Cheryl Kernot (born 5 December 1948) is a former Australian politician. She was the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats (23 April 1993 to 15 October 1997), before defecting to the Australian Labor Party where she narrowly held the Brisbane seat of Dickson for one term.
Kernot spent twelve years as a political activist while working as a school teacher in New South Wales and Queensland. She was first elected as a Senator for Queensland at the...
more
Cheryl Kernot (born 5 December 1948) is a former Australian politician. She was the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats (23 April 1993 to 15 October 1997), before defecting to the Australian Labor Party where she narrowly held the Brisbane seat of Dickson for one term.
Kernot spent twelve years as a political activist while working as a school teacher in New South Wales and Queensland. She was first elected as a Senator for Queensland at the 1990 election, taking over from the retiring Senator Michael Macklin, who had held the seat for the Australian Democrats following the 1980 election.
Kernot surprised party members by immediately contesting the parliamentary leadership, even before taking her place in the Senate. In 1991, she then controversially acted to discredit and depose the elected leader, Senator Janet Powell, resulting in Powell's replacement by Senator John Coulter. Kernot finally achieved her ambition to become the Democrats' Senate leader after the 1993 election....
less
