Grace Grace
The Honourable Grace Grace | |
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Minister for Education of Queensland | |
In office 12 December 2017 – 18 December 2023 | |
Premier | Annastacia Palaszczuk Steven Miles |
Preceded by | Kate Jones |
Succeeded by | Di Farmer |
Minister for Industrial Relations of Queensland | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 7 December 2015 | |
Premier | Annastacia Palaszczuk Steven Miles |
Preceded by | Curtis Pitt |
Minister for Racing of Queensland | |
Incumbent | |
Assumed office 12 November 2020 | |
Premier | Annastacia Palaszczuk Steven Miles |
Preceded by | Stirling Hinchliffe |
In office 7 December 2015 – 11 December 2017 | |
Premier | Annastacia Palaszczuk |
Preceded by | Bill Byrne |
Succeeded by | Stirling Hinchliffe |
Minister for Employment of Queensland | |
In office 7 December 2015 – 11 December 2017 | |
Premier | Annastacia Palaszczuk |
Preceded by | Curtis Pitt |
Succeeded by | Shannon Fentiman |
Minister for Multicultural Affairs of Queensland | |
In office 7 December 2015 – 11 December 2017 | |
Premier | Annastacia Palaszczuk |
Preceded by | Shannon Fentiman |
Succeeded by | Stirling Hinchliffe |
Deputy Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly | |
In office 24 March 2015 – 16 February 2016 | |
Preceded by | Mark Robinson |
Succeeded by | Di Farmer |
Member of the Queensland Parliament for McConnel Brisbane Central (2007–2012, 2015-2017) | |
Assumed office 31 January 2015 | |
Preceded by | Robert Cavallucci |
In office 13 October 2007 – 24 March 2012 | |
Preceded by | Peter Beattie |
Succeeded by | Robert Cavallucci |
Personal details | |
Born | Ignazia Graziella Farfaglia (1958-08-12) 12 August 1958 (age 66) Brisbane, Queensland |
Political party | Labor |
Spouse | Michael Grace |
Signature | ![]() |
Website | www |
Ignazia Graziella "Grace" Grace (née Farfaglia) is an Australian politician and unionist from the state of Queensland.
She has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for the seat of McConnel and its predecessor seat, Brisbane Central, for all but two years since 2007, and a cabinet minister in the Palaszczuk and Miles Labor Governments.
Early Life
Grace was born in Brisbane, Queensland, the daughter of an Italian migrant cane cutter. She attended All Hallows School in Fortitude Valley.[1]
She was an industrial relations advisor to the Keating government until 1995 when she was elected as assistant general secretary, and in 2000 the first female General Secretary, of the Queensland Council of Unions.[1]
Political Career
Grace was elected to the State Parliament at the 2007 Brisbane Central state by-election following the resignation of Premier Peter Beattie. Grace was re-elected in 2009 but lost the seat to the Liberal National Party's Robert Cavallucci in 2012. She won back the seat of Brisbane Central at the 2015 state election. After the seat was renamed McConnel, she was re-elected again in 2017 and 2020.
Member for Brisbane Central & McConnel (2007-2012, 2015-)
Grace was a notable supporter of the Bligh Government's decision to legislate civil partnerships for same-sex couples in Queensland, and voted to reinstate them in 2015 after civil partnerships were ended by the Newman LNP Government.[2][3] New Farm and Fortitude Valley, the main centres for Brisbane's gay community, are both in her electorate and she has built close ties with gay rights organisations.[4]
Later as a minister in the Palaszczuk Government she supported further reforms including legalising same-sex adoptions;[5] equalisation of the age of consent in Queensland;[6] a Queensland Government apology to people convicted of homosexual offences before homosexuality was legalised in 1990 and passing legislation to allow for those historic convictions to be expunged;[7][8][9][10] a ban on gay conversion therapies;[11] and passing legislation to modernise birth certificates to better recognise trans and gender-diverse Queenslanders, including allowing people to have their gender accurately documented without undergoing sexual reassignment surgery.[12]
Grace campaigned in the 2015 state election to prevent the sale of Fortitude Valley State School after it was closed in 2013 by the Newman Government and earmarked for private property development. As Education Minister she opened a new school, Fortitude Valley State Secondary College, on the site in 2020. This was the first inner-city Brisbane school to built in over 50 years and the first vertical school in Queensland.[13][14][15]
Palaszczuk Government (2015-2023)
In 2015 Grace was elected Deputy Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly until being appointed as a cabinet minister in the Palaszczuk Government. On 7 December 2015, following a cabinet reshuffle she was sworn in as Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Minister for Racing and Minister for Multicultural Affairs.[16] [17]
During the government’s second term (2017-2020) Grace was made Minister for Education and Minister for Industrial Relations. Following the 2020 state election, she maintained these roles and made Minister for Racing for a second time.[18]
Industrial Relations
Grace has served continuously as Minister for Industrial Relations since December 2015 and passed significant legislative reforms that made Queensland the first Australian State to establish a scheme to licence the labour-hire industry in 2017;[19] make industrial manslaughter an offence in 2017;[20][21] make wage-theft a criminal offence;[22] and to introduce entitlements for Queensland public sector workers to 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave in 2016 and 10 days reproductive health leave in 2024.[23][24][25]
Grace also reformed Queensland’s trading hours arrangements in 2017, by reducing 99 different trading-hour zones to four core trading hours areas to provide better certainty for workers and businesses;[26][27] and established Easter Sunday and Christmas Eve after 6PM as public holidays in Queensland.[28][29]
To protect workers from silica and dust diseases, Grace was the first minister in the country to advocate for a national ban on use, supply, importation, and manufacture of engineered stone in 2018, which was agreed by all Australian jurisdictions in December 2023.[30][31][32]
Education
As Education Minister, Grace oversaw the Cooler Cleaner Schools Program that air-conditioned every classroom, library and staff room in Queensland state schools, and placed almost 200,000 solar panels on roof tops of over 900 state schools by 2022, which contributed 61.4 megawatts towards Queensland's renewable energy target.[33][34][35]
Grace announced that Queensland children would have access to free kindergarten in sessional kindergartens and long day care services for 15 hours per week, 40 weeks per year, from 2024.[36][37]
In 2023 Grace announced a $35 million investment to provide vending machines with free period products to any Queensland state school that wanted one.[38][39]
Miles Government (2023-)
Following the succession of Premier Steven Miles, Grace became Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing in the new Miles Government on 18 December 2023.[40]
Awards and honours
Grace was awarded the Knight of the Order of the Merit of the Italian Republic by the Consul of Italy in 2021.[41]
References
- ^ Notable unionist tipped for seat Archived 14 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, The Australian, 12 September 2007.
