2008, Jackson was elected as a Councillor to Waverley local council. She also gained media attention in 2008 following her appearance on the ABC's Q&A program during which she confused the concept of Pavlovian conditioning for pavlova, a type of dessert.[17][18]

Jackson served as the National Political Coordinator of left-wing trade union United Voice until 2013, when she moved to a role as a campaign organiser at NSW Labor Office.[citation needed] She was the Secretary of the Labor Left faction from 2010 until 2016 and has been an Assistant General Secretary of NSW Labor and State Convenor of the New South Wales Labor Left faction since 2016.[citation needed]

Jackson was selected to fill the casual vacancy in the NSW state upper house, the NSW Legislative Council following Lynda Voltz's election to the NSW Legislative Assembly for the seat of Auburn and was appointed on 8 May 2019.[19]

In 2020, Jackson called for an end to the private prison system in NSW and criticised past Governments for privatising prisons.[20]

In 2020, Jackson publicly announced her support for the legalisation of cannabis in NSW. Jackson was the first NSW Labor MPs to support the legalisation of cannabis after the ACT legalised cannabis.[5]

On 11 June 2021, Jackson was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Water, Housing and Homelessness.[21] As the responsible Shadow Minister, Jackson opposed a motion moved by the NSW Greens which would have temporarily banned the eviction of tenants in coastal communities during the COVID-19 Crisis.[22] Jackson supported a Coalition amendment to the Greens' proposal which removed the proposal to ban evictions in coastal areas on the basis that restricting the rights of landlords would "throw that market into chaos weeks before the holiday season".[22]

Jackson supported the controversial Roads and Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 which made it an offence for protestors to cause "damage or disruption to major roads or major public facilities".[23] The Coalition Government introduced the Bill in light of the increased use of non-violent direct action by members of Blockade Australia to disrupt logistics infrastructure at Port Botany.[24] Under the new legislation, individuals found guilty of disrupting 'major roads' or 'major infrastructure' are liable for fines of up to $22,000 "or imprisonment for 2 years, or both".[23] In her Second Reading speech, Jackson argued that the new criminal penalties were necessary "...to target rogue individuals who completely disrupt peak hour traffic on the Spit Bridge, [and] on our ports...".[25] Jackson supported the legislation despite widespread opposition from civil liberties organisations including Amnesty International, The Australian Youth Climate Coalition, The Human Rights Law Centre, Environmental Defender's Office NSW, and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties.[26][27][28]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cormack, Lucy; Rabe, Tom (11 June 2021). "Real generational change: Chris Minns reveals new Labor frontbech". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  2. ^ "Candidates - Legislative Council Group D: LABOR". Elections NSW. New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Chris Minns's Victory in New South Wales Consolidates the Labor Right's Hegemony". jacobin.com. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  4. ^ Visentin, Lisa (8 April 2019). "Rose Jackson to enter NSW Parliament after Left faction's endorsement". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b It's time to legalise cannabis, retrieved 21 May 2020
  6. ^ Jackson, Rose (5 June 2019). "First Speech in Parliament" (PDF). NSW Parliament Legislative Council Hansard: 1–5.
  7. ^ a b c d "Energy and charisma may take Jackson to a council seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 September 2008.
  8. ^ a b "Councillors' Contact Details: Waverley Council". Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  9. ^ "After Uni: Graduate Profiles - Rose". Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  10. ^ (28 April 2005). The World Today. ABC Radio. Retrieved 10 August 2006.
  11. ^ "It takes all types of people to make the world go round... | Q&A | ABC TV". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  12. ^ a b Newhouse and Wentworth: where did it go wrong? (29 November 2007)
  13. ^ "Staffer lands Newhouse in row". The Australian. 21 November 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Newhouse staffer in anti-Zionist row". ABC Online. 21 November 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Newhouse no to Laws over letter". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 November 2007.
  16. ^ Service, J.-Wire News (24 December 2014). "ALP on an Israeli study mission". J-Wire. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Food for though bites aspiring candidate on the derriere". The Australian. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  18. ^ "Gerard Henderson's Media Watch". No. 33. August 2008. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  19. ^ "The Hon. Rose Jackson, MLC". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  20. ^ Rose Jackson - Private Prisons are a policy disaster | Facebook, retrieved 15 September 2021
  21. ^ @RoseBJackson (11 June 2021). "So some big news! I've just been appointed as Labor's Shadow Minister for Water, Housing and Homelessness. It's gon…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. ^ a b Jackson, Rose (10 November 2021). "Rose Jackson Speech - Coastal Communities & Rental Evictions Debate - NSW Legislative Council". NSW Parliament Hansard. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Text of the Roads and Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2022- Passed by both Houses" (PDF). Parliament of NSW. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  24. ^ "NSW government urged to halt new bill targeting road-blocking protesters". the Guardian. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  25. ^ Jackson, Rose (31 March 2022). "Rose Jackson Speech - Second Reading Debate - Roads and Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill 2022". Parliament of NSW. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  26. ^ "NSW government urged to halt new bill targeting road-blocking protesters". The Guardian. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  27. ^ Miranda G (31 March 2022). "Open Letter against anti-protest laws". CounterAct. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  28. ^ "Perrottet government must stop pursuit of draconian anti-protest law". Human Rights Law Centre. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
New South Wales Legislative Council
Preceded by Member of the Legislative Council
2019–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded byas Minister for Lands and Water Minister for Water
2023–present 		Incumbent
Preceded byas Minister for Homes Minister for Housing
Minister for Homelessness
2023–present
Preceded by Minister for Mental Health
2023–present
New title Minister for Youth
2023–present
New title Minister for the North Coast
2023–present
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