[4] She is the daughter of William and Moya Weir; her father served in World War II and was later national secretary and treasurer of an organisation for disabled veterans.
[6] After graduating Andrews worked as a drafter with the Queensland Electricity Generating Board and in plant maintenance at the Gladstone Power Station.
[5] In the mid-1990s, Andrews joined the Victorian Department of Health and Community Services as head of its industrial branch, working under the responsible minister Marie Tehan.
[6] In October 2009, Andrews won a Liberal National Party of Queensland ballot for preselection in the federal seat of McPherson, following the retirement of the incumbent MP Margaret May.
[10] In July 2014, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported that her office had an unusually high employee turnover and that former staffers had accused her of creating a hostile work environment.
According to The Australian, during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic she "became a key player in the government's response as it scrambled to reassure the public about both the contagion itself and the panic-buying that soon began threatening supplies of food, toilet paper and sanitising products".
[6] Andrews was appointed Minister for Home Affairs in March 2021, following a cabinet reshuffle related to the 2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations.
[20] In a 2018 interview with Sky News, Andrews declared that coal would play a major role in Australia's energy mix in the future.