Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Youth) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes the passing of former Member for Higgins, Dr Katrina 'Katie' Allen, at the age of 59;

(2) acknowledges:

(a) Dr Allen's distinguished service to the Australian community as a paediatrician, medical researcher, professor, advocate and parliamentarian;

(b) her contribution to the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2022, where she served the people of Higgins with integrity, compassion and dedication;

(c) the respect she earned across the political spectrum for her decency, intellect, courage and willingness to advocate for her convictions; and

(d) her leadership in medical research, particularly in the fields of paediatric allergy and gastroenterology, and her lifelong commitment to improving the health and well-being of Australian children and families; and

(3) expresses:

(a) its gratitude for her contribution to public life and to the advancement of women in leadership, medicine and politics; and

(b) its sincere condolences to her husband Malcolm, their children Monty, Jemima, Arabella and Archie, her granddaughter, her extended family, friends, former colleagues and all those whose lives she touched.

I rise to pay tribute to Katie Allen, my dear friend, former colleague and former member for Higgins, who was taken way too soon from us through aggressive illness. Before I talk about Katie's multitude of achievements as a spectacular human who lived life to the fullest, I simply want to talk about my friend DK, short for Dr Katie. Katie; Celia Hammond, known as CC, the previous member for Curtin; and I came to this place together in 2019, and we formed a very, very special friendship immediately. We went through a whole term of ups and downs together. We endured COVID together. We were indeed in government together.

I was on the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport with Katie, Trent Zimmerman and Dr Freelander, who's in the chamber, when we worked on the inquiry report Walking the allergy tightropeKatie's speciality.

And he's waving it about; thank you. It was about the rise of allergies and anaphylaxis in Australia. Through it all, DK was always a positive force. She was full of energy and vitality. She was a thought pioneer and a staunch advocate for what she considered was right. She was never backwards in coming forwards, our DK. Katie was always willing to give her view, her support and her friendship.

Even after Katie was not successful at the 2022 and 2025 elections, she would come and see me in my office and start with, 'You're doing so well, AB; I'm so proud of you.' She was always a ray of light, our Katie, leading the way to a better day. She was brave and fierce but kind. DK was a leader cut down way too soon, taken from us at just 59.

I always believed that she had what it took to be the Prime Minister. Tragically, we'll never see that come to be. The intellect, the empathy, the compassion, the drive, the determination, the knowledge and the experience she contributed in every forum she was in was immense. She was an academic and fellow with more than 400 papers published, a researcher, a paediatrician, a scientist, a politician, a wife and a mum. But I will remember Katie as first and foremost my very good friend and confidant. I would just like to read a few words from the former opposition leader and first female Liberal Party leader, Sussan Ley:

Katie was a pioneer in every sense of the word. Long before she entered public life, she had already distinguished herself as an outstanding doctor, academic and leader in women's health. She broke barriers in medicine, championed better outcomes for mothers and children, and earned deep respect for her expertise, compassion and integrity.

When Katie stepped into politics, she brought with her the same sense of purpose that defined her professional life. She believed deeply in service. Not service for status or recognition, but service grounded in a genuine desire to improve the lives of others. She listened carefully, she worked tirelessly, and she never forgot that behind every policy debate were real people and real families.

As a woman in public life, Katie led by example. She showed that strength and kindness were not opposites, that leadership could be both principled and humane, and that conviction need not veer towards cruelty. She encouraged women to back themselves, to speak up, to support each other, and to believe that their voices mattered. Many young women—

though not just young women—

saw in Katie not just a role model, but a pathway.

Her funeral at St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne was the most beautiful service I've ever been to, befitting of our Katie, where hundreds of mourners gathered to celebrate her life. Professor Katie Allen was posthumously appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia, an AO, in the King's Birthday 2026 Honours List. She was recognised for her distinguished service to medical research as a paediatric allergist and gastroenterologist and for her contributions to the Australian parliament as the member for Higgins from 2019 to 2022, and she thoroughly deserved it.

From those Katie lived with during the Canberra sittings—Birmo, Marise, James and Trent—and from CC and AB to those closest to dear Katie—Malcolm, Monty, Jemima, Arabella and Archie: our thoughts are with you, and may our dearest DK rest in peace forevermore. Vale, Professor Katrina Allen, 24 February 1966 to 29 January 2026.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I knew Katie Allen in a professional capacity prior to her entering this place as the second paediatrician to be elected to the House of Representatives. I dealt with her professionally in her role as the head of the Centre for Food and Allergy Research in the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. She had a national and, indeed, a worldwide reputation as a paediatric allergist and paediatric gastroenterologist. She specialised in allergy and, in particular, some of the rarer manifestations of allergies, such as eosinophilic enteritis and anaphylaxis. She had qualifications far greater than mine in an academic capacity. She was an inaugural fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. She started the longest and biggest prospective study of allergy and anaphylaxis in the developed world, called HealthNuts, which is still ongoing. She had a PhD, and her PhD thesis was on liver cell transplantation using a mouse model of Wilson's disease, a very rare but well-known cause of liver failure. She, as has been mentioned, had an Order of Australia given posthumously, which was well deserved and only a small recognition of her talents.

