NSW Labor is today announcing that Kiama local Katelin McInerney will run as the NSW Labor candidate for Kiama in the NSW State Election due in March 2023.
 
This is the first candidate announced by either party ahead of the 2023 election.
 
Katelin McInerney grew up in Kiama and attended Minnamurra Public and Kiama High. She now resides in the town with her partner Brian and their two year old son William.
 
Education and Career

Ms McInerney has worked as a journalist, communications specialist and campaigner with unions and not-for-profits, representing a diverse national membership of actors, journalists, stage and screen crew, and musicians. 
 
She was the first woman to hold the director position of the journalists union (MEAA) and has represented members at all levels of government, at Senate inquiries, with the ACCC, and fought for greater Federal government funding for the ABC and SBS, and positions in regional newsrooms, for more than a decade. 
   
She is also a founding member of the Women in Media initiative, a mentoring and support network for women working in media – an industry with one of the highest rates of sexual harassment and gender pay inequity in the country.   

In recent times Ms McInerney has worked closely with Labor Member for Gilmore Fiona Phillips and Kiama Labor councillors to secure a funding commitment for a dedicated Headspace in Kiama and will continue to campaign for greater access to health services across the area.

She is also involved in campaigns to utilise brownfields sites for sustainable development and to bring creative and arts-industry jobs to the region through her work with the Kiama Epicentre Association. She is dedicated to safeguarding our beautiful coastal countryside and waterways, and will push for key planning controls and infrastructure investment from the State Government. 

Ms McInerney has also been a volunteer for the Kiama Downs Surf Lifesaving Club, as well as a member of the local softball and netball associations.

Comment from Chris Minns, NSW Labor Leader:
 
“I’m excited to announce that Katelin McInerney will be the Labor candidate for Kiama at the next election.
 
“Katelin is a passionate advocate for her community and I know she will make a strong local Member in NSW Parliament if she has the privilege of being elected.
 
“Katelin has a strong connection to Kiama and is dedicated to working for meaningful change for the community, particularly in relation to the environment, health care, education, and cost of living for families in Kiama.
 
“Labor faces a huge challenge in the seat of Kiama, but I am pleased we get to meet that challenge with a candidate of Katelin’s calibre.

“This seat deserves a member who is focused on delivering outcomes, and is actually allowed in Parliament House, to advocate for their constituents.”
 
Comment from Katelin McInerney:

“I love this place and the people in it – and we deserve better. We deserve a strong voice in parliament, someone who will be there to fight for greater investment in our schools, our hospitals, our roads and small businesses, and who will be a strong advocate for the change we need in this region.

“I bring more than a decade of experience listening to members’ concerns and standing up for working people and their families to this job. 

“I’ve always been a believer that you have to be the change you want to see – and we need change.

“As a parent and as the daughter of a public school teacher, as a cousin to a nurse, as a member of this community, I know how tough our essential workers are doing it under ever increasing demands and pressures.

“We need to end the conga line of chaos and incompetence from this 12 year old State Liberal government.

“I’m ready to be the strong and effective voice that Kiama needs.”