Federal election: What you don't know about Liberal senator Marise Payne
With the next Federal Election coming soon, Yahoo News Australia has answered questions people are asking about the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Women, Marise Payne.
How old is Marise Payne?
Marise Payne was born on 29 July 1964, making her 57 years old.
Where did Marise Payne grow up?
Ms Payne spent most of her childhood in Bardwell Park in Sydney's southern suburbs and in the southern highlands. She attended the MLC School at Burwood and after graduating she attended the University of New South Wales, where she studied Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees.
A member of the Liberal Party since 1982, Marise was the National Young Liberal Movement's first female President. She also served on the NSW Liberal State Executive for 10 years.
Who is Marise Payne married to? Does she have children?
Ms Payne is in a relationship with NSW deputy Liberal leader Stuart Ayres. The pair met while campaigning together at the 2007 federal election.
When did Marise Payne enter politics?
Ms Payne is one of the longest serving senators in the Liberal party and is the most senior female member of the senate. She was appointed to the senate in 1997 after the resignation of Bob Woods. She has held the position ever since.
Ms Payne was almost removed from office after then prime minister John Howard intervened to put Helen Coonan above her on the senate ticket at the 2001 election. In 2007, the Liberal conservative faction again attempted to remove her but Mr Howard and senator Bill Heffernan intervened to ensure she remained.
What political positions has Marise Payne held?
Ms Payne stepped into the shadow ministry in 2007 while the Liberals were in opposition, becoming minister for human services when the party won government under Tony Abbott.
She became the first female minister for defence when Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister in 2015.
When Scott Morrison was elected to the Liberal leadership he appointed Ms Payne to the ministry of foreign affairs to replace the departing Julie Bishop.
What did Marise Payne do before entering politics?
After joining the Liberal party in 1982, Ms Payne served as state president of the NSW Young Liberals from 1987 to 1988 before serving as federal president of the Young Liberals from 1989 to 1991, the first woman to hold the position.
She unsuccessfully vied for a senate position in 1991 to replace resigning senator Peter Baume while she was serving as private secretary to senator Robert Hill.
In 1994 she became vice-chair of the Australian Republican Movement, which was led by chairman and future Liberal PM Malcolm Turnbull. She was also working as an adviser to NSW Premier John Fahey at the time.
At the time of her appointment to the Australian Republican Movement, two other future Liberal PMs took a public swipe at her.
Tony Abbott, who was then the national executive director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, slammed her appointment, stating "anyone who does not support constitutional monarchy is at odds with the party".
John Howard, who would be elected to the Liberal leadership the following year, then accused her of joining "an organisation dominated by Labor sympathisers".
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What controversies has Marise Payne been involved in?
Ms Payne has largely avoided controversy in her near 25-year stint as a senator. Although in recent times her role as minister for women has attracted criticism.
She decided not to attend the March 4 Justice protest in 2021, which was organised after details of the alleged sexual assault of parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins came to light. Although Ms Payne and PM Scott Morrison invited the protest leaders to meet with them at parliament house, they refused the invitation.
As minister for women Ms Payne was attacked for not doing enough to advance the cause for women in a parliament that allowed a culture of disrespect to flourish. She is notoriously shy and has been criticised for not fronting the media on the Brittany Higgins issue plus many others.
It was also rumoured Ms Payne was almost removed from the ministry in the recent cabinet reshuffle due to her low profile in a time when the Coalition trails in the opinion polls leading up to the election.
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