Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews says she is not a career politician.Credit:Paul Harris
After completing his DBA,her husband said to her:“Now it’s your turn,what would you like to do?”
“I’m not sure he expected this,” Andrews toldThe Sun-HeraldandSunday Age,referring to a career in politics. “I’m not a career politician … I came into politics because I genuinely believe that there were people who did not have a voice,and that I can be their advocate.”
Andrews nominated for the safe Gold Coast seat of McPherson in 2009. It wasn’t an easy preselection;Andrews had todefeat then-opposition frontbencher Peter Dutton - the man she now takes over from as Minister for Home Affairs. (Dutton was trying to switch seats from Dickson.)
Andrews then worked her way up from backbencher to cabinet minister. It is certainly true she didn’t come from a background in politics;while she was appointed to some senior roles in the Liberal National Party before entering Parliament,she was never a staffer or full-time party official like so many of her colleagues.
As Home Affairs Minister,she is now in charge of Australia’s vast apparatus of domestic security agencies. These include the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation,the Australian Federal Police,Australian Border Force and the financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC,among others. It is the first time that many of these agencies report to a minister who is not a former lawyer or a cop.
This is an important distinction at a time when the lines between national security and other policy areas are increasingly blurred - whether they be economic,health or social policy. The global pandemic,along with China’s wave of cyber attacks and other forms of foreign interference,has exposed the vulnerabilities associated with globalised supply chains. Andrews says she views the development of an mRNA vaccine,such as Pfizer,as a national security issue.
“I have come from an economic portfolio - creating jobs,building our economic future is important,” she says. “And I’m seeing in the Home Affairs portfolio as an opportunity where we can maximise the environment that we have here in Australia… to grow our economy.”