Karina Okotel

Karina Okotel is a former federal vice president of the Liberal Party.[1][2] She was an unsuccessful Senate candidate for Victoria in the 2016 Australian federal election. She was one of the leaders of the unsuccessful "No" campaign in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.

Early life and education

Karina Okotel was born in 1980. She is of Sri Lankan descent and a daughter of Sri Lankan immigrants who worked menial jobs before becoming owners of a liquor store.[3] She studied arts/law at Melbourne University and then worked at an orphanage on the Thai/Myanmar border. She completed her articles as a solicitor and then travelled to Uganda with Baptist World Aid. Her other roles included working for the Tenants' Union, the Mental Health Legal Centre and the Barwon Community Legal Centre.[4]

Career and political activities

Okotel joined the Liberal Party in 2010 after the party's success at the Victorian state election. In 2012, she was elected as councillor for the Rosstown ward of the Glen Eira City Council, and later became deputy mayor.[5] During 2016, she resigned from the Glen Eira Council to run for the Australian Senate.[6] She was in the sixth place on the Liberal Party ticket and was unsuccessful.[7] She was elected as federal Liberal Party vice-president in June 2017.[8]

Since 2015, Okotel has been a leading opponent of legalising gay marriage in Australia. In September 2017, she decided to come out of maternity leave to support the Coalition for Marriage.[9] She wrote an opinion piece for The Australian describing her fears for the freedom of speech, religion and association if same-sex marriage was legalised.[10] O[11] n 12 September, she debated Christine Forster on ABC Radio National.[12] On 13 September, she spoke at the National Press Club, alongside Lyle Shelton, for the campaign against same sex marriage.[13] On 23 September, she was a panellist on the ABC Q&A same-sex marriage debate.[14]

She served as Commonwealth Liberal Vice President until she was replaced by Teena McQueen in October 2019.[15]

In August 2020, she was suspended from an important party committee following concerns over a branch stacking scandal[16] implicating close associate Marcus Bastian and MP Michael Sukkar and concerns she breached party rules compiling a dirt sheet on sitting MPs.[17] Sukkar and MP Kevin Andrews were later cleared of using tax payer funds to recruit party members.[18] The party's local government committee decided on the suspension of Okotel, just weeks after Ms Okotel was installed to the position, The Australian reported.[19]

The staunch social conservative has been linked[20] with party president Robert Clark and Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien. She was replaced by Teena McQueen.

Personal life

Okotel met her husband, David, a Ugandan, during her time working for Baptist World Aid. The pair went on to make a documentary about Uganda's internally displaced people and child soldiers. The couple married in Uganda in 2010 and have three children.[8]

References
  1. "Liberal player booted over breach concerns". The Canberra Times. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  2. Crowe, Maher. "We're the party of freedom: Turnbull tries to rally Liberals". The Australian.
  3. Maley, Jacqueline (20 September 2017). "Karina Okotel, the 'bleeding heart' lawyer who opposes same-sex marriage". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  4. "Archived copy". www.ag.gov.au. Archived from the original on 14 February 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Results for Glen Eira City Council Elections 2012". Victorian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  6. "Glen Eira councillor apologises for linking same-sex marriage to bestiality". Heraldsun.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  7. Soraghan, Kerrie (23 April 2013). "Making a difference: Karina Okotel, civil lawyer, Frankston". Legalaid.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  8. Maley, Jacqueline (19 September 2017). "Karina Okotel, the 'bleeding heart' lawyer who opposes same-sex marriage". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  9. "Unlikely face of No campaign: The lawyer who 'cares'". News.com.au. 25 September 2017. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  10. Okotel, Karina (1 September 2017). "Why I'll vote for freedom in the same-sex marriage debate". The Australian. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  11. "Liberal player booted over breach concerns". The Canberra Times. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  12. "'That is inequality at its very basic level': Forster". Radio National. 12 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  13. "Lyle Shelton & Karina Okotel - National Press Club of Australia". Npc.org.au. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  14. "Karina Okotel and Magda Szubanski clash over the consequences of same-sex marriage on Q&A". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 October 2017. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  15. Crowe, David (18 October 2019). "Why the Liberals dumped a young Asian woman in favour of Q&A star Teena McQueen". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  16. Sakkal, Nick McKenzie, Joel Tozer, Paul (23 August 2020). "'That's politics': Inside the Liberal Party's branch-stacking machine". The Age. Retrieved 2 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. "'End these games': The Victorian Liberal Party is in a bit of a mess". www.abc.net.au. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  18. "Federal Government MPs cleared of wrongdoing and misusing public funds". www.abc.net.au. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  19. "Liberal player booted over breach concerns". The Canberra Times. 28 August 2020.
  20. Willingham, Richard (26 August 2020). "'End these games': The Victorian Liberal Party is in a bit of a mess". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
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