From 1984 until 1988, Vale was a full-time wife, mother and student, studying arts and law at Sydney University. In 1988, she began practising as a solicitor and held this position until entering parliament.
Political career
Vale was first elected to the House of Representatives for Hughes, New South Wales in March 1996, re-elected in 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007. Following re-election in 2001, she was appointed Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence. Vale was first elected in Hughes when she defeated the sitting ALP member and Aboriginal Affairs MinisterRobert Tickner, a defeat that has been largely attributed to his handling of the Hindmarsh Island Bridge controversy. Vale notably opposed several of the Howard Government's policies and proposals, often on local issues, in particular the proposed construction of a second Sydney airport at Holsworthy and a nuclear waste processing plant at Lucas Heights, both of which would have been located in her electorate. In the government's second term, she spoke against mandatory sentencing of juveniles in the Northern Territory. In June 2009, Vale was one of four Liberal MPs to support a Labor move to abolish the practice of charging asylum seekers the cost of their detention. She was a member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Science and Innovation established to look at the technology of geosequestration of carbon dioxide. The committee in August 2007. However, Vale was one of four MPs issuing a dissenting report in which they stated, "We do not believe the evidence unequivocally supports the hypothesis of anthropogenic global warming". Among the evidence cited in the dissenting report were claims of global warming on other planets including Mars, Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune and Triton. Vale was ridiculed in The Sydney Morning Herald and the local media for her views. In 2004, Vale unwittingly became involved in the "cash for comment affair" when she mistakenly faxed a letter of support, meant for radio talkback host Alan Jones of 2GB, to Jones' former station 2UE. At the time, questions were being raised about the impartiality of David Flint, the head of the Australian Broadcasting Authority, when a letter of praise from Flint to Jones was revealed after the ABA had cleared Jones of wrongdoing. Vale's letter, urging Jones to "stay brave and true", was lampooned by the ABC TV programMedia Watch, which adopted "Stay Brave and True" as its unofficial motto. In 2006, Vale suggested that Australia is going to become a Muslim nation, as a result of Australians "aborting themselves out of existence" She made these comments in supporting a Coalition-backed amendment to a bill on the abortion drug RU486, and expressing concern at the rate of abortion by Australian women.
