1998, the major parties voted to restructure the House of Assembly from 35 to 25 seats, increasing the quota of votes required to be elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly. Liberal Premier Tony Rundle immediately called an election, which his party subsequently lost. Due to the changes, Milne lost her seat, leaving the Greens with one remaining seat. After her career in state politics, Milne was an adviser to Senator Bob Brown from 2000 until she was elected to represent Tasmania in the Federal Senate at the 2004 federal election. Preferences to Family First from the Australian Labor Party almost prevented her from being elected; however, she managed to reach a quota mostly as a result of the high level of below-the-line voting in Tasmania. The other Green elected at that election was Rachel Siewert from Western Australia. Milne was part of Bob Brown's frontbench covering the portfolios of Arts, Climate change, Competition Policy & Small Business, Finance & Administration, Food Security, Regional Australia, Resources & Energy, and Trade. Milne was Vice-President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN, also known as the World Conservation Union) from 2005 to 2008. She became Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens on 10 November 2008. In 2009, Milne debated the shortcomings of Australian Climate Change Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 in the federal parliament. On 13 April 2012, Milne became the leader of the Australian Greens after the resignation of Bob Brown. She reorganised the Green's front bench. On 6 May 2015, Milne announced her immediate resignation from the leadership of the Australian Greens, and foreshadowed her departure from the Senate. Milne resigned from the Senate on 10 August 2015. References External links |- |- 1953 births Living people Australian environmentalists Australian women environmentalists Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Australia Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Tasmania Australian republicans Australian schoolteachers Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians Australian LGBT rights activists Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Tasmania Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly People from Latrobe, Tasmania Women members of the Australian Senate University of Tasmania alumni Leaders of the Australian Greens 20th-century Australian women politicians 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Officers of the Order of Australia Women civil rights activists