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{{Short description|Australian politician}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}{{BLP sources|date=October 2014}}

factoids

| birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia| death_date =| death_place =Liberal Party of Australia (Australian Capital Territory Division)>Liberal Party

• {{Marriage|Ian Carnell|1977|1997{edih}
• {{Marriage|Ray Kiley|29 July 2007}}

}}| profession = Pharmacist}}Anne Katherine Carnell {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AO}} (née Knowlman; born 30 May 1955) is an Australian businesswoman and former Liberal Party politician, who served as the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) from 1995 to 2000.

Early life and pharmacy career

Carnell was born on 30 May 1955, in Brisbane, Queensland.WEB, Carnell, Anne Katherine – profile,weblink Encyclopedia of Australian Science, 19 April 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120813182947weblink">weblink 13 August 2012, 1 August 2007, Her parents owned a small accounting business.WEB, Carnell's curtain call,weblink Medical Observer, 19 April 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110409140337weblink">weblink 9 April 2011, 25 July 2008, As a teenager she struggled with anorexia and was sent away to recover at Sydney Hospital.WEB, Shades of blue: Lunch with Kate Carnell,weblink The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 April 2013, Jacqueline Maley, 14 April 2012, She battled the illness for four years.Heading back to Brisbane after her hospitalisation, Carnell returned to her studies and graduated from the University of Queensland in 1976 with a pharmacy degree. She married husband Ian Carnell in July 1977 and together they moved to Canberra, arriving August 1977. She bought her own pharmacy business in Red Hill in 1981. She owned and managed the pharmacy until 2000.She was the inaugural chair of the ACT Branch of the Australian Pharmacy Guild,WEB, Kate Carnell awarded honorary doctorate,weblink Monitor Online, University of Canberra, 19 April 2013, Kristyn Comino, 3 April 2013, 19 April 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130419081719weblink">weblink dead, serving in the position between 1988 and 1994.WEB, Carnell, Anne Katherine (Kate) (1955 – ),weblink The Australian Women's Register, 19 April 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120127234453weblink">weblink 27 January 2012, 4 March 2013, as well as National Vice-President of the guild between 1990 and 1994.Among other positions she was: Chairman of the Canberra and Southern District Pharmacists Company Ltd (1982–1992), Vice-President of the Retail Industry and Training Council, ACT (1987–1991), Councillor at the Australian Institute of Pharmacy Management (1990–1991), Member of the ACT Board of Health (1990–1991), and a Member of the Pharmacy Restructuring Authority (1990–1991). {{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

Politics

Carnell joined the Liberal Party in 1991 and was elected to the second ACT Legislative Assembly in 1992.WEB,weblink Members of the ACT Legislative Assembly, Education, Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly for the ACT, 2008, 31 July 2010, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110217044100weblink">weblink 17 February 2011, She became Leader of the Opposition in 1993, succeeding Trevor Kaine.WEB, Kaine state funeral to be held Wednesday,weblink ABC News, 19 April 2013, 6 June 2008, After winning 7 of 17 seats in the 1995 ACT election, the Liberal Party formed a minority government with Carnell as Chief Minister. The government was re-elected in the 1998 election. She held the portfolios of Minister for Health and Community Care (1995–1998), Minister Responsible for Multicultural and International Affairs (1995–2000), Minister for Business and Employment (1997–1998) and Minister for Business, Tourism and the Arts (2000). {{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

Canberra hospital implosion

{{See also|Royal Canberra Hospital implosion}}The Carnell Government was severely criticised following the death of twelve-year-old Katie Bender, when the de-commissioned Royal Canberra Hospital was imploded on 13 July 1997 to make way for the National Museum of Australia. Bender died instantly when she was struck by a one kilogram fragment of steel which had been thrown about 430 metres across Lake Burley Griffin by the force of the explosion.NEWS, Doherty, Megan, 24 April 2018, Katie Bender's family commemorate 20 years since Royal Canberra Hospital implosion,weblink The Canberra Times, 30 December 2023,weblink 30 December 2023, live, The Coroner cleared Carnell as Chief Minister of any personal responsibility. The Coroner did find in his report that the Government had turned the implosion into a 'public circus' and that this was with the approval of the Chief Minister. The public was invited by the Government to attend and witness the event, resulting in the largest crowd in Canberra's history, in excess of 100,000. The Coroner found that the Government had been cavalier in its attitude to the warnings from a health union about the possible dangers of some aspects of the proposed implosion.WEB, Madden, Shane G. (ACT Coroner), 1999,weblink The public event – an issue of public safety, The Bender Coronial Decision, ACT Magistrates Court and Tribunals (Coroner's Court), 20 October 2014, dead,weblink 9 June 2009, dmy-all, The Coroner summarised that, "the evidence on this topic leads me to conclude that Carnell was poorly briefed and advised on this subject matter. The quality of the reply to the HSUA was sacrificed in the interests of speed and expediency".

