Anika Shay Wells was born on 11 August 1985 and is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election.
14 Facts About Anika Wells
2.
Anika Wells is a member of the Australian Labor Party and represents the Division of Lilley in Queensland.
3.
Anika Wells was born in Brisbane, Queensland, on 11 August 1985.
4.
Anika Wells's father, an accountant, was born in Melbourne and her mother, an administrator, was born in New Zealand.
5.
Anika Wells holds arts and law degrees from Griffith University as well as a graduate diploma in legal practice from the Australian National University.
6.
Anika Wells was admitted to practise law in 2012 and joined Maurice Blackburn in 2014 as a compensation lawyer.
7.
Anika Wells worked on a number of cases related to immigration detention.
8.
In March 2018, Anika Wells won Labor preselection for the Division of Lilley, replacing the retiring member Wayne Swan.
9.
Anika Wells won the seat at the 2019 federal election despite a five-point swing against the ALP on the two-party-preferred count.
10.
At the time, Anika Wells was Australia's youngest female MP at 34.
11.
Anika Wells served on the "Inquiry into the destruction of 46,000-year-old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia", which delivered its interim report in December 2020.
12.
Anika Wells went into the May 2022 federal election on a margin of 0.6 per cent in Lilley but emerged with a first preference swing toward Labor of 6.48 per cent.
13.
Anika Wells is a member of Queensland's Labor Right and the party's rules on affirmative action meant Blair MP Shayne Neumann was relegated to the backbench after serving on the shadow frontbench.
14.
Anika Wells was named Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Sport.