http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/sophie-mirabella/ Sophie grew up working in the family milk bar from the age of 12. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with Bachelor degrees in Law and Commerce and a Masters degree in Law. Before entering Parliament Sophie was a barrister at chambers in Melbourne and Wangaratta. Sophie maintains a high profile and is active in local communities across all of Indi - a large and diverse electorate of some 28,000 square kilometres. Sophie holds membership of a number of local community groups such as patron of the Bandiana Army Museum, patron of the Beechworth and District Pistol Club Inc., and a sponsor of the Albury/Wodonga National Servicemen’s Association newsletter. Sophie married Greg Mirabella in June 2006, and the couple welcomed their daughter Alexandra Mary in July 2008.  The family, including Greg’s 2 daughters from his previous marriage, live on their rural property at Wangaratta East. In September 2008 Sophie was appointed Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women & Youth by the Leader of the Opposition, Hon Malcolm Turnbull. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:46 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:46 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rubbery-figures-and-the-ghosts-of-budgets-past/ Amidst all the presents, food and rowdy family gatherings, Christmas has also traditionally been a time for pause and reflection. The many modern variations of Charles Dickens’ classic cautionary tale A Christmas Carol, where a miserly old man is visited by the specter of a deceased friend who shows him the error of his ways by traveling through time to reveal the impact of his miserable actions, reveals how this story of reflection and redemption at Christmas time still rings true. With Labor’s crisis mini-Budget (sneaked in after the Parliament rose for the year and while Australians started focusing on Christmas) revealing yet another deficit blow-out, I can’t help wondering if Julia and Wayne could do with a visit from the Ghost of Budgets Past. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rubbery-figures-and-the-ghosts-of-budgets-past/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/rubbery-figures-and-the-ghosts-of-budgets-past/#item7428 Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:45:43 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-be-fair-we-need-to-stop-people-dumping-on-australia/ President Barack Obama’s speech to the Australian Parliament, like those of his predecessors, was indeed an historic occasion. Amidst the hype and ceremony, I can’t help but wonder if a couple of Labor Ministers didn’t squirm a little in their seats as the President reminded us: “We seek trade that is free and fair. And we seek an open international economic system, where rules are clear and every nation plays by them.” In a reference to the G20 and the World Trade Organisation, which just days earlier had welcomed Russia to its ranks, the President stressed: “We need growth that is fair, where every nation plays by the rules – where workers’ rights are respected and our businesses can compete on a level playing field… so no nation has an unfair advantage.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-be-fair-we-need-to-stop-people-dumping-on-australia/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/to-be-fair-we-need-to-stop-people-dumping-on-australia/#item7202 Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:30:49 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hey-sheep-joyce-is-just-a-scapegoat/ Alan Joyce seems to have copped the ire of just about everyone because he was the bloke announcing Saturday’s decision to ground the Qantas fleet.  The decision was understandably unpopular with those stranded travellers who had their plans thrown into disarray – and we can certainly all understand their anger and sympathise with them.  But for every person affected by the 48 hours or so that Qantas wasn’t flying, there will be many more Qantas travellers over the next 21 days who have finally got certainty with the Fair Work Australia decision to disallow industrial action.  Moreover, those thinking of flying in the future will be able to book with Qantas with certainty. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hey-sheep-joyce-is-just-a-scapegoat/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/hey-sheep-joyce-is-just-a-scapegoat/#item7048 Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:40:43 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/protestors-occupied-with-glib-childish-pointless-fantasy/ This Saturday the self-described “organic” Occupy Wall Street movement will be coming to a capital city near you. They boldly claim “we are the 99 per cent” - it’s their official catchcry - so unless you consider yourself among the uber rich and powerful, these folks are your new voice.  So they’ll be speaking for you when they wave their glib and nebulous placards declaring “people not profits” and “be the solution”.  (I am not making these up – this is the print-ready poster artwork available on their website.) Their initial beef was apparently with the financial sector – hence the occupation of Wall Street in protest.  But their list of demands goes beyond the remit of the corporate fat cats and includes free education and a type of Utopian redistribution of wealth. