Desley Scott

Desley Carleton Scott (born 27 June 1943 in Toowoomba) is an Australian retired Labor Party politician who was the member for Woodridge in the Parliament of Queensland from 2001 to 2015.[1]

Desley Scott
Shadow Minister for Community Services, Child Safety, Mental Health, Women, Seniors and Multicultural Affairs
In office 19 April 2012 – 14 February 2015
Leader	Annastacia Palaszczuk
Preceded by	Tracy Davis (Child Safety and Mental Health) Fiona Simpson (Community Services and Women) Scott Emerson (Multicultural Affairs)
Succeeded by	Tracy Davis (Child Safety and Communities)
Shadow Minister for Disability Services
In office 19 April 2012 – 4 March 2014
Leader	Annastacia Palaszczuk
Preceded by	Tracy Davis
Succeeded by	Yvette D'Ath
Member of the Queensland Parliament for Woodridge
In office 17 February 2001 – 31 January 2015
Preceded by	Mike Kaiser
Succeeded by	Cameron Dick
Personal details
Born	27 June 1943 Toowoomba
Political party	Labor

Scott was elected to parliament at the 2001 state election, after working as an electoral officer for 16 years. She holds a dental nurse certificate.[1]

Due to the tiny size of the ALP caucus since the party's defeat at the 2012 election, she was a member of the shadow cabinet but did not become a minister as she retired at the 2015 election.[1]

At the 2012 election, Scott retained her seat with a significant margin for a Labor MP of 5.8%, after a 19.57% swing against her party.[2] According to Independent MP Alex Douglas, "She was completely focussed on the needs of Woodridge residents, which in turn earned her the respect of her constituents.",[3] which led to her being one of only seven Queensland ALP MPs being elected at the 2012 election.

Opposition Period 2012-2015

Under Queensland ALP Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk, Scott was given the Shadow Portfolios of Disabilities, Communities, Child Safety, Mental Health, Women and Multicultural Affairs.[1] She was also the Deputy Opposition Whip.

References

1. "Former Members". Parliament of Queensland. 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
2. Woodridge — Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 16 February 2015.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• "Desley Scott: a pollie for good" at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 August 2006) by Faith Williams. Signs of the Times (Australian version) 120:8 (August 2005), p 7–9