Bronwyn Bishop was elected to the Senate in 1987. Within eighteen months of her election, she was appointed an Opposition Shadow Minister.
Mrs Bishop resigned from the Senate in February 1994 and was elected to the House of Representatives in March 1994 as the Member for Mackellar in a by-election. Following the election of the Howard Government in 1996, Bronwyn was appointed Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel, where she pioneered a ground breaking Defence Industry Policy framework, a first for Australia. It remains government policy, even today.
After the government’s re-election in 1998, Bronwyn was appointed Minister for Aged Care where she brought a broad and progressive view to the needs of Australia’s ageing population. Bronwyn again led the way by introducing mandatory national standards for aged care providers ensuring that standards were lifted and maintained.
Since the last election, Bronwyn was honoured to have been appointed as Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs until late 2008. In late 2009, recognising that senior Australians are a wealth of knowledge and experience with ideas and solutions to shape our nations’ future, Tony Abbott appointed Bronwyn to be Australia’s first Shadow Minister for Seniors.
In the time she has been in Parliament, Mrs Bishop has managed to establish a reputation. As one journalist writing in the Sydney Morning Herald wrote she is “an indefatigable and formidable advocate”.
Mrs Bishop maintains her involvement in professional and community interests by her membership of legal, cultural, charity, women’s community and sporting committees. She is also a solicitor and mother of two daughters and a grandmother of one granddaughter.