Margaret Fitzherbert

Margaret Fitzherbert (born 11 November 1969) is an Australian politician. She is a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council, having represented Southern Metropolitan Region since 2014.^[1] Before entering parliament she held various positions in business and was most recently director of the Royal Women's Hospital (2012–14) and chair of the board (2013–14).^[2]

In February 2015, Margaret was appointed Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Women’s Health, and Rural and Regional Health.^[3]

Margaret completed a BA (Hons) at Monash University. Later she attained a Grad Dip in Labour Relations Law from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Arts (Communications) from RMIT University, where she won the Fairfax Business Media Prize.^[4]

Margaret has worked as an industrial advocate, representing employers, and was a ministerial adviser to the Minister for Women the Hon Judi Moylan MP, and the Hon David Kemp MP, Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs. She also worked in senior communications roles for various employers, including ANZ and the National Australia Bank^[5]

Margaret has written extensively on women and politics. Her first book, Liberal Women, was shortlisted for a NSW Premier’s History Award in 2004, and was followed by So Many Firsts in 2009.^[6] She has been a member of the Victorian working party for the Australian Dictionary of Biography since 2008.

Margaret was one of the first to speak out publicly about the practice of Liberal preselectors asking women about their childcare arrangements.^[7]

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