About Charlie
Charlie is a true local. The only thing that stopped her being born in North Queensland was her impatience to come into the world. She arrived early and consequently was born at Rockhampton Mater Hospital enroute to North Queensland. Her dad even earned a speeding ticket for his trouble!
Charlie completed her primary school education at Kuranda, Mena Creek and Karumba State Schools. With no high school in Karumba, Charlie and her younger sister, Nicky, went to boarding school in Rockhampton while their mother worked on the prawn trawlers in the Gulf of Carpentaria to pay for their education.
Charlie credits many of the opportunities in her life to the sacrifices of her mum and her grandparents, Dixie and Snow McKeen, who raised their grandkids during their early childhood while mum was away at sea.
Charlie was halfway through her degree at the University of Queensland when she took time out to work as a cook—deckhand on a barramundi boat, and also a shark boat, the FV Kundu.
But Charlie's real passion was writing so she went back to uni before commencing a journalism cadetship at the Central Queensland News in Emerald. Charlie returned home in 1995 to work on the Cairns Sun where she earned a reputation for strong, objective reporting which ultimately earned her several regional and Statewide awards, including Best News Article at the 1997 FNQ Media Awards.
After four years Charlie became Media Adviser to Warren Entsch and proceeded to work closely with him to get things done for our community. Some of the achievements of which she remains particularly proud include:
- Working with remote indigenous communities to meet the many challenges such as breaking the cycle of welfare and alcohol dependence, creating employment and improving telecommunications;
- Fighting alongside North Queensland prawn fishing families against misguided attempts by bureaucracy to restructure their fishery
- Representing residents of the Daintree in their efforts to protect property rights taken for granted by landholders in the rest of the country;
- Assisting the Cape York community of Coen to gain television coverage in time for the Sydney Olympics (and see Cathy Freeman win gold)!
Charlie was Warren's longest-serving media adviser in his 11 years as the Federal Member for Leichhardt. She further honed her political experience by working with Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough in his electorate of Longman (north of Brisbane) and Attorney-General Philip Ruddock (formerly Minister for Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs).
After returning home last year to work again with Warren Entsch, Charlie gained Liberal Party pre-selection in December 2006. She has resigned from her position and is now a full-time cansidate working hard to retain the seat of Leichhardt in the safe hands of the Liberal Party at the next federal election.
Click here to view Charlie's launch speech.
What other people say about Charlie
Les Lowe
Northern Prawn (Qld) Fishery Trawl Association
"I've known Charlie since she was a little girl. The thing I like about Charlie is she never forgot where she came from. As a journalist and later when she entered the political arena, she has been a passionate fighter for fishing families in the Far North. She is a big-hearted, very determined, young lady -- just what you would expect of a girl from the Gulf!"
Harald Falge
Founder & Coordinator of Street Level Youth Care
"I have known Charlie for just over a decade, with our first contact when she was a journalist for the Cairns Sun. This relationship continued when Charlie worked with Warren Entsch and again, more recently when she took on the role of chairing the Harald's House Committee. Charlie's energy and enthusiasm has been a great asset as our committee strives towards building a non-government funded shelter for homeless youth in Cairns."
Geena Court
'Cairns Business Woman of the Year 2006'
Court House Realty
Principal
"When I met Charlie McKillop I was delighted to find a person so passionate about the people and places she grew up with in Far North Queensland. Charlie has the right mix of local knowledge and political experience to represent us in Canberra! It is good to see strong women being put forward not because of their gender, but because they are the best person for the job".
Mrs Beverley Henderson
Teacher, Kuranda State School [1975—2000]
"Charlie was one of my most memorable pupils in my Year three class in 1982. I particularly enjoyed her daily presentations of reviews of the book she had read the previous night, they were amazing and we all enjoyed them. Do us proud Charlie. Best wishes.