I respected her greatly prior to her coming here, and, when she came here, I respected her even more. I was expecting a rather patrician, aloof person elected as the member for Higgins, but what I found was just a really decent, lovely person, willing to engage on all levels, even though we represented different parties and had different political views. She was a really deep thinker, a really decent person and someone—like many paediatricians—who understood the implications of the social determinants of health and was willing to work hard to make sure that Australia led the way in paediatric health care.

She was brave and she was steadfast. She was someone who stood up for her views. I well remember the fight she had in this place with one of my colleagues, where she stood her ground—

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, it was certainly one particular one, and she stood her ground very, very strongly. I respected her views, and I think she respected mine.

We were both placed on the national COVID-19 health and medical research advisory committee run by the NHMRC, appointed by Professor Michael Kidd, the then deputy director of Health. She served wonderfully on that committee. Her insights and her views on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic were very well respected across the parliament, across the medical research group and across the state healthcare systems. She had some incredible input into that committee and did a lot to help manage the pandemic in its most acute phase. I think those in parliament at that stage recognised her contributions.

In the wider field of paediatric allergy, she provided a huge amount of input to our report delivered early in 2020, Walking the allergy tightrope. Some of her recommendations—part of our wider recommendations—are in place today and helping manage paediatric allergy across the country. It's just one of her many, many contributions to health care in this country.

I had many discussions with her about health care. We thought it was rather ironic that, of the two paediatricians in the place, I was the one that would have loved her family history of being part of the Morris family, famous in winemaking. Katie was a non-drinker, and I could have drunk the cellar dry, I'm sure, many times over.

She made a wonderful contribution while she was in this parliament and afterwards. She was incredibly brave. To her husband, Malcolm, and her children, Monty, Jemima, Arabella and Archie: I would like to let you know that I won't forget her, and neither will anyone who worked in health care during the pandemic in those years. She was taken far too young.

Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd also like to rise to pay recognition to the memory of the life of Katie Allen, the former member for Higgins. I first met Katie when she was running for the state seat of Prahran. In that feisty election, she of course put up a valiant fight against the Greens and the Labor Party, having been endorsed as the Liberal candidate for the state seat—one, of course, we were hoping to pick up, but she was not successful. But in doing so, it led to other things—let's put it that way, with respect to the great people of Prahran.

She was somebody who had a long history and a lot to contribute to this nation's parliament. Well before I knew her, she was a medical researcher, a paediatrician and a university professor, and she was involved particularly with the Australian Food Allergy Foundation—with which one of my late constituents who I spoke about earlier today, Patricia Ilhan, was actively involved. She always committed herself to advancing the best interests and wellbeing of the Australian people, in her fields of medical discipline. To be blunt, her list of publications is slightly intimidating, I suspect, for every single member of this House.

Her professional success was also matched by her private success with her family. While the member for Macarthur mentioned previously that she was a teetotaller, there was a time before that, where she met her husband—and I believe the imbibing of liquids was part of the process—at the Melbourne Cup carnival. Of course, she and Malcolm lived a very happy and long life together—but, tragically, not long enough.

Her lack of success in the state seat of Prahran—backed up by, or armed though, the experience of that, as well as her professional background—led her to this place. I still remember when Kelly O'Dwyer did a public press conference announcing her retirement from parliament. I was driving the car down the Mornington Peninsula, and I immediately picked up the phone to Katie and said, 'I think this might be your chance, Katie, to be able to stand for the federal parliament.' Quick smart, she was in the race.

She ended up serving here from 2019 to 2022. That was a very challenging term for any member who was here at that time, as I was. It was essentially the COVID term. In addition to state blockages and the various restrictions that were imposed, it was a particularly odd term, but it was like it was a term made for Katie. When issues of health rose to national prominence and all of a sudden we needed medical expertise to inform the decision-making of elected representatives, she was certainly on hand to offer her opinion to the government and to then health minister Greg Hunt, who actively used her to work with different medical agencies and to guide discussions and inform decision-making. So she might have only had one term, but I can assure you it was definitely the right term for Katie to serve in the federal parliament. She made an enormous contribution in a very short period of time.

There are a lot of personal stories that I have about Katie, but really, when it came down to it, she was spirited. She certainly made her views known. No-one's trying to pretend otherwise. But she was always actively encouraging as well in the contribution that she made in this parliament to others. And for that she'll always have our eternal respect and love. Tragically, just before she passed away towards the end of 2025, I organised with my husband, my dear friend Phil and his partner Susie to be able to catch up with Katie. Unfortunately, diary commitments clashed and meant that I wasn't able to do so, so we rescheduled to catch up early in the year. Tragically, it ended up being the date of her funeral because she passed around Christmas last year. It was a devastating blow for many people because her passing came a lot faster than we and I think she as well initially expected.

Her funeral at St Paul's was beautiful. It was, of course, an incredible celebration of her full life; 59 years in, most of us would be jealous to have achieved that much. And, of course, she's since been posthumously honoured with an Officer of the Order of Australia, which is justly and appropriately awarded. To her family and particularly to her lovely husband, Malcolm, to Monty, Jemima, Arabella and Archie, we just express our most incredible condolences. Fifty-nine—too soon. But vale, Katie Allen.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. Vale, Dr Katie Allen.

Federation C hamber adjourned at 19:28