Tanya Plibersek

‘I have been completely misrepresented, Mr Speaker. When I shouted ‘Free Palestine’, I was specifically referring to the fact that land in Palestine is free to Israelis, and anyone else who wants to come and take it. Like Australia in 1788.’
– Tanya Plibersek, Hansard, April 1, 2024

Tanya Plibersek is the Member for Sydney, and the current Minister for the Environment and Water in the Albanese government.

A darling of the hand-wringing left, Plibersek is the longest serving woman in the Australian Parliament, winning office in 1998 at the tender of age of 12.

That was way back when Plibersek had morals, ideals and braces, usually a major impediment to a successful career within the Labor Party. In any event, they were beaten out of her over time, so much so that Plibersek has risen to the dizzying heights of deputy leader of the party while in opposition, and even mentioned as a potential future prime minister… provided she continues to remain silent on issues like Palestine (one of the issues Plibersek used to coat-tail her way into politics).

Today, Plibersek’s main job is to try and make the Labor Party look competent on issues like energy policy, even though she’s not the energy minister, and even though Labor’s not competent on it.

Occasionally, Plibersek is also called upon to point out the hypocrisy of other politicians… like that time in 2021 when she confronted former Liberal nut-job Craig Kelly about his anti-vax stance (Plibersek’s mum lived in Kelly’s electorate), despite her own electorate of Sydney having the second worst vaccination rates in the country… while she was serving as Minister for Health Research… i.e. she was directly responsible for vaccine awareness.

Tanya’s political motto is ‘Silence is Golden’, and her listed hobbies include “feigning interest in leftist causes, playing with the emotions of those around me, and receiving a This Is Not A Greeting Card! from New Matilda readers”.

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