Kristina Keneally

Kristina Keneally
Kristina Keneally
Born	Kristina Marie Kerscher; December 19, 1968 (age 57); Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Occupation	Politician
Years active	2003–2012 (state politics), 2018–2022 (federal politics)
Known for	First female Premier of New South Wales (2009–2011), Labor Senator for New South Wales (2018–2022)

Kristina Marie Kerscher Keneally (born 19 December 1968) is a politician originally from the United States who became an Australian citizen and made history as the first woman to serve as Premier of New South Wales between 2009 and 2011. She later represented New South Wales as a Labor Senator from February 2018 until April 2022. Keneally resigned her Senate seat to run for the House of Representatives seat in Fowler, but did not succeed. Between 2019 and 2022, she held the positions of Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, and Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship.

Born in the United States to an American father and an Australian mother, Keneally was raised in Toledo, Ohio and completed her studies at the University of Dayton. After marrying Australian Ben Keneally, she relocated permanently to Australia and became a naturalised citizen in 2000. She was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing the seat of Heffron in 2003, following a competitive preselection that saw her replace Deirdre Grusovin. She secured re-election in 2007. During Premier Nathan Rees’ administration, she served as Minister for Ageing and Disability Services as well as Minister for Planning, while also acting as spokesperson for World Youth Day 2008.

In December 2009, Keneally assumed leadership of the NSW Labor Party and became Premier after successfully challenging incumbent Nathan Rees with backing from the Labor Right faction. Her government experienced a record-breaking 16.5% two-party preferred swing against it at the 2011 state election—the largest margin ever recorded in Australian politics—which resulted in her stepping down as party leader. She exited parliament in June 2012.

Keneally joined Sky News Live in 2014 as a political analyst and co-hosted the program To The Point. She unsuccessfully contested the 2017 Bennelong by-election before being appointed to the Senate in February 2018 to fill a vacancy created by Sam Dastyari’s resignation. After Labor's leadership change in 2019, she was named deputy leader in the Senate and assigned shadow portfolios overseeing Home Affairs and Immigration.

During the 2022 federal election, Keneally was controversially placed by Labor into Fowler—a traditionally safe Labor electorate with a significant Vietnamese Australian population—over local candidate Tu Le. This decision triggered community opposition, contributing to a substantial 15.6% swing away from Labor. Consequently, Keneally lost to independent candidate Dai Le, a Vietnamese-Australian journalist and former Liberal contender.

Early life

Kristina Marie Kerscher was born in Las Vegas to an American father and an Australian mother originally from Brisbane. Although she spent a short period living in Colorado, she primarily grew up in Toledo, Ohio, attending Notre Dame Academy, where she twice earned Most Valuable Player awards on the soccer team.

She pursued higher education at the University of Dayton in Ohio, actively participating in student governance and co-founding the National Association of Students at Catholic Colleges and Universities, serving as its president during 1990 and 1991. Keneally graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1991 and later obtained a Master of Arts in religious studies in 1995. As a registered member of the Democratic Party, she interned with Ohio Lieutenant Governor Paul Leonard. Following graduation, she volunteered as a teacher for one year in New Mexico.

Keneally encountered her future spouse, Australian Labor Party member Ben Keneally, at World Youth Day in Poland in 1991. She relocated to Australia in 1994 to join him; they subsequently returned to the United States when Ben took up a position at the Boston Consulting Group, marrying there in 1996. After their first son was born, they resettled permanently in Australia two years later. She acquired Australian citizenship and joined the Labor Party in 2000, formally renouncing her U.S. citizenship by 2002 prior to seeking public office.

In Australia, Keneally worked with the New South Wales branch of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul as State Youth Coordinator before dedicating more time to family life. She also briefly attended the Australian Catholic University located in Strathfield.

State politics

In 2003, Keneally secured the Heffron seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly after a highly contested pre-election confrontation with Deirdre Grusovin, who is the sister of prominent Labor figure Laurie Brereton. Initially, her husband Ben aimed to pursue a political path, utilizing his connection with Joe Tripodi, but due to party affirmative action policies mandating a female candidate, Keneally was selected to stand instead. Although there were reservations regarding her pronounced American English accent, she ultimately won the electorate.

During her tenure as NSW Minister for Disability Services, Keneally undertook the modernization of outdated institutional residential centers for people with disabilities, reversing the approach taken by her predecessor Faye Lo Po'.

