Jenny Mikakos

Jenny Mikakos (born 25 January 1969) is an Australian politician for the Labor Party. She is currently the Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services and Minister for the Coordination of Health and Human Services COVID-19 as well as Deputy Leader of the Government and Member of the Legislative Council for Northern Metropolitan Region.[1]

The Honourable

Jenny Mikakos

MLC
Mikakos (left), with Governor of Victoria Linda Dessau
Minister for Health
Assumed office
December 2018
PremierDaniel Andrews
Preceded byJill Hennessy
Member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Northern Metropolitan Region
Assumed office
18 September 1999
Personal details
Born (1969-01-25) 25 January 1969
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Political partyLabor Party
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
ProfessionTax lawyer

Political career

Mikakos was first elected as the Member for Jika Jika Province in the State of Victoria in September 1999. From 1999 until 2006, she represented the Legislative Council province of Jika Jika.[1] Mikakos' electorate was abolished at the 2006 election as part of major reforms of the Legislative Council introduced after the 2002 election, but she won the second position on the Labor ticket for the replacement electorate, the larger, five-member Northern Metropolitan Region. She was first on the Labor ticket at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 election.

In Parliament, Mikakos has held the roles of Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, Shadow Minister for Community Services, Children, Youth Affairs, Youth Justice and Seniors and Ageing, Minister for Families and Children, Early Childhood Education and Youth Affairs. She is now Minister for Health, and Ambulance Services.

In March 2020, she was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council.

In April 2020, Mikakos was appointed as the Minister for the Coordination of Health and Human Services COVID-19 as part of the Victorian Government's response to the coronavirus global pandemic. This appointment followed media coverage of comments which Mikakos made regarding a GP who tested positive for COVID-19 (see Controversies below).[2]

In Parliament, Mikakos voted against the human cloning bill but for stem cell research, for abortion decriminalisation, for assisted reproductive technology reforms and for dying with dignity laws. These bills were subject to a conscience votes in the Labor Party.

Controversies

Misuse of taxpayer funds

In 2003, Mikakos was criticised for nepotism after employing her sister Nikki in her taxpayer-funded electoral office.[3]

In 2005, Mikakos was forced to pay back taxpayer funds spent mailing Labor Party members on Parliamentary stationery for reelection support, which led to Premier Steve Bracks warning Labor MPs regarding the conduct.[4]

In 2014, Mikakos was again involved in applying taxpayer funds for political purposes, and the Victorian Ombudsman found that Mikakos was among a number of Labor MPs who had misused $388,000 in taxpayer funds for election campaigning.[5] Mikakos declined to be interviewed by police in connection with the affair, which became known as the "red shirts rort".[6] The Labor party later repaid the amount.[7]

Youth justice

In 2016, a number of criminals under the age of 18 in custody at Parkville prison engaged in a violent riot and caused significant property damage, forcing staff to flee. Mikakos, then the Minister for Youth Affairs, was criticised for losing control of youth justice.[8] Later, Mikakos illegally moved the relevant inmates to an adult prison, and was forced to reverse that decision by the Supreme Court of Victoria.[9]

Handling of COVID-19 pandemic
Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

During the early stages of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mikakos was criticised for attacking a Melbourne GP who attended work after having recently travelled to the United States.[10] The Minister stated that she was 'flabbergasted' a doctor with 'flu-like symptoms' had presented to work, despite the GP not meeting her own departmental guidelines for testing.[11] These comments were criticised by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and the Doctor, both of whom demanded an apology from the Minister. In an open letter, the Doctor involved accused the Minister of 'cheap grandstanding'.[11] The Doctor called for the Minister to apologise for inaccuracies and the Minister was criticised for maligning frontline health workers.[12] The Minister was also accused of having violated patient privacy, by having described the age and clinical practice of the Doctor in her initial press conference.[10] Mikakos refused to apologise.[13]

Later, in April 2020, Mikakos was involved in controversy when she defended a comparison between COVID-19 and Captain Cook.[14]

In June 2020, a breakdown in hotel quarantine procedures created a second wave of COVID-19 cases in Victoria, leading to the first total lockdown of residents in homes in Australia,[15] panic buying,[16] and military personnel called in.[17][18] The resurgence occurred despite a report from experts a month earlier warning of an opportunity to prevent a further outbreak; Mikakos claimed she was unsure whether her government had received a copy of the report[19] and attempted to distance herself from the scandal.[20] Mikakos later failed to meet Parliamentary deadlines to provide promised written responses to questions.[21] She has declined to answer questions in regards to the breakdown of hotel quarantine until a result comes out of the independent inquiry led by former Justice Jennifer Coate.

