Jane Prentice

Jane Prentice (née Righetti; born 22 June 1953) is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 2010 to 2019, representing the Division of Ryan in Queensland. She previously served on the Brisbane City Council from 2000 to 2010. She is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sat with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.

Early career Prentice was born in Melbourne on 22 June 1953.

Prentice spent her early years in north-east Victoria where her father farmed sheep with two of his brothers. The family moved to Sydney in 1960, where her father became a technical education instructor at the School of Sheep and Wool and later worked for Allied Feed Mills and Inghams. She also worked as director of the Visitors and Convention Bureau in Brisbane, business manager at the Australian Telecommunications User Group, and managing director of Conventions Queensland.

Member of Parliament At the 2010 federal election, Prentice comfortably defeated sitting local member, Michael Johnson, who was expelled from the Liberal Party in May 2010 for allegedly bringing the party into disrepute, having used his political position and entitlements to further his business interests and those of a company set up almost exclusively to fund his prolific overseas travel.

On 26 February 2014, Prentice tabled in the house a petition organised by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia in response to proposed changes to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and the impact on community pharmacies. This petition, signed by 1,210,471 people, is the largest petition ever received by the Australian parliament. Prentice also delivered the first speech in the House of Representatives to include Auslan.

Prentice was appointed Assistant Minister for Disability Services in February 2016, as a member of the First Turnbull Ministry. Following a reshuffle after the July 2016 federal election, her title was changed to Assistant Minister for Social Services and Disability Services. She did not retain her position when Turnbull was replaced as prime minister by Scott Morrison in August 2018.

In May 2018, she was defeated for LNP preselection to recontest her seat at the 2019 Australian federal election by Julian Simmonds, a member of the Brisbane City Council.

Personal life Prentice had two children with her husband Ian Prentice, whom she married in 1977. He was a barrister by profession who also served in the Queensland Legislative Assembly in the early 1980s.