Amanda Vanstone

Politician

Amanda Vanstone entered the Australian Parliament in 1984 and was a Liberal senator for South Australia until 2007. She was the only female member of the Howard cabinet following the 1996 election that brought the Coalition to power. She held several ministerial portfolios in the Howard government, including immigration and multicultural and Indigenous affairs. After her resignation from the Senate in 2007, Vanstone served as the Australian ambassador to Italy until July 2010 and was a commissioner on the Federal Commission of Audit from 2013 to 2014.