Kelly Vincent

Kelly Leah Vincent (born 25 October 1988) is an Australian playwright, actress and former politician. She was elected at the 2010 state election for the Dignity Party to the eleventh and last seat for an eight-year term in the 22-member Legislative Council in the Parliament of South Australia.[2][3]

Kelly Vincent
Member of the South Australian Legislative Council
In office
20 March 2010 – 17 March 2018
Personal details
Born (1988-10-25) 25 October 1988[1]
Political partyDignity Party
Websitewww.kellyvincent.com.au

Vincent has cerebral palsy and attended parliament in a wheelchair.[4][5] Parliament House underwent installation of a specifically designed desk inside the chamber, as well as wheelchair accessible toilets and ramps.[6][7] Vincent identifies as bisexual.[8]

Early career

Vincent was a playwright and actress before being elected to parliament. She wrote and appeared in several "No Strings Attached" productions, a company dedicated to people with disabilities.[4] She undertook high school work experience with the company in 2004, and has worked with the company on and off. She is also fluent in French and Spanish, and began language studies at university after year 12 before returning to writing plays.

Parliament

The party's upper house vote doubled from 0.6 percent to 1.2 percent at the 2010 state election, and after receiving preferences, Vincent was elected to the eleventh and last upper house seat. Vincent was listed second on the party's upper house ticket, but received the preferences of first candidate Paul Collier who died of a brain haemorrhage eleven days before the election.[9]

Aged 21 at the time of election, Vincent was the youngest member of the Parliament of South Australia and the youngest woman elected to any Australian parliament.[6][10] She stated she would "probably side with The Greens on certain issues".[11][12]

Vincent was a member of a number of parliamentary committees including the Social Development Committee, Access to and Interaction with the Justice System for People with Disabilities, Disability Services Funding, Electoral Matters in South Australia, Joint Committee on the Operation of the Transplantation and Anatomy Act 1983, Access to the Education System for Students with Disabilities, and the Joint Committee on matters relating to Elder Abuse.[13]

She was defeated in the 2018 state election even as the Dignity Party increased their primary vote. She blamed the introduction of optional preferential voting for her defeat.[14]

Recent works

After leaving parliament, Kelly established True Ability Theatre Company with Alirio Zavarce in 2020.[15] In 2021 she published her first book "Dandelion Heart." This is a collection of essays and poems.[16]

Awards

On 29 March 2017, Vincent won a Zonta Women of Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Human Rights.[17]

References
  1. "It's Kelly's time to shine". Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  2. Tory Shepherd (23 March 2010). "Parliament House not ready for Kelly: The Advertiser 23 March 2010". Adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  3. "Nation's youngest MP elected in SA: ABC News 8 April 2010". ABC News. Abc.net.au. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  4. "No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  5. Akerman, Pia (9 April 2010). "Dignified victory in SA for Australia's youngest female MP". The Australian. News Limited. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  6. "South Australia State Parliament gets first disabled politician and nation's youngest parliamentarian: The Advertiser 8 April 2010". Adelaidenow.com.au. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  7. Lauren Novak, Daniel Wills (6 May 2010). "Kelly's tribute to a friend who stood tall: The Advertiser 6 May 2010". Adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  8. "Hansard records for November 24th 2010".
  9. "Youngest woman MP elected in SA: ABC News, 8 April 2010". ABC News. Abc.net.au. 8 April 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  10. "Australian Political Records: APH library". Aph.gov.au. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  11. Pia Akerman (23 March 2010). "Disability vote 'honours candidate's memory': The Australian 23 March 2010". Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  12. Om, Jason (26 March 2010). "Disability party on verge of historic win: ABC News 26 March 2010". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
  13. "Kelly Vincent". Former members of the Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  14. "SA election: Kelly Vincent and Robert Brokenshire lose Upper House seats, 23 April 2010". ABC News. Abc.net.au. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  15. "Kelly Vincent and Alirio Zavarce Create Disability-Led Theatre: True Ability".
  16. "Dandelion Heart by Kelly Vincent - Debut Books - the Mini Collection".
  17. "2017 Annual Report of the Zonta Club of Adelaide" (PDF). Retrieved 7 July 2017.
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