Yvette Berry

Yvette Simone Berry (born 1 August 1968) is an Australian politician. She was elected to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly at the 2012 ACT election, as a Labor Party member for Ginninderra. Yvette Berry is the daughter of Wayne Berry, who was a member of the assembly for Ginninderra from 1989 to 2008, Deputy Chief Minister from 1991 to 1994, Opposition Leader from 1997 to 1998 and Speaker from 2001 to 2008.^[2] Yvette is the first family member of a current or previous member to be elected to the ACT assembly.

Prior to her election to the Assembly Berry worked as a community organiser for the United Voice (formerly called the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU)) trade union for more than 15 years representing workers and their families to win fairer wages and better conditions.^[3] She was active in the Clean Start campaign to improve jobs for cleaners in the CBD office cleaning industry and coordinated the Big Steps campaign to win professional wages for Early Childhood Educators in the early childhood education sector.^[4] Before she started working at the LHMU Berry commenced her working life in the hospitality industry where she worked for 8 years.^[5]

Berry is a full-time working mum with two young children who lives with her family in the West Belconnen suburb of Dunlop.^[5]

Berry Chaired the Legislative Assembly’s ‘Select Committee on Regional Development’ which undertook an inquiry into regional development from February 2013 to February 2014.^[6] The select committee's terms of reference sought to inquire and report into the ACT’s relationship with the surrounding region, including, but not limited to: (a) the identification of opportunities and supporting governance structures to coordinate economic development, including tourism and transport across the region; (b) the coordination of service planning and service delivery, particularly in the areas of health and education; (c) the opportunities for collaborative procurement by ACT Government with surrounding local governments; (d) further cooperation at the local government level on environmental and conservation matters and building community resilience to deal with natural disasters, extreme weather events and climate change; and (e) any other relevant matter^[7]

In 2014 Berry was a member of the following Standing Committees: Public Accounts (PAC), Health, Ageing, Community and Social Services (HACS), Education, Training and Youth Affairs (ETYA) and Chair of the Planning, Environment and Territory and Municipal Services (PETAMS) Standing Committee.^[8]

Berry voted for the Legislative Assembly's 'Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013'^[9] and in 2014 to mark the anniversary of the passing of this Act moved a motion that formally called upon the Federal Government to achieve marriage equality. The motion proposed by Berry stated: That this Assembly: (1) Notes: (a) That today marks one year since the Marriage Equality Bill 2013 was passed by this Assembly. (b) The ACT was the first jurisdiction to pass legislation enabling recognition of same-sex marriage in Australia. (c) That Marriage Equality exists in 17 countries including New Zealand along with 30 states of the USA and several cities and provinces of Mexico. (d) That recent polling shows up to 72% of Australians support Marriage Equality. (e) In the last federal census it was revealed that the ACT has the highest proportion of same sex couples of any jurisdiction in Australia. (2) Calls on the ACT Government to: (a) Continue to voice its support for changes to the Federal Marriage Act and advocate for changes to the Marriage Act 1961. (b) Continue to provide support services for LGBTIQ people, in particular LGBTIQ youth. (c) Congratulate LGBTIQ activists who work tirelessly to campaign for the rights of the LGBTIQ community.^[10] Berry in support of this motion stated that: "Marriage equality is one clear way we can show that we value inclusion and respect, making our society stronger."^[11]

On 20 January it was announced by Chief Minister Andrew Barr that Berry would be the sixth ACT Government Minister. She assumed the following portfolios: women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, community services, multicultural affairs and housing. With an emphasis on jobs and equality, the Chief Minister introduced two new portfolios for Minister assisting the Chief Minister. Berry was chosen to assist Barr with social inclusion and equality.^[12]

After the Barr Government was reelected at the 2016 election, Barr announced that it is likely that Berry will be his new Deputy Chief Minister the job that her father Wayne held between 1991 and 1994.

References

External links

• Official website
• Yvette Berry on Twitter
  
• Yvette Berry on Facebook