Louise Pratt

Biography

Louise Clare Pratt is an Australian politician with a distinguished career in both state and federal politics. Born on April 18, 1972, in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Pratt grew up in the outer hills suburbs of Perth, where she attended Eastern Hills Senior High School. She went on to study arts at the University of Western Australia, where she became involved in student politics and rose to become the state education officer for the National Union of Students.

Pratt’s involvement in student politics led her to become involved in gay rights activism, where she served as a spokesperson for Gay and Lesbian Equality, a prominent advocacy group in the state. She addressed issues such as discrimination, unequal age of consent laws, homophobia in schools and property rights, frequently clashing with the conservative Liberal Party of Western Australia government of Richard Court. It was during this time that Pratt worked alongside fellow activist Brian Greig, who became a Senator for and at one point interim leader of the Australian Democrats.

Pratt remained active in the Labor Party outside of student politics, and was the Labor candidate in the then-safe Liberal state seat of Alfred Cove at the 1996 state election. She worked for various members of the party, including former MLA Megan Anwyl, Jim McGinty, Geoff Gallop, and federal MP Carmen Lawrence. While working as an electorate officer for Lawrence, Pratt won the third position on the Labor ticket for the East Metropolitan Region at the 2001 state election. She became the youngest woman ever elected to the Legislative Council and took her seat in May 2001.

In her maiden speech, Pratt suggested that the voting age in the state should be dropped to 16. However, her first major contribution came when she was appointed to a Ministerial committee on gay and lesbian law reform with a wide mandate to make recommendations regarding the elimination of discrimination in state law. Pratt, along with lesbian Green MP Giz Watson, played a major role in the committee, which ultimately made a wide range of recommendations, and which was tabled in the Western Australian parliament on 2 August 2001. The committee’s recommendations were largely taken into law with the 2002 passage of the Acts Amendment (Lesbian and Gay Law Reform) Act 2002.

After the conclusion of the law reform debate, Pratt became less vocal in the media, but was no less active in her role. She advocated for midwife-led models of care in maternity services and took up the issue of greenhouse emissions through her position on the Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs. Pratt was comfortably re-elected at the 2005 state election, and was promoted to chair of the Environment and Public Affairs committee after the election. She continued to pursue her interests in midwifery services through her role as a member of the Public Obstetric Services Select Committee, and served as Chair of the State Government Adoption Legislation Review Committee.

In 2007, Pratt began campaigning for Labor preselection for a Senate seat for the federal election. She received wide cross-factional support and achieved a shock victory in October, topping the poll to win first position on the Labor ticket ahead of incumbent Senators Mark Bishop and Ruth Webber. She resigned from her Legislative Council seat in October 2007 and was easily elected to the Senate in November.

In the Senate, Pratt was made a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, the Standing Committee on Economics, and the Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts. She made her first speech in August 2008, in which she addressed policy issues related to sexuality, the environment, foreign aid, immigration, social inclusion, and workforce participation.

In September 2012, Pratt co-sponsored a Bill to amend the Marriage Act (1961) and enable same-sex marriages to be recognized. She has been a strong advocate for marriage equality and has spoken publicly about her support for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2017, Pratt donated $1 million to the “yes” campaign for marriage equality in Australia, and after the legislation was passed, she married her partner in a beautiful ceremony in California. Pratt’s commitment to social justice issues and her willingness to use her platform to advocate for positive change has earned her respect and admiration from people all over the world. She continues to use her voice to fight for equality, both in Australia and globally