Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year Award announced at 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Canada
The inaugural winner of the Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year Award has been announced at the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Hon. Kate Doust, MLC from the Parliament of Western Australia has been announced as the first recipient of the 2022 Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year Award in recognition of her long parliamentary service as well as working to promote women and people with disabilities in her community. The award also recognises the Member’s contributions to the work of the CPA (including acting as a Mentor during programmes), her commitment to the diversity of her community, the work she has undertaken in addressing and combatting domestic violence, and her approach in embracing innovation and new ideas in the Parliament of Western Australia.
Hon. Kate Doust was first elected in 2001 and has been re-elected five times. She was the President of the Legislative Council of Western Australia from 2017 to 2021 and was also a Deputy Chair of Committees amongst many other roles. Before entering Parliament, she was a trade union official.
As part of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s mission to strengthen parliamentary democracy through the promotion of good governance and sharing best practice, the awards have been launched this year to recognise and highlight inspirational and active Parliamentarians for excelling in their field
Awards are open to nominees who are current Parliamentarians* across the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s unique membership includes over 180 national, state, provincial and territorial Legislatures. The next awards will be open for nominees in 2023.
The CPA Secretary-General, Stephen Twigg said:
“The new Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year Awards aligns to our strategic objective of promoting the values of the Commonwealth, parliamentary democracy and sustainable development to a wide audience. Through these annual awards, the CPA will recognise and highlight the invaluable contributions that Parliamentarians are making to their local communities and both nationally and internationally within the Commonwealth.”
*Nominees should be sitting Members of Parliament in a Commonwealth Legislature or have been a sitting Member of Parliament in a Commonwealth Legislature in the award period. The award can be made posthumously. Please contact the CPA Headquarters for full nomination criteria.
-ENDS-
Further information about the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) can be found at the official conference website www.65cpc.ca and also at the 65th CPC Hub.
On social media follow the hashtag #65CPC
Images of the 65th CPC are also available at the CPA's Flickr page.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) organises its annual Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) to address global political issues and developments in the parliamentary system through conference workshops and sessions for leading Parliamentarians representing Parliaments and Legislatures throughout the Commonwealth.
The CPA is an international community of around 180 Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures working together to deepen the Commonwealth’s commitment to the highest standards of democratic governance.
For media enquiries, please contact communications@cpahq.org.
