Janie Finlay

Janie Finlay (Dickenson; born 2 August 1974) is an Australian politician currently the Member for Bass in the Tasmanian House of Assembly.

Early life
Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Janie attended the University of Tasmania in Hobart at what is now the School of Creative Arts and Media.

Majoring in furniture design, she started her career running her own studio in Glebe, New South Wales.

She returned to Tasmania and took up a position with the Beacon Foundation as youth coordinator. Working at Launceston College she created programme at the Ashley Youth Detention Centre to help break the cycle of reoffending.

After securing backing from Federal and State Governments for her scheme, she then had to convince her local government of the merits of such a programme.

Local Politics & Mayor of Launceston
After having her education plan for Ashley rebuffed by local council, she ran as a candidate and was duly elected to the Launceston City Council in 2000. From 2002 to 2005 served as Mayor. When Finlay was elected to that position in February 2002, at age 27, she was the youngest female mayor to serve in Australia.

She lost her mayoral position in the October 2005 elections to Ivan Dean by a slim majority after the distribution of preferences. She had been the favourite in her race for a second term, and on 26 October 2005. The Examiner local newspaper ran a front-page story claiming she was winning by 2000 votes. But by the next day it was revealed Ivan Dean had secured the lead by some 400 votes after preferences. Finlay was, however, re-elected as an alderman, securing more than two quotas. She resigned from council in 2007.

Finlay later regained her position in the 2014 local government elections, safely securing a position as Alderman on the Launceston City Council.

State Parliament
In May 2021 Finlay was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly as a Labor representative for Bass.

As part of the opposition front bench, Finlay's portfolio included Primary Industries and Small Business.

In March 2024 Finlay retained her seat at the 2024 Tasmanian state election with an increase of 20% her votes.

Other interests
Janie served on the inaugural board of the Tasmania JackJumpers in 2020, helping to establish a state-wide National Basketball League team in Tasmania. She has also been a board member of the Launceston Tornadoes Women's Basketball team.