Rebecca Vassarotti (born 1972)[1] is an Australian politician who has been deputy leader of the ACT Greens since March 2024, and was a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly for Kurrajong from 2020 to 2024.[2]

Rebecca Vassarotti
Deputy Leader of the ACT Greens
In office
13 March 2024 – 19 December 2024
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJo Clay
Minister for Environment and Heritage
In office
4 November 2020 – 19 October 2024
LeaderAndrew Barr
Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services
In office
4 November 2020 – 19 October 2024
LeaderAndrew Barr
Member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
for Kurrajong
In office
17 October 2020 – 19 October 2024
Personal details
Born1972 (age 51–52)
Canberra, Australia
Political partyGreens

Background

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Vassarotti was born and raised in Canberra. Her mother was a teacher and is an advocate for public schooling.[3]

Vassarotti spent ten years with the YWCA in Canberra, including as executive director.[4] She worked as a consultant in the not for profit sector, and was director on the board of numerous companies. She was a finalist for the ACT Australian of the Year.[5] She is also an advocate for a reduction in the access to poker machines and is the Greens spokesperson on that issue.[6][7]

At the 2020 Australian Capital Territory election, Vassarotti won one of the five seats in Kurrajong, taking the seat from the Liberals' Candice Burch.[8] Following agreement between Labor and the Greens that the latter have three ministerial portfolios, Vassarotti immediately was appointed Minister for Environment and Heritage, Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services, and Minister for Sustainable Building and Construction.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Rebecca Vassarotti". smartvote Australia. Australian National University.
  2. ^ "Rebecca Vassarotti | ACT Greens". The ACT Greens. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  3. ^ "REBECCA VASSAROTTI". issuu. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  4. ^ Flannery, Hannah (24 July 2013). "Canberra Close Up: Rebecca Vassarotti". ABC Local. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Our Board Members - The Early Morning Centre Canberra". The Early Morning Centre. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  6. ^ Weaver, Michael. "Clubs say Greens' pokies plan treats "Canberrans like they're children"". The RiotACT. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  7. ^ "YWCA Canberra: Meet a member – Rebecca Vassarotti". ywca-canberra.org.au. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  8. ^ "ACT Election 2020 Results - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  9. ^ Bladen, Lucy; Jervis-Bardy, Dan (3 November 2020). "Andrew Barr unveils new ACT cabinet". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 3 November 2020.