Representative Kate Thwaites Contact information

Kate Lynne Thwaites is an Australian politician who currently serves as a member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Jagajaga in Victoria. She was born on January 19, 1980, in Melbourne to a lawyer father and a schoolteacher mother. Thwaites spent most of her childhood in the suburb of Rosanna.

Thwaites attended RMIT University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of International Development degree. In 2002, she started her career at 2CUZ, an Indigenous community radio station in Bourke, New South Wales. Later, she worked for ABC News until 2008, when she joined Oxfam Australia as a media adviser. She then served as a senior adviser to Labor MP Jenny Macklin and as the communications director at the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. Thwaites also worked with the National Disability Insurance Agency in Geelong.

In July 2018, Thwaites won Labor preselection for the Division of Jagajaga, taking over from Jenny Macklin who retired from politics. The Guardian reported that her victory was “almost a direct result of Josh Burns’ win in Macnamara, with the Labor left concerned about its female representation”. In the 2019 federal election, Thwaites retained Jagajaga for the Australian Labor Party with a small positive swing. She was re-elected in the 2022 federal election with an increased margin of over 62% of the two-party preferred vote.

Thwaites’ experience in journalism and public service has served her well in politics, and she continues to make a positive impact in her community as a member of parliament.