1. Louise Clare Pratt was born on 18 April 1972 and is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2016, and previously from 2008 to 2014.
19 Facts About Louise Pratt
1. 2.
Louise Pratt is a member of the Labor Party, and served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2007.
3.
Louise Pratt was the youngest woman ever elected to the Legislative Council at the time of her election and the second open lesbian to be elected to an Australian parliament.
4.
Louise Pratt's father was born in Devon, England, and she was a British citizen by descent until renouncing it prior to the 2007 election.
5.
Louise Pratt obtained a Bachelor's degree at the University of Western Australia, where she became involved in student politics.
6.
Louise Pratt remained active in the Labor Party outside of student politics, and was the Labor candidate in the then-safe Liberal state seat of Alfred Cove at the 1996 state election.
7.
Louise Pratt worked at various times for former MLA Megan Anwyl, Jim McGinty, Geoff Gallop, and federal MP Carmen Lawrence.
8.
Louise Pratt took her seat with the new term of the Legislative Council in May 2001.
9.
Louise Pratt was comfortably re-elected at the 2005 state election, and was promoted to chair of the Environment and Public Affairs committee after the election.
10.
Louise Pratt continued to pursue her interests in midwifery services through her role as a member of the Public Obstetric Services Select Committee, and served as Chair of the State Government Adoption Legislation Review Committee.
11.
Louise Pratt made some headlines again in December 2005, arguing for the introduction of civil union legislation in the state.
12.
Louise Pratt began campaigning for Labor preselection for a Senate seat for the 2007 federal election in mid-2006.
13.
Louise Pratt subsequently resigned from her Legislative Council seat in October 2007, and as the highest-placed Labor candidate, was easily elected to the Senate in November.
14.
Louise Pratt went on to become Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water in 2013, a position she held until her defeat at the Federal Senate Election in 2014.
15.
Louise Pratt was the fourth candidate on the Western Australian ALP ticket for the Senate in the 2016 election, and was re-elected to the Senate.
16.
In May 2022 Louise Pratt was appointed Deputy Government Whip in the Senate.
17.
In February 2024 Louise Pratt announced her retirement from the Senate.
18.
Louise Pratt has a son, born in October 2014, who she co-parents with her former partner Aram Hosie, a trans man and LGBTI community activist, as well as Western Australian state Labor MLC Stephen Dawson and his partner Dennis Liddelow, one of whom is the biological father.
19.
Louise Pratt married her long-term partner Rebecca Misich in June 2023.