20 Facts About Michelle Rowland

Michelle Anne Rowland was born on 16 November 1971 and is an Australian politician.

Michelle Rowland is a member of the Australian Labor Party and has represented the Division of Greenway in the House of Representatives since 2010.

Michelle Rowland was a member of the shadow ministry from 2013 to 2022, and was elected President of the New South Wales Labor Party in October 2021.

Michelle Rowland is the Minister for Communications in the government of Anthony Albanese following the ALP's victory in the 2022 Australian federal election.

Michelle Rowland's mother is Fijian, but she does not hold dual citizenship as the Fijian constitution at the time did not allow for citizenship to pass through the maternal line.

Michelle Rowland was educated at Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta and the University of Sydney.

Michelle Rowland was a senior telecommunications lawyer with law firm Gilbert + Tobin in Sydney.

Michelle Rowland was a Director of the Western Sydney Area Health Service from 2000 to 2004 and is a former local councillor and deputy mayor of Blacktown.

At the 2010 Australian federal election, Michelle Rowland won the Australian House of Representatives seat of Greenway for Labor, following the 2009 electoral distribution which had made Greenway notionally Labor, on a margin of 5.7 points.

Michelle Rowland was re-elected to the seat at the 2013 federal election with an increased majority, and was appointed to the Labor opposition's frontbench as Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications as well as Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multiculturalism.

In October 2015, Michelle Rowland was elevated to Shadow Minister for Small Business as well as continuing as Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multiculturalism.

Michelle Rowland has held the portfolios of Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications, Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Shadow Minister for Small Business, and Shadow Minister for Communications.

Michelle Rowland was elevated to the shadow Cabinet in 2016, and maintained her place following Anthony Albanese's election as party leader in 2019.

Michelle Rowland was elected President of the Australian Labor Party at the NSW State Conference on 9 October 2021.

On 10 September 2024, Albanese and Michelle Rowland confirmed that the federal government would introduce legislation to enforce a minimum age for access to social media and other relevant digital platforms.

Albanese said that the legislation was intended to safeguard the safety and mental and physical health of young people while Michelle Rowland said that the proposed legislation would hold big tech to account for harmful online environments and social media addiction among children.

In 2012, Michelle Rowland was one of 98 MPs that voted against a bill for same-sex marriage, but supported its introduction from 2016.

Michelle Rowland's son is on active service in the Australian navy and he wants to marry his partner.

In 2021, Michelle Rowland was the most vocal critic inside the Labor caucus of its capital gains tax, negative gearing, and income tax policies, seeing all three dropped.

Michelle Rowland is married to Michael Chaaya, with whom she is raising their two daughters, Octavia and Aurelia.