Katherine Margaret Ellis (born 22 September 1977) is an Australian former politician, who represented the Division of Adelaide in the Australian House of Representatives for the Australian Labor Party from 2004 until 2019. She served in multiple portfolios in the outer ministry of the 2007–2013 federal Labor government and was in the shadow cabinet after that. In March 2017 Ellis announced that she would step down from shadow cabinet as of the next reshuffle and leave parliament at the 2019 federal election.[1][2]
Ellis was elected to the House of Representatives for the Division of Adelaide, South Australia at the 2004 federal election, defeating Liberal Party incumbent Trish Worth on a 2 percent two-party swing to a margin of 1.3 points, increasing to 8.5 points in 2007. The margin was reduced to 7.7 points in 2010 and to 4.0 percent in 2013.
After the 2007 election Ellis became Minister for Youth and Minister for Sport. This made her the youngest person to become an Australian government minister, a record until then held by former Prime Minister Paul Keating.[8] In 2009 Ellis took on the portfolio of Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth. After the 2010 election, Ellis became the Minister for Employment Participation and Early Childhood and Childcare and the Minister for the Status of Women.[9] For a few months prior to the 2013 Labor government defeat, Ellis was the Minister for Early Childhood, Childcare and Youth. Ellis was then elevated to shadow cabinet with the portfolios of Education and Early Childhood.[4]
In 2012 Ellis voted in support of a same-sex marriage bill.[10] She supported the Safe School Coalition Australia program in 2016.[11]
Ellis's public image has been the subject of media attention since her entry into public life. In October 2008, she was voted Parliament's "sexiest" MP in a poll of federal MPs conducted by The Courier-Mail newspaper.[20] In April 2010, she modelled a Karen Millen dress and Gucci high-heels for Grazia magazine.[21] She agreed to do the shoot to raise awareness of the pressures on women related to body image, and to encourage fashion magazines to promote healthy attitudes toward weight and eating.[22]
On 9 March 2017, Ellis announced that she would step down from shadow cabinet as of the next reshuffle, and leave parliament at the 2019 federal election in order to spend more time with her young family.[1][2] A week later, it was announced that she was in the early stages of her second pregnancy,[23] and her second son was born in July 2017.[24]
In April 2021, her book, Sex, Lies and Question Time, was published by Hardie Grant.[25]
^ abcorporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Current Shadow Ministry List". www.aph.gov.au. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