Starting in August 2008, as NSW Planning Minister, she oversaw her department’s management of local traffic rerouting and enforced rigorous environmental regulations during the construction of the desalination pipeline stretching from Erskineville to Kurnell. This project had been authorized under a 2007 approval by Frank Sartor.

On 17 November 2009, Keneally was appointed as the Minister for Infrastructure.

Leadership challenges

On 3 December, Keneally narrowly outvoted Sartor by two votes to become the Right faction’s candidate in a leadership spill contest against Rees. Later that day, she secured victory in the party room ballot with a decisive 45–21 margin. The following day, 4 December 2009, she was sworn in as New South Wales’ 42nd Premier and its first female to hold the office by Governor Marie Bashir. This event marked an Australian state milestone where both Premier and Deputy Premier (Carmel Tebbutt) were women.

As Premier, Keneally championed the development of the headlands area. To accelerate progress, she transferred planning authority from local councils to the state government and established a dedicated portfolio for Barangaroo’s development under her direct supervision. Despite her dedication to this project, she encountered criticism over an alleged conflict of interest tied to her husband’s involvement in a contract exceeding one million dollars related to electric vehicle infrastructure at Barangaroo. Additionally, she faced scrutiny for exempting Barangaroo from standard environmental planning regulations. Toward the conclusion of her premiership, amid investigations into former minister Ian Macdonald, Keneally declined to release a report concerning misuse of public funds but was ultimately required to submit it to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Party revitalisation

Keneally initiated a major overhaul within the Labor Party, resulting in 23 out of 50 caucus members stepping down. Her reform agenda also prompted the resignation of NSW Labor President Bernie Riordan, alongside the exits of prominent Labor figures Joe Tripodi and Eddie Obeid.

Electricity asset privatisation

On 14 December 2010, the Keneally administration completed the initial sale of state electricity assets, generating $5.3 billion. This move provoked controversy, leading to the resignation of eight directors who opposed the trading rights linked to generator outputs. Due to widespread criticism and insufficient bids, the government ultimately halted the second phase of electricity privatisation.

At Keneally’s behest, NSW Governor Marie Bashir prorogued Parliament earlier than scheduled on 22 December 2010 ahead of elections, amid allegations that this was intended to obstruct an electricity inquiry—which nevertheless continued.

In October 2011, a review initiated by the succeeding O'Farrell government determined that the partial electricity asset sale was "reasonable and appropriate."

Electoral loss

Keneally led Labor into the 2011 state election with ambitions for a fifth straight term and to become only the second woman elected as a state premier in her own right after Anna Bligh.

Throughout the campaign, Keneally was widely regarded as an underdog. Polling consistently showed Labor trailing the Barry O'Farrell-led Coalition by margins reaching 26 points on a two-party preferred basis, with Keneally herself lagging O'Farrell by 16 points as preferred premier. Despite attempts to restore Labor’s public standing, opinion polls and analysts had largely dismissed Labor’s prospects by election writ issuance. An election-eve poll recorded Labor’s primary vote at a historic low of 23 percent. ABC analyst Antony Green projected that Labor could be reduced to as few as 13 seats.

On 26 March, Labor endured a historic defeat featuring a swing exceeding 16 points—the largest in any Australian general election since World War II—losing numerous seats in its traditional western Sydney heartland. The party’s representation shrank from 48 to just 20 seats, marking its worst performance in over one hundred years.

Keneally stepped down as Premier and state Labor leader on election night and moved to the backbench. On 11 June 2011, she was permitted to retain the honorary title "The Honourable". She announced her departure from the New South Wales Parliament on 23 June 2012.

Labor administration and ICAC investigations

After Labor’s defeat, probes conducted by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) exposed corrupt activities involving Keneally’s ministers Obeid, Tripodi, and McDonald. Counsel assisting ICAC, Geoffrey Watson SC, described these 2010 inquiries as "the most significant" ever undertaken by ICAC, revealing corruption on a scale "likely unmatched since the era of the Rum Corps."

In March 2014, Keneally appeared before ICAC to give evidence concerning her former associates. She acknowledged apprehensions regarding lobbying by Obeid, Tripodi, and Tony Kelly but denied that their actions influenced her decisions. When questioned if Obeid had "installed her as premier," she replied: "No, caucus did."

2017 Bennelong by-election

In November 2017, federal Labor selected Keneally as their candidate for the Bennelong by-election held on 16 December. Although she secured a two-party preferred swing of five percent, she was ultimately defeated by the sitting Liberal member, John Alexander.

