Katina "Katie" Hodson-Thomas was born 28 April 1957 in Adelaide in South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. She was a Liberal

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly

Western Australian Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....

 representing the electorate of Carine

Electoral district of Carine

The Electoral district of Carine is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is based in Perth's northern suburbs. Politically, it is a safe Liberal seat.-Geography:...

 after winning the seat in the 1996 election

Western Australian state election, 1996

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 14 December 1996 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...

. She was subsequently re-elected to the seat in 2001 and 2005 but retired just before the 2008 election.

Born in Norwood, South Australia

Norwood, South Australia

Norwood is a suburb of Adelaide, about 4 km east of the Adelaide city centre. The suburb is in the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, the oldest South Australian local government municipality, with a city population over 34,000.-History:...

, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, she was educated at the local high school before leaving to arrive in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 in 1987.
In January 2008, Hodson-Thomas announced that she will retire from politics at the end of her term. She left the party as a result of a bitter leadership feud between Paul Omodei

Paul Omodei

Paul Domenic Omodei , Australian politician, was the leader of the Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia from 24 March 2006 until 17 January 2008....

 and current leader Troy Buswell

Troy Buswell

Troy Raymond Buswell is currently the Liberal member for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Vasse, and the Minister for Transport and Minister for Housing. He was Leader of the Opposition for several months in 2008, then served as Treasurer of Western Australia in the Barnett...

, and after Buswell had made inappropriate sexist comments to her in front of a large number of male colleagues, for which Buswell later apologised. She went on to remark that the state parliament was a boys club and the male members need to lift their standards.

Her successor in Carine is Tony Krsticevic

Tony Krsticevic

Antonio Krsticevic is an Australian politician, and the Liberal member for Carine in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. He was elected at the 2008 election....

 who won pre-selection and then the seat in the 2008 election

Western Australian state election, 2008

A general election was held in the state of Western Australia on Saturday 6 September 2008 to elect 59 members to the Legislative Assembly and 36 members to the Legislative Council...

.