Kristina Keneally facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Honourable Kristina Keneally
Keneally in 2021
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
In office 30 May 2019 – 13 April 2022
Leader	Penny Wong
Preceded by	Don Farrell
Succeeded by	Michaelia Cash
Senator for New South Wales
In office 14 February 2018 – 13 April 2022
Preceded by	Sam Dastyari
Succeeded by	David Shoebridge
42nd Premier of New South Wales
In office 4 December 2009 – 28 March 2011
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor	Marie Bashir
Deputy	Carmel Tebbutt
Preceded by	Nathan Rees
Succeeded by	Barry O'Farrell
19th Leader of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales
In office 3 December 2009 – 31 March 2011
Deputy	Carmel Tebbutt
Preceded by	Nathan Rees
Succeeded by	John Robertson
Member of the New South Wales Parliament for Heffron
In office 22 March 2003 – 29 June 2012
Preceded by	Deirdre Grusovin
Succeeded by	Ron Hoenig
Personal details
Born	Kristina Marie Kerscher (1968-12-19) 19 December 1968 (age 56) Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Nationality	Australian (2000–present) American (1968–2002)
Political party	Labor (2000–present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (Before 2000, United States)
Spouse	Ben Keneally
Children	3 (1 deceased)
Education	University of Dayton (BA, MA) Marquette University Australian Catholic University
Website	Agency website Senate Profile

Kristina Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is an Australian politician. She made history as the first female Premier of New South Wales from 2009 to 2011. Later, she became a Senator for New South Wales from 2018 to 2022. As a Senator, she was the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. This means she helped lead the main political party that was not in charge of the government.

Kristina Keneally was born in the United States. Her father was American, and her mother was Australian. She moved to Australia in 1994 and became an Australian citizen in 2000. She joined the Labor Party and began her political career.

Early Life and Education

Kristina Marie Kerscher was born in Las Vegas, USA. Her mother was from Brisbane, Australia. Kristina grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where she went to Notre Dame Academy. She was a talented soccer player there.

After high school, she studied at the University of Dayton in Ohio. She was interested in student politics and helped start a group for students at Catholic colleges. In 1991, she earned a degree in political science. She also worked for the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio. Later, she earned a master's degree in religious studies.

Kristina met her future husband, Ben Keneally, at a big youth event in Poland in 1991. Ben was Australian. She moved to Australia in 1994 to be with him. They married in the US in 1996 and then moved back to Australia in 1998. Kristina became an Australian citizen in 2000. Before becoming a politician, she worked for a charity called the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.

State Politics in New South Wales

Kristina Keneally was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 2003. She represented the area of Heffron. When she gave her first speech in parliament, she talked about her belief in fairness for everyone and equal chances for women. She also shared a funny story about how someone once told her to get off the phones because of her American accent. She said, "Well, I got off the phones that day, but today I have the floor."

As a minister, she worked on improving services for people with disabilities. She also helped with planning for big building projects in New South Wales.

Becoming Premier

Keneally in December 2009, on the day she became Premier of New South Wales

In December 2009, Kristina Keneally became the leader of the Labor Party in New South Wales. She then became the 42nd Premier of New South Wales. This was a very important moment because she was the first woman to ever hold this top job in New South Wales. Her deputy, Carmel Tebbutt, was also a woman. This meant that for the first time in Australian history, both the Premier and Deputy Premier of a state were women.

As Premier, Keneally supported the development of the Barangaroo area in Sydney. She also worked to make the Labor Party stronger by encouraging many members to retire.

Challenges and Election Defeat

When she first became Premier, Kristina Keneally was very popular. However, her party's popularity began to drop. There were also some issues, like a junior minister being forced to leave politics.

Keneally led the Labor Party into the 2011 state election. She hoped to win a fifth term for Labor. However, the Labor government was strongly defeated in this election. It was one of the biggest losses for a government in Australian history since World War II.

After the election, Kristina Keneally resigned as Premier and Labor leader. She said that the people of New South Wales had "entrusted us with government for 16 years, did not leave us. We left them." She left the New South Wales Parliament in June 2012.

Life After State Politics

After leaving state parliament, Kristina Keneally took on new roles.

Sports and Media

In 2012, she became the Chief Executive of Basketball Australia, which is the main organisation for basketball in the country. She left this role in 2014. She also became the Chairperson of Souths Cares, a charity linked to the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team.

In 2014, Keneally also started a career in the media. She became a political commentator for Sky News Australia. She co-hosted several TV shows, where she discussed current events and politics. She also wrote articles for The Guardian Australia about social and political topics.

Federal Politics

Becoming a Senator

In November 2017, Kristina Keneally ran for a seat in the federal parliament in a special election. She did not win, but she gained more support for her party.

In February 2018, she was appointed to the Australian Senate for New South Wales. This happened because another Senator resigned, and she was chosen to fill the empty spot. She was sworn in as a Senator on 15 February 2018.

After the 2019 federal election, Kristina Keneally became the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. She also became the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. This meant she was a key spokesperson for the Labor Party on these important issues. She resigned from the Senate in April 2022.

Running for Fowler

In 2021, Kristina Keneally decided to run for a seat in the House of Representatives in the area of Division of Fowler. This area has many people from different backgrounds, including a large Vietnamese-Australian community. Keneally moved to the area to run for the seat.

However, some people in the community felt that a local person should have been chosen. In the 2022 federal election, Keneally was defeated by an independent candidate, Dai Le.

Personal Life

Kristina Keneally is married to Ben Keneally, who was once the Mayor of Botany Bay. They have two sons. Sadly, their daughter passed away at birth. Kristina is a supporter of the Stillbirth Foundation Australia, which helps families affected by stillbirth.

The Keneally family has lived in different parts of Sydney. They own homes in Scotland Island and Wollstonecraft. Before the 2022 election, they moved to Liverpool.

In late 2022, Kristina Keneally was appointed as the chief executive officer of the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation. This foundation raises money to help children's healthcare. She is also a big fan of the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team.

Images for kids

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  Keneally in 2010

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  Keneally with Anthony Albanese at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 2021

See also

• Keneally ministry
• 2011 New South Wales state election
• List of female heads of government in Australia