She held ministerial office in the Howard government as Minister for Employment Services (2004) and Small Business and Tourism (2004–2007).

Bailey was born in Brisbane and attended All Hallows' School there,[1] where she was regarded as a champion swimmer.

[3] Bailey worked as a secondary school teacher, retailer and cashmere goat breeder before entering politics.

[4] She was promoted to Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs, and was heavily involved with the Liberals' Fightback!

ad campaign to be awarded to M&C Saatchi, reportedly bypassing Bailey and government procurement guidelines for three contracts with a total value of $184 million.

In 2022, following Morrison's multi-ministerial positions controversy, Bailey revealed that Morrison showed no respect for his colleagues at Tourism Australia and he left her feeling bullied, also confirming that he "point-blank refused" to provide her or the board with any documentation or to answer questions about how the ad campaign was awarded to Saatchi.

She described that Morrison had "the supreme belief that only he can do a job, the lack of consultation with those closest to him – those characteristics were evident 16 years ago, and perhaps we’re seeing the end result of those now".

Initially, it appeared that Bailey had lost to former Labor state MP Rob Mitchell by six votes.

Following the resolution of the long-running dispute, Bailey called for a total overhaul of the voting system.