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/protestors-occupied-with-glib-childish-pointless-fantasy/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/protestors-occupied-with-glib-childish-pointless-fantasy/#item6892 Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:55:57 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-oddity-of-beatties-dear-kev-letter/ We’ve seen a lot of political oddity courtesy of this Labor crew – a first-term PM knifed and crying in the courtyard of Parliament House, his successor vowing to reveal “the real Julia” while never deviating from her robotic spin, and stunning and historic depths plumbed in the polls. But last weekend, amid the circus that is Gillard’s embattled and high court rejected “Malaysia solution”, another surreal political moment occurred.  A bizarre cross between hostage negotiation, desperate plea and slap in the face – yes, I’m referring to Peter Beattie’s “Dear Kevin” letter. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-oddity-of-beatties-dear-kev-letter/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-oddity-of-beatties-dear-kev-letter/#item6751 Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:40:03 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/at-home-with-a-pm-whos-lost-all-of-australias-respect/ Perhaps the most damaging outcome of all the dysfunction wrought by the Gillard Government is the shocking loss of respect for the office of Prime Minister itself. If the headlines of “Dead Woman Walking” and the litany of ridicule in the weekend papers wasn’t enough to convince you that respect is lost, then tonight the ABC launches At Home with Julia - a sitcom, mockumentary, call it what you will, about the private life of Gillard and her partner Tim Mathieson. Of course, I haven’t seen it - it may well be a touching tribute. Just as Spinal Tap was an erudite tribute to those much misunderstood rockers. Point is, it’s playing for laughs. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/at-home-with-a-pm-whos-lost-all-of-australias-respect/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/at-home-with-a-pm-whos-lost-all-of-australias-respect/#item6646 Tue, 06 Sep 2011 18:40:03 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/You-journos-are-the-freaks-not-us-carbon-protestors/ This week the right to peaceful public assembly got a bit of a battering. And those wielding the sticks were none other than freedom-of-speech-loving journalists. The derision with which many critiqued the anti carbon tax rally seemed, to use one of their favourite descriptors, extreme. The determination to find an offensive placard, to photograph someone looking unhinged, to find fault with the tone of the event should be a little concerning for those who champion free speech and peaceful public assembly as tenets of democracy. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/You-journos-are-the-freaks-not-us-carbon-protestors/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/You-journos-are-the-freaks-not-us-carbon-protestors/#item6542 Sun, 21 Aug 2011 18:50:27 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-NBN-is-as-useful-as-those-newfangled-Beta-tapes/ Remember those rabid Beta-tape aficionados of the late 70s and early 80s? You know, the ones who swore they had found the one true technology and held firm to their allegiance as the video library shelves became chock-a-block full of VHS tapes and the beta tapes were relegated to a dark, dingy corner out the back before disappearing altogether. “Beta’s better!” they would cry in frustration. And technically, it could be argued they were right. Problem was, consumers voted VHS with their wallets. And Beta, despite its small band of loyalists, died as a mainstream technology. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-NBN-is-as-useful-as-those-newfangled-Beta-tapes/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-NBN-is-as-useful-as-those-newfangled-Beta-tapes/#item6408 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:50:37 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/heres-to-mateship-courage-endurance-and-sacrifice/ While the media last week fixated on the political “divide” in Australia, with vastly divergent views expressed on the carbon tax at the forums and some confrontations between people with passionate viewpoints, it’s worth remembering that every day of every week, Aussies are getting on with their lives and doing remarkable things. It’s worth remembering that there is so much more that unites us as a nation than that which currently divides us. All that is great about Australia was on display in a rain-soaked corner of Queensland last weekend. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/heres-to-mateship-courage-endurance-and-sacrifice/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/heres-to-mateship-courage-endurance-and-sacrifice/#item6327 Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:30:09 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Another-week-another-new-labor-fiasco/ When the sun rose yesterday morning, optimistic Federal Labor MPs must have woken up thinking: “Monday morning – time for damage control”. Their more pessimistic comrades would probably have been thinking: “A new week, a new fiasco”. The weekend announcement that some motor vehicle users will be exempt from a carbon tax on petrol proved to be yet another example of the Gillard’s Government shocking ineptitude and deviousness. It rivals the desperate knee-jerk reactions that were the East Timor “solution” (now abandoned), the Malaysian “solution” (still not finalised), the ban on all live cattle exports (which is killing an industry vital to northern Australia), and indeed the carbon tax announcement itself. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Sophie Mirabella) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Another-week-another-new-labor-fiasco/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Another-week-another-new-labor-fiasco/#item6218 Mon, 04 Jul 2011 18:35:06 +0000 Sophie Mirabella | Author bios | The Punch