Representative Karen Andrews Contact information

Karen Lesley Andrews is a well-known Australian politician who has served in the Morrison government as the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology from 2018 to 2021, and as the Minister for Home Affairs from 2021 to 2022. She is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and has been representing the Queensland seat of McPherson since the 2010 federal election. Andrews was also an assistant minister in the Abbott and Turnbull governments before her tenure as a minister. Before entering politics, she worked as a mechanical engineer and an industrial relations consultant.

Born in Brisbane on August 23, 1960, Andrews grew up in Townsville and attended Townsville Grammar School. As one of the first two female graduates of the engineering faculty, she completed a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree at the Queensland Institute of Technology. She then worked at the Queensland Electricity Generating Board as a drafter and in plant maintenance at the Gladstone Power Station. Later on, Andrews moved to Victoria to work in the oil industry as a supervisor and completed a graduate diploma in industrial relations at Victoria University. She then represented the interests of employers in negotiations with employees as an industrial advocate for an employers’ association in the metal, engineering and construction industries. Andrews later established an industrial relations consultancy business that focused on alternative dispute resolution and mediation before moving to the Gold Coast in Queensland in 2002.

In October 2009, Andrews won the Liberal National Party of Queensland ballot for preselection in the federal seat of McPherson. She defeated three other candidates, including Peter Dutton, the incumbent MP for Dickson. She subsequently retained the seat for the LNP at the 2010 federal election. Andrews co-chaired the Parliamentary Friends of Science with Richard Marles in 2012, served as chair of the joint statutory committee on public works from 2013 to 2015, and was appointed to the speaker’s panel in 2014.

Andrews was promoted to parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science in the Abbott Ministry in December 2014 and was later appointed as the Assistant Minister for Science in September 2015, after Malcolm Turnbull replaced Abbott as prime minister. In July 2016, she was appointed as the Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills after a reshuffle. During the 2018 Liberal leadership spills, Andrews reportedly supported Peter Dutton against Turnbull in the first ballot, voted against holding a second ballot, but subsequently voted for Scott Morrison against Dutton. Andrews was then appointed as the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology in the newly formed Morrison government and was sworn in on August 28, 2018.

As science minister, Andrews announced the creation of a Cooperative Research Centre on clean energy, additional funding for artificial intelligence research, and the Australian Space Agency. During the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrews played a key role in the government’s response, particularly in reassuring the public about both the contagion itself and the panic-buying that threatened the supplies of food, toilet paper, and sanitizing products, according to The Australian.

Andrews was appointed as the Minister for Home Affairs in March 2021 following a cabinet reshuffle related to the 2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations.

Andrews is a member of the Centre-Right faction of the Liberal Party and identifies as a feminist. In a 2018 interview with Sky News, she stated that coal would play a significant role in Australia’s energy mix in the future. In January 2020, Andrews said that it was time to move on from ideological battles over climate change and focus on adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Andrews is married to Chris and has three daughters. According to the parliamentary register of financial interests in 2018, she owned nine investment properties in Queensland and had shares in several companies, including BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Wesfarmers. Additionally, Andrews is a former lawyer and was appointed to the Australian Parliament in 2010 as the Member for McPherson, representing the Liberal National Party. She has since held various positions, including Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Assistant Minister for Science, and Minister for Employment. Andrews is known for her advocacy for small businesses, education, and technology innovation.