Amanda Vanstone hosts Counterpoint, a weekly program on Radio National and writes an opinion piece for The Age on a fortnightly basis.
She is Chair of the Royal Flying Doctor Australia, and a member of the boards of Drinkwise Australia and the Port Adelaide Football Club. She is also on the Board of Governors of the Institute for International Trade based at the University of Adelaide and serves on the National Commission of Audit.
Prior to this she had a career in the Australian Parliament and then as an Ambassador.
Amanda Vanstone entered Federal Parliament in 1984 as a Senator for South Australia, at that time the youngest member of the Senate. She was re-elected in 1987, 1993, 1998 and 2004.
She served as a Minister in the Australian Government from the 1996 election until January 2007, and except for a period of just over three years as Minister for Justice/Customs, all her Ministerial positions were in Cabinet. She is the longest serving female Cabinet Minister since Federation.
In 2007 she was appointed as Australian Ambassador to Italy and to San Marino and Australia's Representative to the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation, and the Unted Nations World Food Program, for three years.
Prior to entering Parliament, Amanda Vanstone worked as a legal practitioner. Educated at the University of Adelaide, where she completed both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees, she also holds a Marketing Studies Certificate and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.
