Marielle Smith
Marielle Catherine Smith, also known as Marielle Feuerherdt Smith, is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party and has served as a Senator for South Australia since 2019.
Early life and education
Marielle Catherine Smith, also referred to as Marielle Feuerherdt Smith, was born on 30 December 1986 in Sydney. Her mother was born in the United Kingdom and she held British citizenship by descent until renouncing it in 2018 prior to running for parliament.Smith attended University Senior College in Adelaide, South Australia. She holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts from the Australian National University and Master of Science from the London School of Economics.
Career
After graduating from ANU she joined the Australian Public Service through the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet's graduate program.Smith has undertaken volunteer work with non-government organisations in Ghana and Sierra Leone. She is a former board member of Transit Systems, a bus company co-founded by her father Neil. She can drive articulated buses.
Political career
ALP
Smith joined the Australian Labor Party at a young age. She worked for Labor MP Kate Ellis as a researcher and ministerial adviser, and later as a senior policy adviser to Prime Minister Julia Gillard. She regards both Ellis and Gillard as mentors.In 2017, Smith was elected to the ALP state executive and state council. She also served as a delegate to the Australian [Labor Party National Conference]. In 2018, she was a preselection candidate for the Division of Adelaide.
Senate
Smith was elected to the Senate at the 2019 federal election. She is a member of several Senate committees. She has been identified as a member of the Labor Right faction.In her maiden speech to the Senate, Smith called for Labor to retain its 2019 election policy of funding preschool for three-year-olds "to ensure all children can access world-leading early education and care, regardless of what their parents do, how much they earn or where they live."