Louise Pratt was appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing under Anthony Albanese's Shadow Cabinet in 2019.
She has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2016, and previously from 2008 to 2014. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party, and served as a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council from 2001 to 2007. Ms Pratt has indicated her intention to step down from federal politics at the 2025 election.
Ms Pratt was the youngest woman ever elected to the Legislative Council at that time, the second open lesbian to be elected to an Australian parliament, and the first to have a transgender man as a partner. In September 2012, Ms Pratt and three other Labor Senators co-sponsored a Bill to amend the Marriage Act and enable same-sex marriages to be recognised. The Bill was ultimately defeated but her impassioned speech in support of the Bill received widespread national and international attention. In December 2013, Ms Pratt and two Senators established a cross-party working group on marriage equality. She went on to become Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Water in 2013 until her defeat at the Federal Senate Election in 2014.
She then worked in the community sector for WA's peak housing and homelessness service and served on the board of the Burnett Institute until her re-election to the Senate in 2016 where she was appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Families and Communities.
