Jo Briskey

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Jo Briskey
MP
Briskey in 2025
Member of the Australian Parliament
for Maribyrnong
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 May 2025 (2025-05-03)
Preceded byBill Shorten
Personal details
PartyLabor
RelationsDarryl Briskey (father)
University of Queensland
OccupationPsychologist
Executive
Trade unionist
Websitejobriskey.com.au

Joanna Leigh Briskey is an Australian politician. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and has served in the House of Representatives since the 2025 federal election, representing the Victorian seat of Maribyrnong.

Early life

Briskey is the daughter of Darryl Briskey, who was a Queensland state government minister.[1] Her paternal grandfather Bob Briskey was national president of the Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union and a long-serving chair of Credit Union Australia, which originated as the Queensland Postal Cooperative.[2]

Briskey attended All Hallows' School in Brisbane.[3] She holds the degree of Bachelor of Psychology from the University of Queensland and later completed a Master of Educational and Developmental Psychology. She worked as a tutor at Queensland University of Technology, as a research therapist at Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, and as a mental health policy adviser to Queensland health minister Geoff Wilson.[1]

Briskey held senior executive roles with The Parenthood, a registered charity and advocacy group associated with the United Workers Union (UWU).[4] In 2019, following her defeat at the 2019 federal election, she moved from Queensland to Victoria to become national coordinator of the UWU.[5]

Politics

Early candidacies

Briskey ran in the 2012 Queensland state election as Labor's candidate in Cleveland, previously held by her father Darryl Briskey.[6]

In 2018, Briskey won ALP preselection for the federal seat of Bonner.[7] She was defeated by incumbent Liberal MP Ross Vasta as part of a wider swing against the ALP in Queensland.[1]

Member for Maribyrnong (2025–present)

After moving to Melbourne, Briskey aligned herself with UWU and Labor Left powerbroker Gary Bullock.[5] In 2024 she won ALP preselection for the seat of Maribyrnong, following the retirement of incumbent MP and former party leader Bill Shorten.[8] She was not a resident of the electorate at the time and was accused by her Greens opponent James Williams of being a parachute candidate.[9]

Briskey retained Maribyrnong for the ALP at the 2025 federal election,[10] with a minor swing against Labor on first preferences and the two-party-preferred vote.[11] After the election she joined several parliamentary committees including the House Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport, the Joint Standing Committee on Trade and Investment Growth, and the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties.[10]

See also

References

  1. "Bonner (Key Seat) - Federal Election 2019". ABC News. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  2. Briskey, Jo (23 July 2025). "GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S SPEECH: Address-in-Reply". Hansard. Australian House of Representatives. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  3. Barlow, Karen (28 June 2025). "Exclusive: Labor has first Left-majority caucus". The Saturday Paper. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  4. Brown, Greg (17 March 2022). "The Parenthood Project's charity status under fire". The Australian. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  5. "Labor firms on Queenslander to replace Victorian Bill Shorten". Australian Financial Review. 9 September 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  6. "Maribyrnong Federal Election 2025 Results". www.abc.net.au. 2 May 2025. Archived from the original on 6 April 2025. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  7. "'Politics has lost its connection to people'". The Courier-Mail. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  8. Karp, Paul (5 September 2024). "Labor factions draw battle lines for Maribyrnong seat after Bill Shorten's retirement from politics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 May 2025. Retrieved 22 May 2025. From the left faction, Briskey is a former chief executive of not-for-profit The Parenthood and organiser in the Queensland United Voice branch, understood to have support from the Queensland powerbroker Gary Bullock.
  9. Davies, Sally Q. (28 April 2025). "Locals lukewarm about Maribyrnong newcomer". The Junction. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  10. "BRISKEY, Jo". Parliamentary Handbook. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  11. "Maribyrnong Federal Election 2025 Results". ABC News. Retrieved 26 April 2026.