Elizabeth Lee (politician)

Elizabeth Lee^[a] (born 30 August 1979)^[2] is an Australian politician. She has been a member of the Liberal Party and serves in the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016, representing the electorate of Kurrajong. Before entering the ACT Legislative Assembly, Elizabeth had a successful career as a lawyer in the private sector. Later, she became a lecturer at the Australian National University and University of Canberra.

Elizabeth migrated to Australia from Korea at the age of seven. Upon turning 18, she moved to Canberra to pursue studies in Law and Asian Studies at The Australian National University.

On 27 October 2020, Lee was elected Leader of the Canberra Liberals and became Leader of the Opposition of the Australian Capital Territory.^[3] Lee is the first Asian Australian leader of a state or territory opposition.

Lee was born in Gwangju, South Korea and migrated to Australia in 1986 when she was seven years old. She grew up in Western Sydney and moved to Canberra at 18 to study law and Asian Studies at the Australian National University.^[4] She has lived and worked in inner Canberra since 1998.

Lee lives in the inner south with her partner, Nathan, and 2 daughters, Mia and Ava.

She received Bachelors of Law and Asian Studies, a Graduate Diploma in legal practice, and a Masters of Law from the Australian National University, and worked as a law lecturer and solicitor.

Despite opposition from certain wings of the Canberra Liberal's to the proposed Voice to Parliament, Lee nonetheless championed her support.^[5] Lee joined many other Liberals in the 'Liberals for Yes' campaign.^[6] She stated:

"I will be voting Yes. It is a recognition of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the first people of Australia and I think that is important to ensure that that is enshrined in our founding document".^[7]

Lee said that she believes it is a step in the right direction to ensure everything that can be done to "close that gap in a genuine and meaningful way" is done.^[8]

Lee's support was pivotal in the fight to restore 'territory rights' to the ACT.^[9] In 2018, Lee was one of four Liberal who voted alongside Labor to rebuke federal senators for voting against the rights of the territory.^[10] In a 2023 letter written by Lee on behalf of the Canberra Liberals, Lee unequivocally stated that her party supports territory rights.^[11] Lee said: "[t]he Canberra Liberals strongly support territory rights. We did so at the beginning of the term and we do so now".^[12]

Lee ran unsuccessfully for the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in the Molonglo electorate in 2012, and for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Fraser in 2013, both times representing the Liberal Party. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2016 representing the new seat of Kurrajong.^[13]

In Alistair Coe's shadow ministry Lee was made Shadow Minister for the Environment and Shadow Minister for Disability in December 2016.^[14] She was a key advocate for the Canberra Liberals' commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2045. In February 2018 following the death of Steve Doszpot, the Education portfolio was added to Lee's responsibilities.^[15]

Following the Liberal Party's defeat at the 2020 election, Lee was elected on 27 October 2020 to replace Coe as party leader and Leader of the Opposition.^[16] She is the first East Asian-Australian to lead a major political party in Australia.^[17] In her first year as leader of the Canberra Liberals Lee has pushed for a variety of issues with a particular focus on policy affecting women, the economy, and the environment. In 2021 Lee introduced Australian-first stealthing laws, which criminalised the non-consensual removal of a condom during sex. She also released an exposure draft for legislation that would mean harsher penalties for perpetrators of domestic violence.

In late 2021, Lee attended the COP26 conference in Glasgow as part of the Australian Coalition for Conservation delegation. She addressed the UN Globe COP26 Legislators Summit closing panel, on how policy makers must set markers for how momentum on climate action can be accelerated from COP26, and also spoke at the Youth Environment Summit in Edinburgh on the importance of young voices on climate.

Following a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on 7 December 2023, Lee was reallocated as Shadow Minister for Education alongside her existing portfolio responsibilities as Shadow Treasurer, Shadow Minister for Housing Affordability and Choice, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Shadow Minister for Economic Development, Tourism and Major Projects.^[18]

For the upcoming 2024 ACT election, Elizabeth Lee has announced a bold $100 million infrastructure investment to upgrade neglected suburbs in Canberra.^[19]