Carina Mary Lindsay Garland is an Australian politician. She has served as a Labor MP for Chisholm since the 2022 Australian federal election.
Garland was born in Traralgon, Victoria.[1] Her father was a general practitioner and ran a practice in Melbourne's south-east with her mother, a nurse. Her maternal grandparents immigrated to Australia from Italy in the 1950s.[2] Her grandfather was a maths teacher at Emmaus College in Burwood.[3]
Garland grew up in Clayton.[4][5] As a child, she performed ballet concerts at the Alexander Theatre in Clayton.[6] She attended Sacré Cœur School in Glen Iris, where she was a School Prefect.[1] She later enrolled in an Arts/Law degree at Monash University, being awarded first class honours in English Literature. She received a scholarship to complete a PhD in the humanities at the University of Sydney.[7]
In her early life she experienced insecure work,[8] which she has described as "the dominant form of employment" that she has experienced.[6] She said that this experience influenced her advocacy for secure, local jobs and her belief "that people should have jobs they can count on".[8]
Garland worked as an academic at the University of Sydney.[9][when?] After completing her PhD in the humanities, Garland worked as a parliamentary staffer for Simon Crean.[10] "Simon was the first person I voted for in any election and my first boss in politics," she said in 2023.[10] She described him as a "generous boss" who gave her support and advice during her election campaign in 2022.[10]
From 2016 to 2018, Garland was Senior Vice-President of the Australian Labor Party (Vic).[9]
Garland served as the Assistant Secretary for the Victorian Trades Hall Council from 2018 - 2021.[1] Her responsibilities included the Young Workers Centre and the Migrant Workers Centre. In 2019 she was a witness in the Victorian Government's Legislative Assembly Economy and Infrastructure Committee Inquiry into sustainable employment for disadvantaged jobseekers, where she advocated for marginalised and migrant workers.[11]
Garland was preselected to stand in Chisholm for Labor at the 2022 federal election in July 2021, and won the seat with an 8.1-point swing in her direction, defeating Liberal incumbent Gladys Liu.[7][12] During the 2022 election campaign, Garland and her supported knocked on 60,000 doors in Chisholm, phoned 72,000 people and had more than 25,000 conversations with voters in the electorate.[13] Garland was endorsed by Kevin Rudd.[14] Anthony Albanese described her as "a local champion who understands Chisholm and its needs".[15]
In the Labor caucus, Garland is a member of the Labor Left faction.[16]
Former Chisholm MP, Anna Burke, is a friend and mentor to Garland, and Garland has said that Burke showed her "what it means to be a really hard-working, active local member of parliament."[13]
In Parliament, Garland advocates for education, healthcare, climate change, workers rights, small business, local manufacturing, the arts and multiculturalism.[3] In April 2023 she signed a letter calling for a substantial increase to JobSeeker.[17] In May 2024 she spoke out about the Federal Government's Future Of Gas Strategy,[18] stating that she believes "the future is renewables" and that she will "always fight for strong, real climate action".[19]
Garland is an advocate for life long learning and building a thriving higher education system in Australia.[20] In September 2023 she made a submission the Australian Universities Accord Interim Report on behalf of the Chisholm electorate.[21] Her submission was based on a survey of the electorate. In her submission, she advocated for financial support for unpaid work placements, improving safety on campus, and reforming the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) (formerly HECS). [21] On 21 March 2024, Minister for Education the Hon. Jason Clare MP acknowledged Garland's work to raise the issue of HELP debt reform during Question Time.[22]
Garland is an advocate for action to address gendered violence,[23] and has spoken out about the issue of safety on campus.[24] She has said that she has "witnessed first-hand the devastation that sexual violence on campus has wrought on people's lives",[24] and that she does not want "any other generations of women to have to go through that."[24] On 28 February 2024, Minister for Education the Hon. Jason Clare MP thanked Garland during Question Time for her work advocating for action to address gendered violence on campus.[25]
Garland's electorate office is in Mount Waverley.[26]
Garland lives in Clayton.[4] She is a member of the United Workers Union, the Australian Services Union, and the Community and Public Sector Union.[27]
Garland is a descendant of Mary and Edith Garland, who signed the 1891 petition to grant Victorian women the right to vote.[3]
Garland has Italian heritage,[28] and her family credits the Federal Labor Government for transforming their lives.[4]
She is a member of the Collingwood Football Club.[27]
Growing up in the south-east and now living in Clayton...
The daughter of a doctor and a nurse, Carland (sic) grew up in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne and studied at Monash University.
Media related to Carina Garland at Wikimedia Commons