ABOUT JONTY.
Jonty Bush is the Member for Cooper.
Jonty has a 20-year career history in making sure people can navigate government and social services, ensuring they have a voice and can participate in the decisions made for them and about them.
Her specialisation is criminology – following the homicides of her sister and father she refocused her career towards community safety, and victims’ rights. In 2000, Jonty joined the Queensland Homicide Victims’ Support Group as a volunteer and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2007. She was recognised nationally as the Young Australian of the Year in 2009, when she developed Queensland's One Punch Can Kill campaign.
Jonty has a Master of Criminology and Criminal Justice from Griffith University. She has worked on Ministerial taskforces, was appointed to Queensland’s inaugural Sentencing Advisory Council and has continued to work and support government and community organisations with anti-violence and crime prevention strategies.
In 2010, Jonty accepted a role in the public service with the Department of Justice and Attorney General. She remained with the department until her election to the seat of Cooper in 2020, enjoying a variety of roles including the Director of the Office of the Public Guardian and Director of the Strategic Support Office.
While striving to ensure that Cooper has a strong voice in Parliament, Jonty is also a member of two Parliamentary Committees: the Crime and Corruption Committee and the Legal Affairs and Safety Committee; and is a Temporary Speaker of the House.
Along with her partner Matt, Jonty continues to raise her daughter and three stepdaughters. She is a lover of the great outdoors and is regularly trekking through Brisbane’s hiking trails in addition to taking on the big walks including Kokoda and Mount Kilimanjaro. She is a humanitarian and a vegan, dedicated to making the world a better place.
My Values
Growing up, my family instilled in me the values of hard work and compassion.
I, along with my younger sister Jacinta and younger brother Jason, were born in Hobart. Our father was a painter with the Education Department, our mother a teller with the ANZ Bank. We weren’t well off but I never felt poor – our uniforms were always ironed, we made friends with the neighbourhood kids, and if we wanted to get somewhere, we walked or cycled.
My dad finished school after year ten, but he - put a high value on our public education system. He urged me to stick with school, even though I struggled at times. It’s because of him, and the encouragement of some great educators that I was able to complete year twelve and later, onto university.
Every child, no matter where they live, no matter their background, should have access to a world class education system.
When I was 14, my father was offered an opportunity to work in a small gold mine in central Queensland.
We packed the Falcon and drove ourselves to our new life.
Working in the mine became my first job. After finishing school each day I would ride my horse to the mine site and drive trucks and move equipment until sunset.
It was hot, dirty and hard work but I loved it.
My sister and father were both murdered suddenly, as a result of domestic and family violence.
At the time we had no idea what coercive control was, how to predict it or how to stop it. I became involved in Queensland’s criminal justice system, identifying in particular the gaps where it could provide better support, agency and voice to victims of crime.
I changed careers, and took on a role with the Queensland Homicide Victims’ Support Group. Eventually I was offered the position as Chief Executive Officer – making me the youngest and the first victim CEO in the history of the organisation.
We developed Queensland’s first legislation dedicated to victims rights and services, contributed towards reform in youth justice, mental health, weapons and domestic violence.
Alongside victims, I developed the anti violence One Punch Can Kill community campaign.
For this work I was recognised as the Young Australian of the Year.
I spent the next 12 months traveling the country speaking with communities about the impact of crime, and with experts in criminal justice, detention, and trauma about how to drive down crime and keep people safe.
Becoming a politician is never something I thought I would do.
When Kate Jones asked me to replace her as your local representative, I decided to run because I wanted to be an advocate for our community, a voice for those without one, and have the ability to make change within government.
I want what happened to me and my family to make communities like ours safer. I am proud of the work we have done together.
My values and my story drive what I do every day as your local representative
Protecting our environment
I pushed hard for ambitious emissions reductions and strong environmental protections for the Channel Country.
Having travelled throughout Queensland, I know that we need to protect our environment.
Support for our local clubs, schools, and small businesses.
Our investment into our communty have delivered more classrooms for our local schools and better facilities for our local sporting clubs.
These places bring our community together and I’ll always back them.
Fighting for women’s rights
Together we legislated a woman’s right to choose, expanded women’s healthcare, and criminalised coercive control.
There’s more work to be done and I will use my experience to make the change we need.
Justice that works for everyone
Everyone deserves a home
Local community is critical
MY
KEY
VALUES
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