18 Facts About Bridget Archer

Bridget Kathleen Archer was born on 18 May 1975 and is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election.

Bridget Archer is a member of the Liberal Party and represents the Division of Bass in Tasmania.

The Whelans separated when Bridget Archer was eight and she remained with her adoptive father.

However, he died not long after, and Bridget Archer moved to Ravenswood, a suburb of Launceston, to live with her mother, who had remarried.

Bridget Archer was expelled from Launceston Grammar, and failed Year 12.

Bridget Archer worked at the Tasmanian Herbarium from 1995 to 1999, as a botanical curator, and later worked in "a variety of mostly casual administrative and hospitality jobs", including at the 2000 Summer Olympics, before returning to university.

Bridget Archer completed a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science, followed by a graduate certificate in international politics.

Bridget Archer was elected to the George Town Council in 2009.

Bridget Archer served as deputy mayor from 2011 to 2014 and then as mayor until resigning in 2019 to enter federal politics.

Bridget Archer is a member of the moderate faction of the Liberal Party.

Bridget Archer served as secretary and treasurer of the Liberal Party's George Town branch from 2012 to 2013.

Bridget Archer stood unsuccessfully in Bass at the 2018 state election, as one of five candidates on the party's ticket.

In November 2018, Bridget Archer announced that she would run for Liberal preselection in Bass.

Bridget Archer was elected to parliament at the 2019 federal election, defeating the incumbent Australian Labor Party candidate Ross Hart.

In December 2020, Bridget Archer publicly criticised the Morrison government's trial of a cashless debit card to deliver welfare payments, stating that she would oppose its use within her own electorate and describing it as a "punitive measure enacted on the presumption that all welfare recipients within the trial areas are incapable of managing their finances and require the government's assistance".

The House of Representatives passed legislation to make the card permanent by one vote, with Bridget Archer abstaining from voting despite her earlier criticism.

Bridget Archer has crossed the floor a number of times, including:.

Bridget Archer claimed that her views hadn't changed, but the party had shifted to the right, becoming "One Nation lite".