ParliamentPapers

House of Representatives

Meryl Swanson

Meryl Swanson is the Australian Labor Party MP for Paterson. First elected 2 July 2016.

2016 Won Paterson, entered parliament
2019 Held Paterson after swing
2022 Held Paterson narrowly
2016 May 2026
  1. 2016 Won Paterson, entered parliament
  2. 2019 Held Paterson after swing
  3. 2022 Held Paterson narrowly
  • Australian Labor Party

What do they focus on?

Not enough tracked speeches or amendments to say yet.

  • Budget, tax & economy 3
  • Government & democracy 3
  • Defence & foreign affairs 3
  • Climate, energy & environment 2
  • Education & skills 1

Bars show tracked speeches and amendments by policy area.

How do they vote?

Share of recorded votes on the same side as each party's majority.

  • Labor 100%
  • Greens 58%
  • Coalition 34%
  • One Nation 21%

467 tracked votes while with Labor.

How do they compare?

  • Years in parliament i Total time served across every stint in either chamber, up to the end of the tracked record. 10 yrs 0.2 avg 8.5 yrs 33.3
  • Votes against their party i Recorded votes cast against their own party's majority side. The average is across party members only. 0 avg 0.6 26
  • Bills introduced i Bills they introduced to Parliament, counted across the tracked record. 0 avg 2.8 46
  • Amendments sponsored i Amendments to bills they put forward during debate, counted across the tracked record. 0 avg 7.9 226
Where their votes sit, left to right i Built from votes alone: party members sit at their party's mark and move only by votes cast against their own party toward a neighbouring one. Independents are placed by their side on the votes where the parties disagreed.
Meryl Greens Labor Coalition One Nation

The marker starts at their party’s position and shifts only for floor-crossings towards a neighbouring party. No topic strip is shown because their economic, social and environment votes followed the party line.

What have they done lately?

Recent activity in the pack is concentrated in early 2026. On 26 March, she supported doubling ACCC penalties for petrol price gouging, while voting No on a separate motion condemning rushed permanent fair-fuel provisions; that motion was defeated 43–93. On 10 March, she supported coal workers’ long-service leave changes. On 4 March, she supported super tax changes for balances above $3 million. On 11 February, she supported Defence and Veterans’ Service Commissioner reforms, saying the role needed independence, powers and accountability.

When do they vote against their party?

Meryl recorded no votes against the Labor position across 467 recorded votes.

What do they say in debate?

16 tracked speeches across 16 bills.

  • 16 backing a bill
  • 0 with reservations
  • 0 against
  • 0 no clear position

Go deeper

Every figure links to a cited page.

About these numbers

Based on 766 tracked bills from the 47th and 48th Parliaments, current to 6 July 2026. This is a sample of parliamentary activity, not the complete record.

Career markers come from dated public records. Voting figures use division lists only. For party members, the left-to-right marker begins at the party position. It moves only when the member votes against that party and on the same side as a neighbouring party; other cross-party combinations do not affect it. Independents and minor-party members are placed by their votes in divisions where the Greens and the Coalition took opposite sides. If this position differs from a member’s broader public politics, a note appears below the strip.