‘I was asked if I went into politics to meet a husband’

Sally PattenBOSS editor

Mar 24, 2023 – 5.00am

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Natasha Stott Despoja was elected a federal senator in 1995 at the age of 26.

She was the youngest woman in the parliament and in a speech to the Chief Executive Women annual dinner on Thursday night recounted her first business lunch as a Democrat senator.

Sally Patten edits BOSS, and writes about workplace issues. She was the financial services editor and personal finance editor of the AFR, The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. She edited business news for The Times of London.