About

I was born in Sydney in 1967, and spent my early childhood in Quirindi, New South Wales.  My family moved to Canberra in 1975.

Senator Kate Lundy

Growing up in Canberra, I attended Latham Primary School, Ginninderra High  and Copland College.  My main interests at school were science, art and just about any sport, particularly netball and basketball. My very first job was at McDonalds, where I worked for a short time as a casual.

When I was 16, I left college to enter the workforce as a labourer in the building and construction industry. My job was removing asbestos from buildings. This established my continuing concern for workplace health and safety.  My political awareness grew on the job and I became a workplace delegate for the Building Workers Industrial Union (later to become the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union: CFMEU).

I became politically active as a result of my experiences in the workplace and joined the Australian Labor Party when I was 18.  I have been active in the party and have held  a number of positions within my sub-branch and policy committees over the years.

In 1986, I joined the union as a full-time organiser, working extensively in occupational health and safety, sustainable industry development and later, communications and information technology.   In 1987, I was elected Vice-President of the ACT Branch of the BWIU and was proud to be the first woman ever to hold an executive position for the BWIU in Australia.

During my time with the union, I established a national Rank and File Drug and Alcohol Program in the ACT. This program allows workers to confront and deal with this sensitive issue amongst themselves.  I also worked on a ‘Jobs for Canberra’ campaign which sought to establish some job security for thousands of building workers prior to the recession in the early nineties.

I later became the union’s training co-ordinator and had responsibility for the design and publishing of the quarterly publication, “The Building Worker”. It was in this capacity that I was introduced to the Internet during the early stages of its commercialisation.

In 1988, I had joined the executive of the ACT Trades and Labour Council.  Later, in 1993 I became the youngest person and first woman elected as President of the Council. As a member of the TLC Executive, I was appointed to several government and community boards, covering issues ranging from workplace health and safety, cultural heritage, health promotion and regional economic development.

My favourite pastime is spending time with my family. I have three children, two lovely teenage girls and a feisty 4 year old boy. I also have two wonderful steps sons who live in Wangaratta with their mum.

My husband David is busy too, so we try to help each other out. We like keeping fit and have an ‘advanced open water diver’ licence – I love scuba diving – the Sapphire Coast is incredible. We also have motorbike licences and like to go bush on our dirt bikes with the kids.

When I was 25, I learnt to row. This has turned into a passion and I used to row most mornings at dawn. It is harder to find the time for rowing now, but I try to get out on Lake Burley Griffin a couple of times a week. I am a member of Canberra Rowing Club and still try to find the time to compete in local and masters regattas.