Women in the South Australian House of Assembly

There have been 38 women in the South Australian House of Assembly since its establishment in 1857. Women have had the right to vote and the right to stand as candidates since 1894.

In 1895, South Australian women became the first state in Australia, and some of the first in the world, to be given the right to vote and stand for election to Parliament. The following year at the 1896 election, the first women in Australia voted. Ironically, South Australia was the last state to elect a female representative, at the 1959 election, when Jessie Cooper and Joyce Steele were elected to the Parliament of South Australia for the Liberal and Country League (LCL). Molly Byrne was the first Labor woman in the House at the 1965 election.

Women have been continuously represented in the House since. Steele would also become the first female minister in 1968. Only two women have represented minor parties, these being Heather Southcott for the Democrats in 1982, and Karlene Maywald for the Nationals from 1997 to 2010. Liberal Isobel Redmond in 2009 became the first and only woman to lead a major party in South Australia when she became Leader of the Opposition. Labor's Lyn Breuer from 2010 to 2013 was the first and only female Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly. South Australia has not had a female Premier, Deputy Premier, Treasurer or Attorney-General.

In the current House of Assembly, ten of 24 Labor MPs are female (41.7%), while just two of 21 Liberal MPs are female (9.5%).

List of women in the South Australian House of Assembly

Names in bold indicate women who have been appointed as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries during their time in Parliament. Names in italics indicate women who were first elected at a by-election. An asterisk (*) indicates that the member also served in the Legislative Council.

Name Party Electoral Division Period of service
Joyce Steele LCL Burnside
Davenport
7 March 1959 9 March 1973 (defeated)
Molly Byrne Labor Barossa
Tea Tree Gully
Todd
6 March 1965 14 September 1979 (defeated)
Jennifer Cashmore Liberal Coles 17 September 1977 10 December 1993 (retired)
Heather Southcott Democrats Mitcham 8 May 1982 5 November 1982 (defeated)
June Appleby Labor Brighton
Hayward
6 November 1982 24 November 1989 (defeated)
Susan Lenehan Labor Mawson 6 November 1982 11 December 1993 (defeated)
Di Gayler Labor Newland 7 December 1985 24 November 1989 (defeated)
Colleen Hutchison Labor Stuart 25 November 1989 11 December 1993 (defeated)
Dorothy Kotz Liberal Newland 25 November 1989 17 March 2006 (retired)
Julie Greig Liberal Reynell 11 December 1993 11 October 1997 (defeated)
Joan Hall Liberal Coles
Morialta
11 December 1993 17 March 2006 (defeated)
Annette Hurley Labor Napier 11 December 1993 9 February 2002 (defeated)
Liz Penfold Liberal Flinders 11 December 1993 20 March 2010 (retired)
Lorraine Rosenberg Liberal Kaurna 11 December 1993 11 October 1997 (defeated)
Lea Stevens Labor Elizabeth
Little Para
9 April 1994 20 March 2010 (retired)
Robyn Geraghty Labor Torrens 7 May 1994 15 March 2014 (retired)
Trish White Labor Taylor 5 November 1994 20 March 2010 (retired)
Frances Bedford Labor Florey 11 October 1997
Lyn Breuer Labor Giles 11 October 1997 15 March 2014 (retired)
Vini Ciccarello Labor Norwood 11 October 1997 20 March 2010 (defeated)
Steph Key Labor Hanson
Ashford
11 October 1997
Karlene Maywald National Chaffey 11 October 1997 20 March 2010 (defeated)
Jennifer Rankine Labor Wright 11 October 1997
Gay Thompson Labor Reynell 11 October 1997 15 March 2014 (retired)
Vickie Chapman Liberal Bragg 9 February 2002
Jane Lomax-Smith Labor Adelaide 9 February 2002 20 March 2010 (defeated)
Isobel Redmond Liberal Heysen 9 February 2002
Chloë Fox Labor Bright 18 March 2006 15 March 2014 (defeated)
Grace Portolesi Labor Hartley 18 March 2006 15 March 2014 (defeated)
Lindsay Simmons Labor Morialta 18 March 2006 20 March 2010 (defeated)
Rachel Sanderson Liberal Adelaide 20 March 2010
Leesa Vlahos Labor Taylor 20 March 2010
Zoe Bettison Labor Ramsay 11 February 2012
Susan Close Labor Port Adelaide 11 February 2012
Annabel Digance Labor Elder 15 March 2014
Katrine Hildyard Labor Reynell 15 March 2014
Dana Wortley Labor Torrens 15 March 2014
Nat Cook Labor Fisher 6 December 2014

Timeline

Nat Cook Dana Wortley Katrine Hildyard Annabel Digance Susan Close Zoe Bettison Leesa Vlahos Rachel Sanderson Lindsay Simmons Grace Portolesi Chloë Fox Isobel Redmond Jane Lomax-Smith Vickie Chapman Gay Thompson Jennifer Rankine Karlene Maywald Steph Key Vini Ciccarello Lyn Breuer Frances Bedford Trish White Robyn Geraghty Lea Stevens Lorraine Rosenberg Liz Penfold Annette Hurley Joan Hall Julie Greig Dorothy Kotz Colleen Hutchison Di Gayler Susan Lenehan June Appleby Heather Southcott Jennifer Cashmore Molly Byrne Joyce Steele

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.