Liberal Senator Amanda Stoker has lost her place in parliament.
It was predicted on election night that the Queensland senator would not garner enough votes to gain the sixth senate seat in Queensland, but as postal votes were slowly counted it looked at one stage that she may retain her seat, but when all the votes were counted the final spot went to One Nation senator Pauline Hanson.
The conservative MP conceded defeat in the tightly fought race saying she was disappointed to be leaving parliament.
“Serving in the Australian Parliament is an immense privilege. It is an opportunity to help shape the future of our country, and to make a real difference in the lives of Australians.” Senator Stoker said in a statement.
“It is a privilege I have never taken for granted. While it is disappointing to not be returning to the Senate, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve my fellow Australians, not just as a senator, but as chair Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee, as a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and as the Assistant Minister to the Attorney General, Assistant Minister for Industrial Relations, and Assistant Minister for Women.”
Senator Stoker joined the parliament in 2018, filling a casual vacancy created by the resignation of former Attorney General George Brandis. This election was the first time Senator Stoker had faced the voters, and the party chose to put her in the difficult third spot on their senate ticket behind Liberal James McGrath and the Nationals’ Matt Canavan.
In her role as Assistant Minister to the Attorney General Senator Stoker was heavily involved in the most recent iteration of the Religious Discrimination Bill.
Senator Stoker often appeared to be at odds with former Prime Minister Scott Morrison on how the legislation would operate. On several occasions Stoker appeared to advocate for a more hard line approach to the treatment of LGBTIQA+ students in religious schools.
On one occasion Senator Stoker said religious based schools needed protections from activist students who might want to form gay clubs within their student bodies.
Alongside her support for religious based schools to maintain their right to discriminate against LGBTIQA+ students and teachers, Senator Stoker was also a vocal opponent of abortion, transgender women’s participation in women’s sport, advocated against allowing youth to hear of transgender experiences in the education system.
On her website the politician asked people to show their support for her fight against “the transgender agenda”, and in interviews described how she wanted to support “for want of a better word – normal women“.
In 2002 Senator Stoker voiced her opposition to conversion therapy bans, and back in 2019 she accused the Labor party of trying to destroy the family unit, the previous year she said sexuality was a choice people made.
Prior to joining parliament Senator Stoker had a successful legal career. She began her career with Minter Ellison in Brisbane and went on to serve as a Commonwealth prosecutor before spending time as a judge’s associate in the Queensland Supreme Court and in the High Court of Australia.
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