Former federal Liberal MP dies aged 59 after battle with cancer

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Former federal politician Katie Allen has died at the age of 59 after battling a rare form of cancer. Ms Allen was an MP for the Liberal party in the seat of Higgins, where she was a leading doctor and scientist as well as a mother of four. Former MP Tent Zimmerman worked closely with Doctor Allen and reflects upon her career.

Transcript

00:00It is just devastating news. She's been taken from us far too young and Katie was only in

00:09federal parliament for three years but she really punched above her weight during that

00:13period. But her parliamentary career topped what had been an incredible and stellar career

00:20in medicine, both as a leading paediatrician but also as a medical scientist. And in some

00:26ways the gain of politics was a huge loss to medicine at the time. But I just think

00:33of a person who was incredibly compassionate, incredibly committed to her community and to

00:39the nation, but also a very brave member of parliament. And one of the abiding memories

00:45during those three years was firstly the role that she played during COVID which dominated

00:50that term of parliament. And she really supported Greg Hunt and it was just so

00:56important that in that parliament we had people like her and Dr Mike Freelander from the Labor

01:00Party that really could provide some expert support to all of our views on COVID during

01:06that period. But I also reflect on her bravery when she joined with some of us in crossing

01:12the floor on the Morrison government's religious discrimination bill. And we crossed the floor

01:18to protect children including trans children from discrimination in schools. And it was a

01:24really tough week and a really tough decision that she and others like myself had to make.

01:28But I remember at the time saying that as a paediatrician she'd committed her whole life

01:33to supporting children and how could she not support amendments that would have protected children

01:39in the schoolyard. So it was very consistent with her values.

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