Senate tenure and opposition leadership, 2018–2022

On 30 January 2018, the Labor Party announced that Keneally would fill the casual vacancy in the Senate created by the resignation of New South Wales senator Sam Dastyari. Her formal appointment occurred on 14 February 2018, with her swearing-in following the next day.

In June 2018, Keneally expressed opposition to mandatory reporting requirements for Catholic priests who become aware of child sexual abuse during confessionals, arguing that such measures were not effective deterrents. During this period, she also took part in the Rambam Israel Fellowship Program, which was funded by the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council.

After the 2019 federal election, new Labor leader Anthony Albanese sought to appoint Keneally to the frontbench despite resistance from the NSW Right faction. On 29 May, Ed Husic resigned from his frontbench position and endorsed her as his successor. The following day, Senate deputy leader Don Farrell stepped down to promote gender balance within leadership ranks. Subsequently, Keneally was appointed Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate as well as Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship within Albanese’s shadow ministry. She resigned from her Senate seat on 13 April 2022.

2022 Fowler candidacy

In September 2021, Keneally pursued preselection for the Division of Fowler ahead of the 2022 federal election, aiming to replace retiring MP Chris Hayes. Hayes had endorsed Vietnamese–Australian lawyer Tu Le, noted for her strong community engagement and capacity to represent Fowler’s multicultural population, which includes more than 50,000 Asian-Australians residing in suburbs such as Cabramatta and Liverpool.

Although Keneally moved to Fowler after securing preselection, she lacked longstanding local connections, having previously lived on Scotland Island in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Her selection—an American-born white woman contesting a diverse migrant-rich Labor seat—sparked criticism from Labor parliamentarians including Anne Aly and Peter Khalil; however, former Prime Minister Paul Keating voiced his support. Keneally’s candidacy was imposed by party leadership without a local preselection vote.

The independent candidate Dai Le, a Vietnamese refugee and former Liberal Party councillor, contested Fowler and defeated Keneally in one of only two seats that Labor lost during the 2022 federal election.

Roles in sport

In 2011, Keneally was appointed as a director of Souths Cares—the charitable arm of the South Sydney Rabbitohs—and became Chair of Basketball Australia’s board. She resigned from Parliament on 29 June 2012 to assume the role of Chief Executive Officer at Basketball Australia. In April 2014, she stepped down from this position to dedicate more time to her family. In 2016, following Nicholas Pappas’s departure, she was named Chairperson of Souths Cares.

Television host and political analyst

Keneally embarked on her media journey in 2014, initially appearing as a guest presenter on Studio 10. She subsequently joined Sky News Australia to co-anchor The Contrarians, which was later rebranded as Keneally and Cameron. This program concluded in April 2015. Following this, she co-hosted the daytime Sky News show To The Point alongside Peter van Onselen and frequently hosted prime-time programs such as The Cabinet and Credlin & Keneally. Upon declaring her intention to run for federal parliament in November 2017, she took a hiatus from her Sky News responsibilities.

From December 2014 until June 2019, Keneally contributed articles to The Guardian Australia, addressing topics like the role of religion in politics, marriage equality, and asylum seeker policies.

In November 2022, she assumed the role of CEO at the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation.

Personal details

Keneally is married to Ben Keneally, former Mayor of Botany Bay; the couple has two sons and experienced the loss of a daughter at birth. Her spouse is related to Australian author Thomas Keneally as his nephew. She serves as a patron for the Stillbirth Foundation Australia.

Formerly residing in Pagewood, within her Heffron electorate, Keneally and her husband sold that residence in 2016 and relocated to a rental property in Hunters Hill. They possess a residence valued at AUD $1.8 million on Scotland Island as well as a townhouse in Wollstonecraft, acquired for $1.3 million in 2016. Prior to contesting the Fowler seat during the 2022 federal election, the family moved to Liverpool.

In late 2022, Keneally was appointed CEO of the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting pediatric healthcare funding. Additionally, she is an avid supporter of the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league team competing in the NRL.

Published works

Kerscher, Kristina Marie (1995). Folding the Jesus-Sophia metaphor: A basis for a non-androcentric Christology within a Christian feminist interpretive community. M.A. thesis, University of Dayton.
Kerscher, Kristina (November 1995). "God's first instrument of liberation". Bible Today, 33(6), 359–363.

External links