The Australian Women's Register

This is an interview with Winifred Piesse for the Battye Library Oral History Unit and the Western Australian Parliamentary Oral History Project. Winifred Aumann was born in Victoria in 1923 and grew up in Narre Warren, Victoria. After leaving school she completed a Nursing General Certificate Midwifery and Child Health Certificate. In 1947 she moved to Western Australia she moved to Western Australia where she met Mervyn Piesse, a Wagin farmer, who she married in 1947, they had three children. Following the death of her husband in 1966 Mrs Piesse took over the responsibility of the farming properties at Wagin. Though a member of the Country Party since 1948 it was only after the death of her husband that she became an active member at branch and divisional level. From 1971 to 1977 she was a member of Wagin Shire Council and in 1977 contested the Legislative Council seat of the Lower Central Province. She held the seat until she was defeated in the 1983 election and was the first woman elected to State Parliament to represent the Country Party. During the interview Mrs Piesse talked of her life and her involvement in State politics. She also commented on the role of women in politics at local and state level.