Elizabeth Lee (politician)

Elizabeth Lee (born 1979)[1] is an Australian politician. She has been a Liberal member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016, representing the electorate of Kurrajong. She was born in South Korea, and was a law lecturer at the Australian National University and the University of Canberra before her election.[2]

Elizabeth Lee MLA
Lee in 2016
Leader of the Opposition in the Australian Capital Territory
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 October 2020
Deputy	Giulia Jones
Preceded by	Alistair Coe
Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly for Kurrajong
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 October 2016
Personal details
Born	1979 (age 41–42)
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Liberal Party
Alma mater	Australian National University

On 27 October 2020, Lee was elected Leader of the Canberra Liberals and became Leader of the Opposition of the Australian Capital Territory.[3]

Early life

Lee migrated to Australia from South Korea in 1986 when she was seven years old and grew up in Western Sydney. She moved to Canberra at 18 to study law and Asian Studies at the Australian National University and has lived and worked in inner Canberra since 1998.

Career

She received Bachelors of Law and Asian Studies, a Graduate Diploma in legal practice, and a Masters of Law from the Australian National University, and worked as a law lecturer and solicitor. She was also a group fitness instructor.

Political career

Lee ran unsuccessfully for the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in the Molonglo electorate in 2012, and for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Fraser in 2013, both times representing the Liberal Party. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2016 representing the new seat of Kurrajong.

In Alistair Coe's shadow ministry Lee was made Shadow Minister for the Environment and Shadow Minister for Disability in December 2016.

Following the Liberal Party's defeat at the 2020 election, Lee was elected to replace Coe as party leader and Leader of the Opposition. She is the first person of East Asian descent to lead a major political party in Australia.[4]

References

1. "Elizabeth Lee". Smartvote Australia.
2. Green, Antony. "Kurrajong". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
3. Jervis-Bardy, Dan. "Elizabeth Lee elected Canberra Liberals' new leader". Canberra Times. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
4. Lo, Jieh-Yung (16 November 2020). "Why Elizabeth Lee's rise means so much to Asian Australians like me". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 22 November 2020.