Mikakos was first elected as the Member for Jika Jika Province in the State of Victoria in September 1999. From 1999 until 2006, she represented the Legislative Council province of Jika Jika. Mikakos' electorate was abolished at the 2006 election as part of major reforms of the Legislative Council introduced after the 2002 election, but she won the second position on the Labor ticket for the replacement electorate, the larger, five-member Northern Metropolitan Region. She was first on the Labor ticket at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 election. In Parliament, Mikakos has held the roles of Parliamentary Secretary for Justice, Parliamentary Secretary for Planning, Shadow Minister for Community Services, Children, Youth Affairs, Youth Justice and Seniors and Ageing, Minister for Families and Children, Early Childhood Education and Youth Affairs. She is now Minister for Health, and Ambulance Services. In March 2020, she was appointed Deputy Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council. In April 2020, Mikakos was appointed as the Minister for the Coordination of Health and Human Services COVID-19 as part of the Victorian Government's response to the coronavirus global pandemic. This appointment followed media coverage of comments which Mikakos made regarding a GP who tested positive for COVID-19. In Parliament, Mikakos voted against the human cloning bill but for stem cell research, for abortion decriminalisation, for assisted reproductive technology reforms and for dying with dignity laws. These bills were subject to a conscience votes in the Labor Party.
Controversies
In 2003, Mikakos was criticised for nepotism after employing her sister Nikki in her taxpayer-funded electoral office. In 2005, Mikakos was forced to pay back taxpayer funds spent mailing Labor Party members on Parliamentary stationery for reelection support, which led to PremierSteve Bracks warning Labor MPs regarding the conduct. In 2016, a number of criminals under the age of 18 in custody at Parkville prison engaged in a violent riot and caused significant property damage, forcing staff to flee. Mikakos, then the Minister for Youth Affairs, was criticised for losing control of youth justice. Later, Mikakos illegally moved the relevant inmates to an adult prison, and was forced to reverse that decision by the Supreme Court of Victoria.
During the early stages of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mikakos was criticised for attacking a Melbourne GP who attended work after having recently travelled to the United States. The Minister stated that she was 'flabbergasted' a doctor with 'flu-like symptoms' had presented to work, despite the GP not meeting her own departmental guidelines for testing. These comments were criticised by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and the Doctor, both of whom demanded an apology from the Minister. In an open letter, the Doctor involved accused the Minister of 'cheap grandstanding', and defended his decision to go to work as consistent with the Health Department guidelines. The Doctor called for the Minister to apologise for inaccuracies and the Minister was criticised for maligning frontline health workers. The Minister was also accused of having violated patient privacy, by having described the age and clinical practice of the Doctor in her initial press conference. Later, in April 2020, Mikakos was involved in controversy when she defended a comparison between COVID-19 and Captain Cook. In June 2020, Australia saw a second wave of COVID-19 cases in Victoria while Mikakos was Health Minister, leading to the first total lockdown of residents in homes in Australia, panic buying, and military personnel called in. The resurgence occurred despite a report from experts a month earlier warning of an opportunity to prevent a further outbreak; Mikakos claimed she was unsure whether her government had received a copy of the report and attempted to distance herself from the scandal. Mikakos was criticised for an apparent failure to properly implement quarantine of overseas arrivals in hotels, and faced calls to resign.
Personal life
Jenny Mikakos was the first woman of Greek descent elected to an Australian Parliament. She attended Santa Maria Girls College in Northcote, Thornbury High School, and the University of Melbourne where she obtained arts and law degrees. Before her election to Parliament, Mikakos worked as a commercial and tax lawyer for King & Wood Mallesons and Jerrard & Stuk. She was briefly a Councillor with the City of Northcote in the early 1990s.
