Maria Kovacic

{{Short description|Australian politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Maria Kovacic | honorific_prefix = Senator | image = Joint Standing Committee on the Parliamentary Library 2023 (Kovacic cropped).png | caption = | office = Senator for New South Wales | term_start = 31 May 2023 | predecessor = Jim Molan | office1 = President of the <br/> New South Wales Liberal Party | term_start1 = 5 October 2022 | term_end1 = April 2023 | predecessor1 = Philip Ruddock | successor1 = Jason Falinski | birth_date = {{birth date and age|11 February 1970}} | birth_place = Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia | party = Liberal | occupation = Politician }} '''Maria Kovacic''' ({{IPA|hr|ˈmǎrija ˈkǒʋatʃitɕ|lang}};{{cn|date=May 2026}} born 1970) is an Australian politician. She is a Senator for New South Wales representing the Liberal Party, succeeding Jim Molan after his death.

She previously served as the President of the New South Wales Liberal Party.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/27/maria-kovacic-former-nsw-liberal-president-will-replace-jim-molan-in-senate-as-andrew-constances-bid-fails|title=Maria Kovacic: former NSW Liberal president will replace Jim Molan in Senate as Andrew Constance's bid fails|agency=Australian Associated Press|date=27 May 2023|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=28 May 2023|archive-date=28 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528015322/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/27/maria-kovacic-former-nsw-liberal-president-will-replace-jim-molan-in-senate-as-andrew-constances-bid-fails|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Early life== Kovacic was born in 1970 in Queanbeyan, New South Wales.<ref name=aph>{{cite web|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=306168|title=Senator Maria Kovacic|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref> Her parents were Bosnian Croats who immigrated to Australia from Yugoslavia after the Second World War. Her father was born in Turčinovići and her mother in Miši.<ref name=speech>{{cite web|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=chamber/hansards/27125/&sid=0203|title=FIRST SPEECH - Kovacic, Senator Maria|work=Hansard|publisher=Parliament of Australia|date=5 September 2023|access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref>

Kovacic grew up in Canberra.<ref name=speech/> She was the franchisee of an ANZ mobile lending franchise for 16 years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nswliberal.org.au/maria-kovacic/meet-maria|title=Meet Maria|publisher=Liberal Party of Australia|access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref> She was a director of the Franchise Council of Australia from 2020 to 2023 and was active in various community groups in Western Sydney.<ref name=aph/>

==Politics== ===2022 federal election=== Kovacic was the Liberal Party's candidate for the marginal Labor seat of Parramatta at the 2022 federal election, held by retiring MP Julie Owens. Although the seat was considered a highly possible gain for the party (due to Owens' retirement and the fact that much of the seat's territory was Liberal-held at state level at the time), she was unsuccessful and Labor's candidate Andrew Charlton won the seat with an increased majority.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/parr|title=Parramatta (Key Seat) - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results|website=abc.net.au|access-date=28 May 2023|archive-date=9 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230309032542/https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/parr|url-status=live}}</ref>

===President of the New South Wales Division (2022–2023)=== On 5 October 2022, Kovacic was elected President of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nswliberal.org.au/news/maria-kovacic-elected-as-nsw-liberal-party-president|title=Maria Kovacic elected as NSW Liberal Party President|website=nswliberal.org.au|access-date=28 May 2023|archive-date=13 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313203332/https://nswliberal.org.au/news/maria-kovacic-elected-as-nsw-liberal-party-president|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Senate (2023–present)=== ====Preselection==== Following the death of Jim Molan in 2023, the Liberal Party needed to fill a casual vacancy. The final two candidates, both from the party's Moderate faction, were Kovacic and Andrew Constance, a former New South Wales Cabinet minister who served as the member for Bega in the Legislative Assembly until his resignation in 2021.<ref name="abc">{{Cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-27/maria-kovacic-preselected-senate-seat-defeats-constance/102401854 |title=Ex-NSW Liberal president preselected for Senate seat, defeating Andrew Constance|newspaper=ABC News |date=27 May 2023|via=www.abc.net.au|access-date=28 May 2023|archive-date=28 May 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230528025232/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-27/maria-kovacic-preselected-senate-seat-defeats-constance/102401854 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Kovacic won the support of most Moderates, as well as most of the Centre Right faction. The Right faction's only candidate was Jess Collins. The other candidates were James Brown, David Brady and Fiona Scott. According to Anthony Galloway writing for the ''Sydney Morning Herald'', Constance made a deal with sections of the Right faction whereby he, if elected, would resign after 18 months to run as the party's candidate for the seat of Gilmore at the 2025 federal election for a second time, after he almost defeated the sitting Labor member (Fiona Phillips) at the 2022 federal election (bucking the national trend of swings against the Coalition). However, senior party sources found that many were unhappy with the idea of another resignation.<ref name="abc"/><ref name="smh"/>

Kovacic was endorsed by Senator Andrew Bragg and deputy leader Sussan Ley, while Constance was endorsed by former Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Senator Marise Payne and her partner, former state Cabinet minister Stuart Ayres (who was the state member for Penrith until 2023).<ref name="smh">{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/maria-kovacic-beats-andrew-constance-in-nsw-senate-preselection-vote-20230526-p5dbke.html |title=Maria Kovacic beats Andrew Constance to take vacant Liberal Senate seat|first=Anthony|last=Galloway |date=27 May 2023|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=28 May 2023|archive-date=27 May 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230527210211/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/maria-kovacic-beats-andrew-constance-in-nsw-senate-preselection-vote-20230526-p5dbke.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

The vote was held at the Fullerton Hotel in Sydney on 27 May 2023. Kovacic was preselected, winning 287 votes to Constance's 243.<ref name="abc"/>

Kovacic was appointed by a joint sitting of the New South Wales Parliament on 31 May 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Hansard/Pages/HansardFull.aspx#/DateDisplay/HANSARD-1820781676-91933/HANSARD-1820781676-91981 |title=Legislative Assembly Hansard – 31 May 2023 – Proof - Election of a Senator|publisher=Parliament of New South Wales|date=31 May 2023}}</ref>

===Political positions=== In her maiden speech to parliament Kovacic described herself as a "progressive liberal".<ref name=speech/> She also called for a cap to be placed on negative gearing for investment properties.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/new-liberal-mp-pushes-for-negative-gearing-caps-20230905-p5e237|title=New Liberal MP pushes for negative gearing caps|first=Tom|last=McIlroy|date=5 September 2023|access-date=5 September 2023}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacic, Maria}} Category:Living people Category:Australian people of Croatian descent Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Category:Members of the Australian Senate for New South Wales Category:Members of the Australian Senate Category:Women members of the Australian Senate Category:1970 births