Sussan Ley

In addition to holding several ministerial positions over the years, she has held the longtime conservative seat of Farrer for 21 years.

From 2013 to 2014, Ley served as Assistant Minister for Education in the Abbott Government before being appointed Minister for Health and Minister for Sport.

She retained the portfolios in the Turnbull Government before Aged Care was added to her position.

In January 2017, she resigned from the frontbench in the midst of an investigation into her travel expenses to and from the Gold Coast, where she owns property.

In 2019 she returned to PM Scott Morrisson’s front bench as Minister for the Environment.

In 2021 eight high school students took Ley to court claiming she has a moral duty of care to protect children from the detrimental impacts of climate change, including worsening extreme weather events.

Ley was born in Nigeria and raised in the Middle East before moving to Australia with her British parents at the age of 13.

The mother of three has had a long and varied career, working as a commercial pilot and air traffic controller before marrying and becoming a farmer and shearers’ cook.

She worked in training for the Australian Tax office before entering politics in 2001.