Terri Butler

Terri Butler
Butler in 2014
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Griffith
In office
8 February 2014 – 21 May 2022
Preceded byKevin Rudd
Succeeded byMax Chandler-Mather
Personal details
Born
Terri Megan Butler

(1977-11-28) 28 November 1977 (age 47)
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Political partyLabor
Alma materQueensland University of Technology
ProfessionWorkplace relations lawyer
Signature
Websiteweb.archive.org/web/20141107165926/https://www.terributlermp.com/

Terri Megan Butler (born 28 November 1977) is an Australian public servant and former politician. She was a member of the House of Representatives from 2014 to 2022, representing the seat of Griffith for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). She worked as an industrial lawyer prior to entering parliament and in 2024 was appointed as a deputy president of the Fair Work Commission.

Early life

Butler was born on 28 November 1977 in Cairns, Queensland,[1][2] the daughter of Allison and Larry Butler.[3] She holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) from the Queensland University of Technology.[1] She also studied at James Cook University.[2] As a student she worked for an engineering firm, at an aluminium factory and for the Australian Services Union.[3]

Butler completed her articles of clerkship in 2003 and subsequently worked as an industrial lawyer.[1] Prior to her election to parliament, she was a principal at Maurice Blackburn and led the firm's employment and workplace relations division in Queensland.[2][4] She undertook further study at Melbourne Business School and had begun a Master of Laws degree at the University of Queensland.[5]

Political career

Prior to her election to parliament Butler held senior positions in the Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch). She was secretary of the party's Yeronga branch, chair of the state party's rules committee, a member of the National Policy Forum, and a delegate to state and national conference.[1]

Parliament

Butler in 2014

Butler was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2014 Griffith by-election, caused by the resignation of former prime minister Kevin Rudd. She won the seat with a 51.8 percent two-party vote against Liberal National Party candidate Bill Glasson, a swing against the ALP of 1.2 points.[6] She is a member of the Labor Left faction,[7] unlike Rudd who was from the Labor Unity.[8]

Butler was re-elected at the 2016 and 2019 federal elections. She was promoted to shadow parliamentary secretary in October 2015 and to shadow minister in July 2016. Under opposition leaders Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, she held the portfolios of preventing family violence (2016–2018); employment services, workforce participation and future of work (2018–2019); young Australians and youth affairs (2018–2019); and the environment and water (2019–2022).[1]

In July 2015, Butler along with Labor colleague Laurie Ferguson, Liberal MPs Warren Entsch and Teresa Gambaro, independents Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan and Greens MP Adam Bandt, co-sponsored a bill to introduce same-sex marriage in Australia.[9][10][11][12]

In September 2015, Butler led public opposition to anti-abortion activist Troy Newman entering Australia. She wrote to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and requested he ask his department to consider cancellation of Newman's visa,[13] which was revoked.[14] Newman flew to Australia without a visa and was then deported after losing a High Court appeal.[15]

In 2016, Butler was sued for defamation after an appearance on Q&A in which she implied Calum Thwaites, a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) student, had used a racial slur in a Facebook post. The allegations were first made by a third party in an earlier Racial Discrimination Act 1975 case against Thwaites which had been dismissed.[16] Butler and Thwaites settled out of court, as a result of which she offered "my unreserved apology for enabling those meanings about you to be conveyed, and for the distress and damage to your reputation caused as a consequence".[17]

At the 2022 federal election, Butler lost her seat of Griffith to Max Chandler-Mather of the Australian Greens, despite the ALP receiving a nationwide positive swing and forming a majority government. Unusually, despite being an incumbent, she was not one of the final two candidates in the two-candidate-preferred count for the seat; her preferences helped the Greens beat Olivia Roberts of the Liberal National Party.[18]

Post-politics

On 21 December 2023, the Queensland Government announced that Butler had been appointed as a Commissioner of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.[19]

In August 2024, Butler was appointed by the Albanese government as a deputy president of the Fair Work Commission.[20]

Personal life

Butler has two children with her husband Troy Spence, a former Australian Workers' Union organiser.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Ms Terri Butler MP". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Terri Butler MP". Science and Technology Australia. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b "First speech". Hansard. Parliament of Australia. 27 February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Griffith by-election: Bill Glasson, Terri Butler vie for Kevin Rudd's old seat as voters return to polls". ABC News. 8 February 2014. Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  5. ^ "Terri Butler". Q&A. ABC TV. Archived from the original on 21 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  6. ^ 2014 Griffith by-election result: AEC Archived 11 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Labor's new-look shadow ministry". SBS News. Special Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on 31 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  8. ^ Atfield, Cameron (15 December 2013). "Lawyer Terri Butler wins preselection for Griffith, Rudd's former seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Cross party plan reached on same sex marriage". Sky News Australia. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015.
  10. ^ Stephanie Peatling & James Massola (1 July 2015). "Multi-party same-sex marriage bill to be introduced in August". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Same-sex marriage: Coalition MPs Warren Entsch, Teresa Gambaro to co-sponsor private member's bill". ABC News. 1 July 2015. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Why I'm co-sponsoring a marriage equality bill". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  13. ^ "The letter Terri Butler wrote to keep anti-abortionists away". 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  14. ^ "US antiabortion campaigner Troy Newman barred from entering Australia". 1 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Anti-abortion activist Troy Newman to be deported after losing court bid to stay in Australia". 2 October 2015. Archived from the original on 16 May 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  16. ^ Koziol, Michael (29 November 2016). "'See you in court': Student rejects Labor MP Terri Butler's apology and vows to continue lawsuit". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  17. ^ Briggs, Casey (16 December 2016). "Federal Labor MP Terri Butler settles racial case against QUT student with 'modest payment'". ABC News. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  18. ^ "Labor's Terri Butler concedes the Brisbane seat of Griffith". 22 May 2022. Archived from the original on 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  19. ^ "New appointments to Queensland Industrial Relations Commission". Archived from the original on 9 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  20. ^ Daniel, Dana (10 August 2024). "Albanese government appoints former Labor MP Terri Butler to key regulator". Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  21. ^ Blaine, Lech (May 2019). "Terri Butler's rise through the rancour". The Monthly. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by Member for Griffith
2014–2022 		Succeeded by