Amanda Stoker

Stoker was born in the Sydney suburb of Liverpool to working-class parents, Mark and Cornelia Ingrid Fell. Her father was born in Australia and her mother in Sweden.[2] She grew up in Campbelltown, an outer-southern suburb of Sydney.[3] In her first speech in the Senate she explained: "My dad is a plumber, drainer, gas fitter. He had his own small business. My mum worked in a shop as a retail assistant."[4] She completed her HSC at Hurlstone Agricultural High School before studying arts and law at Sydney University, graduating with first-class honours.[5]

Stoker began her career as a clerk and solicitor in Brisbane with Minter Ellison in 2006.[1][6] She went on to serve as a Commonwealth prosecutor, as well as a judge's associate to Philip McMurdo in the Supreme Court of Queensland, and to Ian Callinan in the High Court of Australia.[7]

Prior to her appointment to the Senate, Stoker was a member of Level Twenty-Seven Chambers and a sessional academic at Central Queensland University.[6] She was vice-president of the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland from 2016 to 2018.[8][9]

During her legal career, Stoker had a particular interest in administrative law and statutory interpretation.[6]

From 2014 to 2018, Stoker was a director at the non-profit,[9] Brisbane-based conservative think tank, the Australian Institute for Progress (AIP).[6][10] During her time there, the AIP was a critic of anti-mining advocacy groups holding charitable status,[11] and hosted a visit to Brisbane by climate science denier Patrick Moore.[12] Also during Stoker's time, the AIP opposed tobacco plain packaging and criticised the World Health Organization's proposed international convention on tobacco.[13][14][15]

In 2010, Stoker was the treasurer of the Young LNP. She was concurrently a member of the Liberal National Party Policy Standing Committee and chair of the Media and Communications Policy Committee from 2009 to 2016. Stoker unsuccessfully sought LNP pre-selection for the electoral district of Cleveland at the 2009 Queensland state election,[16] and was an unsuccessful LNP Senate candidate at the 2013 federal election.[17] She was a member of the party's state executive from 2014 to 2017.[1]

On 10 March 2018, the Queensland LNP chose Stoker from a field of 12 candidates to succeed high-profile cabinet member George Brandis as a senator for Queensland.[18] Endorsed by the LNP State Executive Council, she did not face a vote by rank-and-file members.[19] The Australian reported that LNP members were threatening to push for gender quotas if the party did not preselect a woman,[20] and the Daily Mercury reported that LNP sources had said Stoker was one of the standouts, because she was based in Brisbane and would also increase the LNP's percentage of females.[21] The LNP president denied gender was a motive, saying Stoker was chosen on merit.[18][7] Stoker was appointed to the casual vacancy left by Brandis on 21 March 2018 and she was sworn in as a senator the following day.[22][23] Prior to Stoker's appointment to the senate, all federal LNP senators were men.[20][7]

On 22 December 2020, Stoker was appointed as the Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General.[24] On 30 March 2021, she was appointed to additional positions of Assistant Minister for Women and Assistant Minister for Industrial Relations.[1] In reference to her elevation Prime Minister Morrison said: "she's one of the most bright and intelligent people to come into this Parliament and I was thrilled to be able to bring her into the Executive so early in her Parliamentary career".[25] Grace Tame, named 2021 Australian of the Year for her advocacy for survivors of sexual assault, criticised Morrison's appointment of Stoker to Assistant Minister for Women saying he had exhibited either very poor judgment, or cultural calculation in elevating a conservative who had "aimed at falsifying all counts of sexual abuse on campuses across the nation".[26] Stoker said Tame's comments were "passionate but not informed", adding the comments did not correspond with Stoker's long history of work in the area of women's safety.[27][28]

In May 2021, a squabble broke out between Stoker and the LNP Queensland state council when she was relegated to the third-spot on the Senate voting ticket for the 2022 federal election.[29][28][30][31][32] This ballot position ended up costing Stoker her seat, as The Greens won a Queensland Senate seat at the expense of the LNP.[33]

Stoker commenced hosting her own weekly program on Sky News Australia called Sunday with Stoker in January 2023.[34] However, she stepped down from the role in October 2023 after it was announced that she would be contesting the 2024 Queensland state election as a candidate in the seat of Oodgeroo.[35][36]

Stoker is a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party.[37]

In 2020, The Australian named her a "free speech champion and rising star of conservative politics".[38] She is part of the Liberal Party's conservative faction[39] and is aligned with the LNP's Christian right.[3] Stoker is a self-described "proud conservative" Christian who believes Christian values are "under attack". Her political heroes are former prime minister John Howard and former UK leader Margaret Thatcher. In 2019, Crikey reported that she is a social and fiscal conservative who had positioned herself as a champion of free speech and religious freedom. She has claimed that conservatives are "misunderstood".[40] Stoker has been a speaker at a number of centre-right conservative conferences.[41][42][43][44]

The Catholic Leader wrote that, in her maiden speech, she had made the "brave observation" that "Australians don't trust politicians. In fact, Australians are losing faith across the four sectors of the economy – government, media, corporate and non-government organisations".[45] Stoker has spoken out against abortion and has opposed the introduction of voluntary euthanasia legislation.[40][45] Stoker is a proponent of the introduction of a "religious discrimination bill".[46]

Stoker has advocated the repeal of section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. In 2018 she said: "I think 18C has got to go. I think 18C is a drag on our society."[40] The Labor Opposition responded by saying that would "water down protections against racist hate speech".[47]

Stoker blames unions for the casualisation of workplaces, and argues against raising minimum wages and penalty rates because doing so would "reduce job opportunities for those most in need".[40] She has also described unfair dismissal laws as a "block to growth".[48]

Stoker supports the development of an Australian nuclear energy industry.[49] She opposed the Government ban on the personal import of liquid nicotine used for vaping.[50]

Stoker lives with her family in Auchenflower, a suburb of Brisbane.[5] She married her husband, Adam, in 2005 and they have three daughters.[60][5] She is a Christian and attends an Anglican church in inner-city Brisbane.[40][53][45]