- ^ Rifkin, Eliot (24 March 2016). "Everything you need to know about Queensland civil unions as it comes into effect this week". Star Observer. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Grace, Grace (3 December 2015). "Record of Proceedings, 3 December 2015: Relationships (Civil Partnerships) and Other Acts Amendment Bill" (PDF). Hansard, Queensland Parliament.
- ^ Lynch, Lydia (17 October 2020). "The 'cheeky' schoolgirl charged with running education". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Caldwell, Felicity (2 November 2016). "Same sex couples win right to adopt in Queensland". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "Queensland lowers anal sex consent age to 16, ending 'archaic' law". ABC News. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Caldwell, Felicity (11 May 2017). "Queensland Premier says sorry to people punished under historical gay sex laws". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "Convictions for historical homosexual offences to be quashed". ABC News. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Caldwell, Felicity (10 October 2017). "This man and hundreds more can finally have their gay convictions expunged". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Caldwell, Felicity (21 March 2017). "Gay panic laws pass Queensland Parliament, removing partial defence". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "Queensland has become the first Australian state to ban gay conversion therapy". SBS News. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "Trans Queenslanders can now change their birth certificate without undergoing surgery". SBS News. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Stone, Lucy (27 January 2020). "For the first time in 50 years, a new high school opens in inner-city Brisbane". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Macleod, Andrea (15 March 2017). "All eyes on contentious Fortitude Valley State School site". The Courier Mail.
- ^ "The city classroom: Fortitude Valley State Secondary College". architectureau.com.
- ^ "Member Details | Queensland Parliament". www.parliament.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Agius, Kim (7 December 2015). "Queensland Cabinet reshuffle: Who's going where?". ABC News. ABC News. Archived from the original on 7 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Member Details | Queensland Parliament". www.parliament.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ "Queensland celebrates fifth anniversary of Labour Hire Licensing Scheme". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "New industrial manslaughter laws to protect Queenslanders on the job". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Wuth, Robyn (25 October 2019). "Industrial manslaughter charge follows Brisbane forklift death". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Wage theft now a crime in Queensland". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "IR reforms to restore fairness for Queensland public sector workers". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Miles Government leads nation with new reproductive health leave entitlements". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Treatment for IVF, fertility, endometriosis to be covered under new paid leave scheme for public servants". ABC News. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "1,000 new jobs in pipeline from historic trading hours reforms". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Not all happy over new Qld trading hours". SBS News. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Queensland Government moves to make Easter Sunday a public holiday". ABC News. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Part-day public holiday in force tomorrow". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Safety alert issued for engineered stone benchtop workers". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Engineered stone work to cease from 1 July". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Engineered stone will soon be banned in Australia. Here's what happens next, and what alternatives you can use". ABC News. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Garcia, Jocelyn (19 April 2022). "Air-conditioning installed in all Queensland state schools ahead of schedule". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "Air conditioning delivered for ALL Queensland state schools". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "Cooler Cleaner Schools Program". Department of Education. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "Kindy will be free for all Queensland families from 2024". ABC News. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "Palaszczuk Government makes Kindy free for families". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "Queensland to deliver free period products for all state schools". www.9news.com.au. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "100,000 free period packs to Queensland students". Ministerial Media Statements. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
- ^ "Member Details | Queensland Parliament". www.parliament.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
- ^ Internazionale, Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione. "Special celebrations in Brisbane for the Anniversary of the Republic of Italy". consbrisbane.esteri.it. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
Parliament of Queensland | ||
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Preceded by | Member for Brisbane Central 2007–2012 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Member for Brisbane Central 2015–2017 | Abolished |
New seat | Member for McConnel 2017–present | Incumbent |
Preceded by Mark Robinson | Deputy Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 2015–2016 | Succeeded by |