Lia Finocchiaro

Lia Finocchiaro MLA
Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for Spillett
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 August 2016
Preceded by	new seat
Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for Drysdale
In office 25 August 2012 – 27 August 2016
Preceded by	Ross Bohlin
Succeeded by	Eva Lawler
Personal details
Born	Lia Emele Finocchiaro 20 September 1984 Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Country Liberal Party
Spouse(s)	Sam Burke
Residence	Palmerston, Northern Territory
Alma mater	University of Adelaide
Profession	Lawyer

Lia Emele Finocchiaro (born 20 September 1984) is an Australian politician. She has been a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for the seat of Spillett since her election in 2016. She was previously the member for Drysdale from the 2012 election.

Early life

Finocchiaro was born in the Northern Territory and grew up in Palmerston. She studied the International Baccalaureate diploma, then graduated with a double degree in law and international studies from the University of Adelaide.^[1] She returned to Darwin in 2008, and was admitted as a legal practitioner in the Northern Territory, commencing work as a graduate clerk at the Clayton Utz law firm. She also received a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from Charles Darwin University.^[2]

Parliament

In 2012, the Country Liberal Party preselected Finocchiaro for the seat of Drysdale in that year's election, instead of sitting CLP member Ross Bohlin, who unsuccessfully ran against her as a conservative independent.^[3] On 7 March 2013, Finocchiaro was elevated to the Second Mills Ministry, becoming Minister for Sport and Recreation, Racing, Statehood, Young Territorians and Senior Territorians. Aged 28, she was the youngest minister in Territory history.^[4][5][6] However, she was dropped from the ministry on 14 March after Adam Giles successfully challenged then-Chief Minister Terry Mills only a week later.^[7]

Following a redistribution of electoral boundaries, Finocchiaro sought CLP preselection for the new seat of Spillett, taking in strong conservative suburbs between Darwin and Palmerston—including her base in Durack. She successfully defeated Treasurer Dave Tollner and was subsequently endorsed as the CLP candidate. Finocchiaro went into the 2016 election with a notional majority of 17.9%, making Spillett the CLP's safest seat in Darwin/Palmerston at the time.

CLP deputy leadership

On election night, the Territory swung heavily to Labor, which won a landslide majority government. However, Finocchiaro weathered this massive Labor wave with only a small swing against her in Spillett, proving to be in the least danger of the CLP's elected members. She was left as the only CLP member in the metropolitan area and was one of only two CLP candidates to be elected. Meanwhile, her previous seat of Drysdale was lost to Labor candidate Eva Lawler.

Gary Higgins became CLP leader and opposition leader on 2 September, with Finocchiaro becoming deputy CLP leader and hence deputy opposition leader.^[8]

As Higgins and Finocchiaro are the only ones to make up the official opposition, all portfolios are allocated between Higgins and Finocchiaro.

Among Finocchiaro's responsibilities is that of Opposition Whip. Under these circumstances it is unusual that Finocchiaro is given this position as the role of the Opposition Whip is to make sure party MPs toe the official party line. However as Whip, Finocchiaro does not really have the responsibility to keep anyone in line since the only other CLP MP is leader Gary Higgins.

References

1. NT Young Australian of the Year 2012 - Territory Finalist, Australian of the Year, 2012.
2. Drysdale (Key Seat), Northern Territory Votes 2012, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, August 2012.
3. Crawford, Sarah: New face of Drysdale, NT News, 23 April 2012.
4. La Canna, Xavier (7 March 2013). "Infighting, insults plague NT government". The Australian. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
5. "Cabinet Reshuffle". Media release. Terry Mills MLA. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
6. La Canna, Xavier (2016-08-29). "Who is Lia Finocchiaro, who may be the only opposition MLA in NT Parliament?". ABC News.
7. "Angry Mills says turns his back on Giles cabinet". ABC News. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
8. "Gary Higgins becomes Country Liberals' new leader, Lia Finnochiaro his deputy". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.

External links

• Lia Finocchiaro – Candidate for Drysdale (Country Liberal Party)
• Lia Finocchiaro on Twitter