Anne Urquhart

Anne Elizabeth Urquhart (née Polden; born 18 October 1957) is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Tasmania from 2011 until 2025. She was a senior official with the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) prior to entering politics. She is the Labor MP for Braddon elected at the 2025 federal election.^[1]

Anne Urquhart MP
Member of the Australian Parliament for Braddon
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 May 2025 (2025-05-03)
Preceded by	Gavin Pearce
Senator for Tasmania
In office 1 July 2011 – 28 March 2025
Succeeded by	Josh Dolega
Personal details
Born	Anne Elizabeth Polden (1957-10-18) 18 October 1957 (age 67) Latrobe, Tasmania, Australia
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Occupation	Union official
Website	anneurquhart.com.au

Early life

Urquhart was born in Latrobe, Tasmania, the second of three children born to Tom and Betty Polden. After starting a family with her husband Graham, in July 1980 she began working as a process worker at the Edgell-Birds Eye factory in Ulverstone, which was later taken over by Simplot Australia.^[2]

Urquhart joined the Food Preservers' Union of Australia, initially serving as a delegate and then from August 1990 as a full-time organiser. Her union was later merged into the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU),^[2] and she served as state president from 1998 to 2004 and state secretary from 2004 to 2010.^[3][4]

Politics

Urquhart served as a vice-president of the Australian Labor Party (Tasmanian Branch) from 2004 and as a delegate to the ALP National Conference.^[3] She was first elected to the Senate at the 2010 federal election, to a term beginning on 1 July 2011.^[5] She was re-elected to further six-year terms in 2016 (following a double dissolution) and 2022.^[3] Her office is located in Devonport.^[4]

In 2014 Urquhart was elected state president of the ALP, replacing Rebecca White.^[6] She has served on a variety of committees during her time in the Senate. She has been the Labor Party's chief whip in the Senate since 2016, having previously served as a deputy whip from 2013 to 2016. After the ALP's victory at the 2022 election she became chief government whip and was also made chair of the selection of bills committee.^[3]

Anthony Albanese announced in November 2024 that Urquhart would be the Labor Party's candidate for the federal Division of Braddon at the 2025 federal election, requiring her to resign her Senate seat on 28 March 2025.^[7] She won the seat for the Labor Party with a double digit swing to become an MP.^[1]