Former ACT Labor minister Meegan Fitzharris has announced she will not contest the next election and will leave the Legislative Assembly on Monday 8 July.
Ms Fitzharris, who stood down as a Minister on Monday 1 July, made the announcement on Wednesday 26 June, citing her decision as โa personal one, and stems from a desire to better balance my family lifeโ.
โThis has been an incredibly difficult decision for me, but it is the right decision and will allow a new member of our team to come into the Assembly prior to the 2020 election.โ
First elected as the Member for Molonglo following a countback after the resignation of former Chief Minister Katy Gallagher in December 2014, Ms Fitzharris was re-elected as the Member for Yerrabi at the 2016 election.
During her tenure, she held some of the toughest portfolios in health and transport, overseeing light rail, but hopes the community thinks โabout me in the way I went about my job; being open, listening to people and undertaking some fairly serious decisions around reformโ.
โPreviously, transport hasnโt been a high profile portfolio. I think what made it high profile was light rail and the significant changes it brought with the bus network.
โIt was tough, but I feel I got a lot done and in health it was a privilege to learn about so many incredible things in research and day-to-day care.โ
With Ms Fitzharrisโ resignation, a casual vacancy is expected in the Legislative Assembly with the most likely replacement to be Indian community leader Deepak-Raj Gupta.
Ms Fitzharris said she โunderstands that the Chief [Minister] has said there is potential for another minister to be addedโ but it will need to be discussed at caucus.
In the interim, Ms Fitzharrisโ portfolios have been redistributed between her colleagues with tertiary education going to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, health to Rachel Stephen-Smith and transport to Chris Steel.
โI know theyโll do great and theyโll bring their own style and approach to the part,โ she said. Her parting advice includes to work collaboratively, โreally listen, and ask questionsโ.
For now, Ms Fitzharris is looking forward to her post-political life and more time with her family. She said she would like to keep working and is interested in health reform as well as executive government leadership, โbut weโll see what happensโ.
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