Personal life

Jenny Mikakos was the first woman of Greek descent elected to an Australian Parliament.

She attended the private Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, where she obtained arts and law degrees. Before her election to Parliament, Mikakos worked as a commercial and tax lawyer at top-tier accounting firm Coopers & Lybrand and top-tier law firm King & Wood Mallesons, as well as Jerrard & Stuk.[22] She was briefly a Councillor with the City of Northcote in the early 1990s.

References
  1. Suzannah Pearce, ed. (17 November 2006). "MIKAKOS Jenny". Who's Who in Australia Live!. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd.
  2. Woodley, Matt (9 March 2020). "Doctors rally around coronavirus GP after criticism from minister". newsGP. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  3. "Hundreds of political jobs for relatives". Crikey (archived). Retrieved 22 July 2005.
  4. "Labor MPs to follow stationery protocol". The Age. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  5. "Victorian Labor misused $388,000 of taxpayer funds in 2014 election: report". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  6. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-14/no-mps-charged-over-victorian-alp-red-shirts-scandal/10795058
  7. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/14/victorian-labor-mps-exonerated-in-red-shirts-election-rorts-scheme
  8. "Jenny Mikakos denies losing control of youth justice in Victoria". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  9. "Supreme court upholds ruling that children are being held at adult prison unlawfully". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  10. Woodley, Matt (9 March 2020). "Doctors rally around coronavirus GP after criticism from minister". newsGP. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  11. AAP, Calla Wahlquistwith (8 March 2020). "Doctor who had coronavirus demands apology from Victorian health minister over 'inaccuracies'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  12. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/08/doctor-who-had-coronavirus-demands-apology-from-victorian-health-minister-over-inaccuracies
  13. https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-minister-wont-apologise-for-flabbergasted-coronavirus-comment-towards-dr-chris-higgins/news-story/cedd00e3e8e510c0e5faee0c7b5ccabd
  14. https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/politics/coronavirus-victorian-health-officers-captain-cook-or-virus-tweet-sparks-outrage/news-story/f3a545406b8515bc8bf23ff982402d76
  15. https://www.afr.com/politics/victoria-public-housing-towers-locked-down-20200704-p5590j
  16. https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/victoria-calls-in-the-army-and-panic-buying-returns/12389734
  17. https://thewest.com.au/news/coronavirus/coronavirus-crisis-military-called-in-as-cases-surge-in-victoria-ng-b881589071z
  18. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/gladys-berejiklian-says-don-t-interact-with-people-from-melbourne-as-victoria-records-17-more-coronavirus-cases
  19. https://www.smh.com.au/national/man-dies-of-coronavirus-20-new-cases-and-surge-in-replication-rate-in-victoria-20200624-p555kb.html
  20. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-03/victoria-coronavirus-cases-rise-by-66/12419538
  21. https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/arrogant-mikakos-refuses-to-answer-questions-as-liberal-mp-posts-crude-attack-20200805-p55isi.html
  22. https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/about/people-in-parliament/members-search/search-members/details/22/25
  1. ^ Austin, P., ALP heavies tackle faction fracas before poll, The Age, 27 February 2006
  2. ^ With Crikey's Delia Delegate, all the ALP dirty laundry is on the table, 16 June 2002
  3. ^ Carney, S., Labor supremos back new alliance, The Age, 18 June 2002
  4. ^ Parliamentary handbook
  5. ^ Jenny Mikakos MP Member for Jika Jika Province
  6. ^ Jenny Mikakos MP Member for Jika Jika Province
  7. ^ Women’s Correctional Services Advisory Committee

Further reading
  • Healy, Ernest (1995), 'Ethnic ALP Branches - The Balkanisation of Labor Revisited,' in People and Place, Vol.3, No.3, Pages 48–53.
  • Lovell, D.W.; McAllister, I.; Maley, W.; Kukathas, C.; (1998), The Australian Political System, Longman, South Melbourne. ISBN 0-582-81027-2
Political offices
Preceded by
Wendy Lovell
as Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development		 Minister for Families and Children
2014–2018		 Succeeded by
Luke Donnellan
as Minister for Child Protection
Preceded by
Ryan Smith		 Minister for Youth Affairs
2014–2018		 Succeeded by
Gabrielle Williams
as Minister for Youth
Preceded by
Jill Hennessy		 Minister for Health
2018–present		 Incumbent
Minister for Ambulance Services
2018–present
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