Michael Pettersson

Michael Petterson (born 1991) is an Australian politician. He has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian Capital Territory since 2016 when he was elected as the Labor Party representative for the electorate of Yerrabi.

For the Swedish Olympic equestrian, see Michael Pettersson (equestrian).

Michael Pettersson

MLA
Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
for Yerrabi
Assumed office
15 October 2016
Personal details
Born1991 (age 28–29)
NationalityAustralian
Political partyAustralian Labor Party (ACT Branch)
Alma materAustralian National University
OccupationTrade unionist
WebsiteOfficial website

Biography

Pettersson was raised in Canberra[1] and studied at the Australian National University. During this time he became involved in student politics, serving as the ACT Branch President of the National Union of Students[2] and President of the ANU Sport & Recreation Association.[3][4] He also served as President of ACT Young Labor.[5] After graduating, he worked as a trade unionist for the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.[6]

One of his hobbies is chess. He became the first politician to play in the 25th Australian National University Chess Open in Canberra.[7]

Political career

Pettersson contested the seat of Yerrabi in the 2016 ACT election and received 4,817 primary votes or 0.6 of a quota. In the campaign, he drew attention for his creative use of social media to campaign.[8] He was elected in third position in the five member Yerrabi electorate behind Meegan Fitzharris and Alistair Coe.

In Pettersson's inaugural speech he highlighted growing intergenerational inequality, the importance of education, and the dangers of casualisation in the workforce. [9]

As a member of the Legislative Assembly, Pettersson prepared and introduced historic legislation to legalise the possession and personal use of small amounts of cannabis in 2018.[10] This bill was passed by the ACT Legislative Assembly on the 25th of September 2019, making the ACT the first jurisdiction to legalise cannabis in Australia. [11]

As a backbencher, Pettersson has spoken out against increased restrictions on P-plate licences[12] and called for more light rail services to his electorate of Yerrabi. [13]

Pettersson was appointed the chair of the Education, Employment and Youth Affairs Committee following the 2016 election. [14]

gollark: It keeps just sending 404 errors?
gollark: EWO is coming once I make this STUPID NODE DOT JS THING FUNCTION.
gollark: Well, I was admin TEMPORARILY, so obviously I had to enforce my powers?
gollark: About 30 seconds.
gollark: This program is proving really irritating to install.

References
  1. "About". Michael Pettersson. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  2. "RETRACTED – NUS gets heavy with alleged ANUSA fraud". RiotACT. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  3. Pettersson, Michael (13 April 2015). "ANU and Political Membership". Woroni. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  4. Ingram, Jacob; Kaufmann, Anna (18 March 2015). "ANU Sport Election Shambles". Woroni. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  5. "Tips and rumours". Crikey. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  6. "Michael Pettersson - Candidate for Yerrabi". Labor Party.
  7. Check mates compete at Australian National University Chess Open, Canberra Times, 31 July 2017.
  8. Brown, Andrew (7 October 2016). "ACT Election: Labor candidate using Tinder to connect with young voters". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  9. "Michael Pettersson MLA > Inaugural Speech". michaelpettersson.com.au. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  10. "New Labor bill would make using and growing cannabis legal in Canberra". 17 September 2018.
  11. "ACT legalises personal cannabis use but warns smokers they're not safe from federal laws". 25 September 2019.
  12. White, Daniella (23 August 2018). "'Police state': backbenchers oppose P-plate restrictions". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  13. Brown, Andrew (6 February 2020). "Extra light rail services added to cope with growing demand". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  14. Manager, Web (25 October 2019). "Education, Employment and Youth Affairs". www.parliament.act.gov.au. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
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