The rise and rise of Attorney-General Michelle Rowland
The nation's incoming first law officer isn't one to "fly by the seat of her pants", according to a former colleague.
When Attorney-General Michelle Rowland arrived in Canberra in 2010 as the new member for the marginal seat of Greenway, she vowed to be a fierce defender — and a fierce critic of Malcolm Turnbull — over the National Broadband Network.
She also described the Speaker of the House, Milton Dick, as her “touchstone”, and spoke about her rich family history, deep Labor roots and her time working as a supermarket checkout operator while studying law at the University of Sydney.
Rowland delivered in spades on the NBN, landing some blistering takedowns of the then shadow minister for communications and his vow to “demolish” the network.
She drew on her expertise as a lawyer at top-tier firm Gilbert + Tobin, where she specialised in telecommunications and competition law, working alongside Gina Cass-Gottlieb — now chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
