Kelly Vincent

Kelly Vincent
Member of the South Australian Legislative Council
Assumed office
20 March 2010
Personal details
Born (1988-10-25) 25 October 1988[1]
Political party Dignity for Disability
Website http://kellyvincentmlc.com/

Kelly Leah Vincent (born 25 October 1988) is an Australian playwright, actor and politician. She was elected at the 2010 state election for the Dignity for Disability party to the eleventh and last seat for an eight-year term in the 22-member Legislative Council in the Parliament of South Australia.[2][3]

Vincent has cerebral palsy and attends parliament in a wheelchair.[4][5] Parliament House underwent installation of a specifically designed desk inside the chamber, as well as wheelchair accessible toilets and ramps.[6][7]

Career

Vincent is a playwright and actress. She wrote and appeared in several "No Strings Attached" productions, a company dedicated to people with disabilities. She undertook high school work experience with the company in 2004, and has worked with the company on and off. She is also fluent in the French and Spanish languages, and began language studies at university after year 12 before returning to playwrighting.[4]

Parliament

The party's upper house vote doubled from 0.6 percent to 1.2 percent at the 2010 state election, and after receiving preferences, Vincent was elected to the eleventh and last upper house seat. Vincent was listed second on the party's upper house ticket, but received the preferences of first candidate Paul Collier who died of a brain haemorrhage eleven days before the election.[8]

Aged 21 at the time of election, Vincent is the youngest member of the Parliament of South Australia and the youngest woman elected to any Australian parliament.[6][9] She stated she would "probably side with The Greens on certain issues".[10][11]

Vincent is a member of a number of parliamentary committees including the Social Development Committee, Access to and Interaction with the Justice System for People with Disabilities, Disability Services Funding, Electoral Matters in South Australia, Joint Committee on the Operation of the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1983, Access to the Education System for Students with Disabilities, and the Joint Committee on matters relating to Elder Abuse. [12]

References

  1. ↑ "It's Kelly's time to shine".
  2. ↑ Tory Shepherd (23 March 2010). "Parliament House not ready for Kelly: The Advertiser 23 March 2010". Adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  3. ↑ "Nation's youngest MP elected in SA: ABC News 8 April 2010". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  4. 1 2 "Kelly Vincent: No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability". Nostringsattached.org.au. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  5. ↑ Akerman, Pia (9 April 2010). "Dignified victory in SA for Australia's youngest female MP". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  6. 1 2 "South Australia State Parliament gets first disabled politician and nation's youngest parliamentarian: The Advertiser 8 April 2010". Adelaidenow.com.au. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  7. ↑ Lauren Novak, Daniel Wills (6 May 2010). "Kelly's tribute to a friend who stood tall: The Advertiser 6 May 2010". Adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  8. ↑ "Youngest woman MP elected in SA: ABC News, 8 April 2010". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  9. ↑ "Australian Political Records: APH library". Aph.gov.au. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  10. ↑ Pia Akerman (23 March 2010). "Disability vote 'honours candidate's memory': The Australian 23 March 2010". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  11. ↑ Om, Jason (26 March 2010). "Disability party on verge of historic win: ABC News 26 March 2010". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  12. ↑ Kelly Vincent: SA Parliament profile
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