1. Gerardine Mary "Ged" Kearney was born on 29 October 1963 and is an Australian politician and trade unionist who is the Australian Labor Party member for the federal Division of Cooper and the current Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, a position she has occupied since the election of the government of Anthony Albanese at the 2022 Australian federal election.
Gerardine Mary Ged Kearney was born on 29 October 1963 in East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; she grew up in Richmond as the second-youngest of nine siblings.
Ged Kearney attended secondary school at Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy and began to study for a Bachelor of Economics degree at Monash University but ended her studies to pursue a career in nursing.
Ged Kearney gained a Bachelor of Education, and worked as a nurse and nurse educator, managing clinical-nurse education at Austin Health.
When Ged Kearney was 21, she became pregnant with twins, leading her to take leave from her nursing training.
Ged Kearney returned to her training when her children were seven weeks old.
In 1997, Gerardine Ged Kearney was elected as an official of the Australian Nursing Federation; she served as assistant federal secretary, federal president and Victorian-branch president before she was appointed as federal secretary of the Federation in April 2008.
On 1 July 2010, following the departure of Sharan Burrow, Ged Kearney was elected president of the ACTU.
In July 2012, Ged Kearney announced the ACTU would donate to Fiji A$2.6 million to assist in the running of democratic elections.
In 2017, Ged Kearney resigned from the MACSM, stating the body had become "ineffective" and "unbalanced".
In 2015, as ACTU president, Ged Kearney called on Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott to remove Dyson Heydon from his leadership of the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption after Heydon agreed to speak at a Liberal Party fundraising dinner.
Ged Kearney stated the ACTU was considering taking the matter to the High Court but this did not occur.
Ged Kearney had previously labelled the royal commission "an expensive stunt".
In May 2013, in the lead up to the 2013 federal election, Ged Kearney said she was considering nominating herself for Labor preselection in the Division of Batman, a seat that was being vacated following the retirement of Martin Ferguson.
In 2017, Ged Kearney was a candidate for Labor preselection in the Victorian seat of Brunswick, a seat that was being vacated by Jane Garrett, who had moved to the Legislative Council.
Cindy O'Connor was preselected as the Labor candidate over Ged Kearney and was defeated at the 2018 state election by Greens candidate Tim Read.
Controversy around the proposed Adani Carmichael coal mine was a significant feature of the by-election campaign, during which Labor leader Bill Shorten stated his "scepticism" of the coal mine; Ged Kearney criticised of the project but did not commit to blocking it.
Ged Kearney was endorsed by EMILY's List Australia, a Labor-aligned organisation that advocates for representation of women in parliament.
In July 2019, Ged Kearney joined the Parliamentary Committee for Employment, Education and Training.
On 1 July 2022, Ged Kearney announced the self-collection of samples for cervical-cancer testing would become available.
On 22 November 2023, Ged Kearney announced the National Strategy for the Elimination of Cervical Cancer, along with A$48.2 million for its implementation.
On 3 December 2023, Ged Kearney attended that year's United Nations Climate Change Conference and delivered a speech announcing the Australian National Health and Climate Strategy, whose priorities included "Health system decarbonisation" and "Resilience actions".
Gerardine Ged Kearney is a supporter of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament and campaigned in favour of its introduction in the unsuccessful 2023 referendum.
Ged Kearney is a supporter of LGBT rights and participated in the Sydney WorldPride march in March 2023.
Ged Kearney is a member of the Australian All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet.
In 2020, Ged Kearney's father-in-law died after contracting COVID-19 in Canberra; his was the thirtieth death from COVID-19 in Australia.