‘I Had A Newborn When I Got The Call To Stand For Federal Parliament’: Claire O’Neil

Claire O’Neil was elected to the federal parliament in 2013. She got the call asking if she’d consider contesting the seat of Hotham in Victoria just three weeks before the election. It was the chance of a lifetime but there was one very little, very newborn hurdle: her baby son.

“The biggest challenge is without doubt managing the work-family issues,” Claire told Future Women’s Melbourne social club last week. “I’ve got two very young children – a three-year-old and a six-year-old. When I was pre-selected to run in federal parliament, I had an eight-week old baby. It’s a wild experience motherhood. Eight weeks old and you haven’t slept for more than three hours in a row for probably three months, you breastfeed for six hours a day.”

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