Sue Hickey

The HonourableMayor Alderman Sue Hickey MP
34thSpeaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
In office 1 May 2018 – 22 June 2021
Preceded by	Mark Shelton
Succeeded by	Mark Shelton
68thLord Mayor of Hobart
In office 5 November 2014 – 21 March 2018
Deputy	Ron Christie
Preceded by	Damon Thomas
Succeeded by	Ron Christie
Member of theTasmanian House of AssemblyforDenison
In office 3 March 2018 – 28 September 2018
Member of theTasmanian House of AssemblyforClark
In office 28 September 2018 – 1 May 2021
MayorofGlenorchy
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 June 2024
Deputy MayorofGlenorchy
In office 27 October 2022 – 22 June 2024
AldermanofGlenorchy
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 July 2021
Personal details
Born	(1958-07-25)25 July 1958 Hobart,Tasmania, Australia
Political party	Liberal(until March 2021) Independent(since March 2021)

Susanne Lynnette Hickey(born 25 July 1958) is an Australian politician. She represented the electorate ofDenison(later re-namedClark) from the2018 state electionuntil her defeat at the 2021 election, sitting with theLiberal Partyuntil March 2021, when she quit the party and became anindependent.Hickey is currentlyMayorof theCity of Glenorchy.

At the time of the election Hickey had beenSpeaker of the Tasmanian House of Assemblysince May 2018, having unexpectedly won the Speaker position with the support of the oppositionLaborandGreensparties over the Liberal government's nomineeRene Hidding.She previously served asLord Mayor of Hobartfrom 2014 until 2018.

Early career

Hickey first entered public life when she won theMiss Tasmania Questin 1979.She was also a television weather girl onTVT6for many years.She later worked in a number of retail and service positions, before starting a career in marketing. In 1991, she established her own marketing business, Slick Promotions.Hickey won the Tasmanian Businesswoman of the Year award in 2007.Hickey obtained anMBAfrom theUniversity of Tasmaniain 2012 whilst running her own business, being an Alderman on the Hobart City Council and being President of the Rotary Club of Hobart.

Lord Mayor of Hobart

She was a successful candidate for theHobart City Councilin the 2011 Tasmanian local government elections, elected as Alderman.

Hickey defeated incumbent Lord MayorDamon Thomasat the 2014 local government elections,serving in the role until her election to State Parliament.

State political career and Speaker of the House of Assembly

In 2018, Hickey successfully ran as a Liberal candidate forDenison(nowClark) in theTasmanian House of Assembly.

She unexpectedly won the Speaker position with the support of the opposition Labor and Greens parties over Liberal nomineeRene Hidding,and has stated that she will not attend Liberal Party meetings and will "mostly" vote with the Government, but will assess bills "on their merit".

On 1 May 2018, at the first sitting of the House of Assembly after the election, Labor leaderRebecca Whitenominated Hickey asSpeaker,in competition with the Liberal Party's preferred candidate,Rene Hidding.Hickey was elected Speaker with the support of Labor and the Greens.After her ascension to the position, Hickey said she would attempt to "mostly" vote with the Government, but would assess bills "on their merit".Though confirming she would vote independently on government bills, she also said she would "always support the Liberal Government" onconfidence and supply.During her Speakership, Hickey occasionally deprived the Liberal Party of its 13-12 majority in the Assembly. Her vote was critical in several parliamentary votes opposed by the sitting government, most notably in advancingtransgender-related birth certificate reformsand blocking legislation that would have made imposed mandatory sentences for serious child sexual assaults; citing "significant concerns from the legal profession" and "unintended consequences to the detriment of the victims".

Departure from the Liberal Party

On 22 March 2021, Hickey announced that she would quit the Liberal party and sit as an independent, criticising the state Liberals as "unable to accommodate strong women" after being told by PremierPeter Gutweinthat she would not be endorsed for thenext election.The Liberal government lost its majority and briefly plunged intominority government,before asnap electionwas called for 1 May 2021.She unsuccessfully ran again as anindependentin thesnap election.

Allegations againstEric Abetz

See also:2021 Australian Parliament rape allegations

Two days after quitting the Liberal Party, Hickey accused Liberal SenatorEric Abetzin the Tasmanian Parliament of making "slut-shaming"comments on Brittany Higgins, who was allegedly raped by a male staffer in the Federal Parliament in Canberra. She alleged that Abetz told her at a citizenship ceremony in Hobart on March 1:

As for that Higgins girl, anybody so disgustingly drunk who would sleep with anybody could have slept with one of our spies and put the security of the nation at risk.

Hickey also alleged that Abetz told her "not to worry" about the 1988 rape allegation against federal Attorney-GeneralChristian Porteras "the woman is dead and the law will protect [Porter]". Abetz "categorically denied" making the comments and accused Hickey of "trying to destroy the [Liberal] party". Hickey responded in reply to Abetz accusing him of "grubby politics" and that she stood by her statement.

Later on the same day, PremierPeter Gutweinwrote to Prime MinisterScott Morrison,stating that Hickey raised the matter of Abetz's comments with him weeks earlier and requested Morrison to "consider the matters raised".

Deputy Mayor and Mayor of Glenorchy

After losing in the2021 state electionHickey ran in the 2021Glenorchy City Councilby-elections for mayor and alderman, which were caused by MayorKristie Johnston'selection to state parliament in the2021 state election.Hickey was elected as alderman but beaten byBec Thomasfor mayor.

Hickey ran again in the2022 Tasmanian local elections,was re-elected alderman and was elected deputy mayor of Glenorchy.

Following MayorBec Thomasbeing elected to state parliament in the2024 Tasmanian Legislative Council periodic election,Hickey became acting mayor.Hickey won the resulting 2024Glenorchy City Councilby-election, becoming mayor ofGlenorchy City Councilin June 2024.

External links

• Sue Hickey – electoral website