Bruce Stadium redevelopment

In October 2000, Carnell resigned, pre-empting a no-confidence motion in relation to cost over-runs in the Bruce Stadium redevelopment project.WEB, ACT Chief Minister resigns ahead of no confidence vote,weblink The World Today, ABC, 19 April 2013, Alexandra Kirk,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20040903101019weblink">weblink 3 September 2004, 17 October 2000, The project had a $27.3 million budget, of which $12.3 million was provided for by the ACT government and $15 million was to be sourced from the private sector. However, the project eventually cost $82 million, and was solely funded by the government.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} An ACT Auditor-General's review found that the project's $27.3 million cost estimate had not undergone proper assessment, review or analysis.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} The review also found that while private financing had been included in the project budget, no funds had been offered or provided by the private sector.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}

Resignation

Carnell resigned as Chief Minister on 17 October 2000, before the no-confidence motion was moved against her.NEWS,weblink Carnell bows out as ACT Chief Minister, 17 October 2000, 7:30 Report, 23 June 2012, She was replaced as Chief Minister by Gary Humphries.Reflecting on the end of her career in 2012, Carnell told media that she took ministerial responsibility for breaches of the Financial Management Act related to the Bruce Stadium redevelopment because it had occurred in her portfolio, even though the breaches happened without her knowledge. Carnell told reporters that interpretation of ministerial responsibility in the Legislative Assembly had become "really different" in the time since, comparing her downfall in 2000, to current events in 2012, surrounding former Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, who was cleared of ministerial responsibility for data-tampering in her health portfolio.WEB, Assembly gone soft: Carnell,weblink The Canberra Times, 19 April 2013, Peter Jean and Christopher Knaus, 22 August 2012,

Life after politics

After resigning her post as the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Carnell has worked in a variety of positions.

• She made a successful bid for election to the NRMA board in August 2001.NEWS, Carnell banks on "Kate" factor for NRMA job, Australian Business Intelligence, 28 August 2001, Carnell resigned her role as NRMA director in 2002.NEWS, NRMA director Kate Carnell resigns,weblink ABC Business News, 19 April 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20041116134010weblink">weblink 16 November 2004, 30 August 2002,
• She was appointed chairperson of General Practice Education and Training Ltd by the health minister Michael Wooldridge in 2001, and re-appointed by Woolridge's successor Tony Abbott in 2004.WEB, Controversial GPET chairwoman wins re-instatement,weblink Australian Doctor, 19 April 2013, Christina Anastasopoulos, 11 August 2004,
• She spent three years as executive director of the National Association of Forest Industries (NAFI).WEB, Ged Kearney and Kate Carnell,weblink National Press Club of Australia Forum, 19 April 2013, 21 November 2012, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130419234010weblink">weblink 19 April 2013, dmy-all, WEB,weblink Earthbeat, Charcoal on the South Coast, 7 December 2001, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 20 October 2014,
• Between 2006 and 2008 Carnell was the chief executive officer at the Australian General Practice Network.
• In 2008 Carnell was appointed as the CEO of the Australian Food and Grocery Council.
• She was the CEO of the non-profit organisation, beyondblue, from 2012 to 2014.NEWS,weblink Beyondblue announces Georgie Harman as new CEO, 16 April 2014, Beyondblue press release, 11 October 2014, 20 October 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141020122259weblink">weblink dead, NEWS,weblink Former ACT chief minister Kate Carnell appointed beyondblue CEO, Knott, Matthew, 24 January 2012, The Power Index, Private Media Pty Ltd, 23 June 2012, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120129072016weblink">weblink 29 January 2012, dmy-all,
• Since March, 2016, Carnell was the inaugural Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO).

She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Australia Day Honours list of 2006, for her services and contributions to the Australian Capital Territory.WEB,weblink Carnell, Anne Katherine (Kate) profile at, It's an Honour – Officer of the Order of Australia, On 29 July 2007, nearly a decade after her first marriage dissolved, Carnell and her long-term partner, Ray Kiley, married at a ceremony conducted at Old Parliament House in Canberra.NEWS, Carnell ties the knot for a second time, Canberra Times, Fairfax Media, 30 July 2007, 3, In April 2013, Carnell received an honorary doctorate from the University of Canberra.In October 2019 she was named one of the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence in the Public Policy category.WEB,weblink AFR's 11 most influential women revealed, 2019-10-22, Australian Financial Review, en, 2019-10-23, In June 2023, she helped found the Liberals for Yes group, a group of Liberal Party supporters who support the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, despite federal leader Peter Dutton being opposed to it.WEB,weblink ACT Liberals at forefront of party's pro-Voice campaign, 4 June 2023,

Personal life

Carnell's daughter, Clare, is the co-founder of the Independents for Canberra party.WEB, Party of community independents to contest ACT election after being inspired by Senator David Pocock's success,weblink ABC News,

See also

• First Carnell Ministry
• Second Carnell Ministry
• List of female heads of government in Australia

References

{{Reflist|2}}

External links

• {{Australian Women and Leadership|WLE0308b|Carnell, Anne Katherine (Kate)}}

{{Chief Ministers of the Australian Capital Territory}}{{Leaders of the Liberal Party in ACT}}{{Authority control}}