1. Maxine Margaret McKew was born on 22 July 1953 and is an Australian former Labor politician and journalist; she was the Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in the First Rudd Ministry and the First Gillard Ministry.
Maxine McKew was only the second person to unseat a sitting Australian prime minister since Jack Holloway defeated Stanley Bruce in 1929; and the third person to unseat the leader of a major party, after Neville Newell defeated Charles Blunt, leader of the National Party, in 1990.
Maxine McKew hosted a number of programs on Australian Broadcasting Corporation television and radio, most recently Lateline and The 7.30 Report.
When Maxine McKew was five, her mother Elaine died, and Maxine McKew was sent to live with her grandparents for three years.
Maxine McKew is Roman Catholic and Hogg is divorced; consequently, they have chosen not to marry.
Maxine McKew had previously indicated active plans to move into the electorate of Bennelong, before doing so in March 2007.
On 3 March 2007, allegations of death threats against Maxine McKew were widely reported.
Maxine McKew supported herself with a variety of temporary jobs, including relief typing at a London BBC office.
Maxine McKew appeared as herself in the eighth episode of the first series, and in the sixth episode of the second series of the Australia television series The Games.
In over 30 years working at the ABC, Maxine McKew worked as a presenter on the 7:30 Report and Lateline, and worked on The Carleton-Walsh Report, AM, PM, and The Bottom Line.
Maxine McKew was honoured for her broadcasting work with a Logie award, and for her journalism by a Walkley Award.
Maxine McKew frequently elicited newsworthy revelations from her subjects, and was named by The Australian Financial Review as "one of the top ten exercisers of covert power in Australia".
Maxine McKew was reported to have been a possible Labor candidate for the safe federal seat of Fowler at both the 2001 and 2004 elections.
Latham recorded in his diary that his efforts failed because the broadcaster would not move from her home in Mosman to Labor's outer-suburban heartland, an area which he represented as the Member for Werriwa, while Maxine McKew told ABC Radio that a big factor in her 2003 decision was that she regarded the party as being without direction at the time.
Maxine McKew had been approached by John Hewson in the past to join the Liberal Party.
Maxine McKew outlined her position on issues such as the environment, education and women in The Bulletin in mid-2007.
On 1 December 2007, while counting was still under way, Maxine McKew formally claimed victory in Bennelong, saying that she was "comfortably ahead" on the two-party vote.
The final tally indicated that Maxine McKew had won victory on the 14th count due to a large flow of Green preferences to her; 3,793 of Green voters listed Maxine McKew as their second preference.
Less than a week after the official declaration of her victory, Maxine McKew launched a book and described the Howard era of government as one characterised by "brutish" politics.
Maxine McKew delivered her first speech in the House of Representatives on 14 February 2008.
On 6 June 2009, in a ministerial reshuffle brought on as a result of the resignations of the Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, and the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Senator Jan McLucas, Maxine McKew became Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.
Maxine McKew was defeated at the 2010 federal election, losing the seat of Bennelong to John Alexander, her opponent from the Liberal Party.
Maxine McKew suffered a swing against her of more than 5 per cent, remarking as she conceded defeat that Labor's national campaign 'left a lot to be desired'.
Maxine McKew works for Social Ventures Australia, advising on education issues, and is a Vice Chancellor's Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
Maxine McKew is a long-term participant in the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue, a bipartisan bilateral civil diplomatic initiative founded by Melbourne businessman Phil Scanlan.
Maxine McKew serves as a Distinguished Fellow of the Australia India Institute.
Maxine McKew is a member of the Sydney Symphony Council, and was the Patron of Osteoporosis Australia.
Until April 2024, Maxine McKew sat on an advisory board to the State Library Victoria.