Merri Rose was a minister

Minister (government)

A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

 in the Beattie

Peter Beattie

Peter Douglas Beattie , Australian politician, was the 36th Premier of the Australian state of Queensland for nine years and leader of the Australian Labor Party in that state for eleven and a half years...

 government and member for Currumbin

Electoral district of Currumbin

The district of Currumbin is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland.The district lies in the south-east corner of the state, along the New South Wales border. The district takes in southern parts of the Gold Coast and much of its hinterland...

 in the Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 Parliament.

Early life

She was born Merrilyn Miriam Gittins in Kilcoy, Queensland

Kilcoy, Queensland

Kilcoy is a small farming town and part of the Somerset Region Local Government Area in South East Queensland, Australia. The township lies on the D'Aguilar Highway, 94 km north west of the state capital, Brisbane, and just to the north of Lake Somerset...

 in 1955 and attended Kilcoy State High School and St Rita's Clayfield

Clayfield, Queensland

Clayfield is an inner-northern suburb of Brisbane, located approximately from the CBD. Clayfield is bordered to the north by Nundah, to the East by Ascot and Hendra, to the west by Wooloowin and to the South by Albion....

.

Career

Rose was elected as the member for Currumbin at the 1992 Queensland election. After the 2001 election, the Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie, appointed her Minister for Tourism and Racing. She was appointed Minister for Tourism, Racing and Fair Trading in 2001. Rose lost the seat of Currumbin in 2004 to Jann Stuckey

Jann Stuckey

Janet Anne "Jann" Stuckey is an Australian politician representing the division of Currumbin in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. She was first elected on 7 February 2004 as a member of the Liberal Party...

 of the Liberal Party

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...

.

Controversy

She had trouble finding a job after the election. Rose sought an appointment in the Queensland public sector. Rose pleaded guilty to demanding benefit with threats on 30 October in relation to her efforts to gain such an appointment on 30 May 2007. Rose was sentenced to 18 months' jail the following day.

Australian Story

Documenting her experiences after three months in jail, Rose appeared on ABC Television's Australian Story telecast on Monday 20 October 2008.