The Australian Women's Register

A tireless committee member, Marianne Saliba has made a substantial contribution to her local community. She was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Illawarra in 1999 and 2003. She was a member of multiple parliamentary, caucus and community committees and social organizations. She retired from parliament at the 2007 election, and subsequently re-entered local politics in 2011.

A student activist and ALP member, Alice Salomon’s first time as a candidate was in the unwinnable seat of Vaucluse in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 2003.

Salti Wafaa is an active member of the Greens Party who was motivated to join them and stand for election by her strong desire for a sustainable future. She contested the 2003 election for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Granville and the 2004 election for the House of Representatives seat of Reid. When she ran for Reid, she stressed the need for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, a humanitarian approach to asylum seekers, more spending on health and education and ratification of the Kyoto protocol. Wafaa Salti had spent most of her life in the western suburbs of Sydney when she ran for the seat of Granville. She completed a B.Bus.

Violette Samaha ran for election only once. That was as a Liberal candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly election for Campbelltown in 1984. She joined the Liberal Party in 1983 and in the 1984 election directed her preferences to an Independent candidate, in the hope of taking the ALP candidate to preferences.

Rona Samuels was an Australian Democrats candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly election for The Hills, 1981 and the House of Representatives election for Mitchell, 1983.

Kim Sara only ran for election once: as a One Nation Party candidate in the 1999 New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Port Macquarie. She issued a press release during the campaign, very critical of the local bookshop for taking a title off its shelves. The book, “Murder by Media” (1998) described the “tricks” used by major city media against Pauline Hanson’s One Nation during the 1998 Federal election. Kim Sara declared this action undemocratic.

Nancy Saxby ran for parliament only once: New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Blacktown, 1950. When she won Liberal Party preselection against nine other candidates, she was a poultry farmer at Bossley Park, near Fairfield in Sydney’s western suburbs. After the election, she expressed her disappointment that there were not more women candidates, but she herself did not run again.

Nancy Saxby joined the Women’s Auxiliary of the Australian Air Force in 1942 and was a section officer when she was selected to work in close contact with General Macarthur’s Headquarters in Brisbane. During the course of this duty she visited American bomber groups in North Australia. She then worked with the Directorate of Public Relations in Sydney and was promoted in 1944 to the rank of Flight Officer. Her son, John Gunn, was a sub-lieutenant in the R.A.N.

Ilse Robey was a widely travelled, well educated candidate for the Australian Democrats who contested the following elections:
New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Gordon, 1978, 1981
House of Representatives, Bradfield, 1980.

Joan Scaife was a once only candidate for election to the Legislative Assembly: a Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Tuggerah in 1981. At the time of her candidature she was active in Wyong Little Athletics and was a long term member of Wyong Bowling Club. Joan Scaife was educated at Oatley Public School and Sutherland High School and ran a small business in the fashion industry.

Maureen Rogers ran for election only once. That was in 1999 as the Earthsave Australia candidate in the elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Penrith. A practising natural therapist, she ran for the newly formed Earthsave Party because one of the party’s main concerns was healthcare. She also supported the party’s policy of parental choice of immunisation of children.
Maureen Rogers is an accredited practitioner of Bowen therapy, and practises in Lawson.

Gail Schwarze has run only once for parliament when she ran for the Christian Democrat Party in the 2003 elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Albury. At the time of her campaign, she had lived in Albury for seven years, but was born and educated (Diploma in Counselling and Family Therapy) in Melbourne. She has also lived in New Zealand, and in country Australia at Bathurst and Wagga. She is married and has two children.

Elizabeth Poppleton ran for parliament only once: Australia Party candidate, New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Lane Cove, 1976. At the time of her candidacy, she had settled in Sydney, having lived in England, Ireland and Canada. She was a member of the Australia Party and its forerunners for nearly 10 years. Elizabeth Poppleton decided to stand so that the electors of Lane Cove, who had supported the Party in the 1970 and 1973 elections, should again have the opportunity to do so. She was a member of Ecology Action and deeply concerned with the preservation of bushland, the condition of the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers and the fragmentation of communities by arterial roads. She was married, with three grown up daughters. She worked part-time at Gladesville Hospital.

Patricia Poulos has been a repeated Independent candidate for election:
New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Cronulla, 1999
Senate, NSW, 1987; 1993, 1998
House of Representatives, Cook, 2001
House of Representatives, Wills, Victoria, by-election, 1992
In 1990, Patricia united 14 Independent groups into the Centre Unity Party, and she was their candidate in the House of Representatives elections for Cook. The Centre Unity Party was registered for the 1990 Federal Election, but did not survive to run again. The party fielded 23 candidates and 5 Senate teams that year and subscribed to one 30-point pledge. The pledge contained sweeping aims, including “Protect our environment”, “Address drug dependency” and “Re-build our defence Forces”.

Elizabeth Priestley was a once only candidate in an unwinnable seat: ALP candidate, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Ku-ring-gai, 1995. At the time of her campaign, she had lived in the electorate for a decade. She was working as a Project Officer for the NSW Association for Mental Health and was concerned about the environment, the pollution of waterways, and the continued emphasis on road construction. Elizabeth Priestley joined the ALP in 1986 and was married, with one daughter.

Mary Quirk was the first Labor woman elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and was an assiduous local member until deselected in 1950. She was first elected in 1939 during the Balmain by election and was re-elected in 1941, 1944 and 1947. In 1950 Mary contested the seat again, this time as an Independent, but failed.

Aine Ranke is a committed environmentalist who represented the Australian Greens in the following elections:
House of Representatives, Paterson 2001, 2004
New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Maitland, 2003.

Genevieve Rankin’s commitment to social justice, peace and the environment has directed her career in local government, education and community activism. She first ran for parliament in 1991 as an ALP candidate for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Sutherland. She re-contested the seat in 1995, but again failed. However Genevieve Rankin was successfully elected to the Sutherland Shire Council in 1991-2004 and was appointed Mayor from 1994-95.

Margaret Ratcliffe is a committed Christian activist. She first stood for election in 1995 as a Call to Australia party candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Gordon. This was followed by two attempts at obtaining the seat of Bradfield in the House of Representatives in 1996 and 1998. The following year she changed political allegiance and contested the seat of Denison on behalf of the Christian Democrat Party.

Denise Redmond was committed Australian Democrats candidate who contested the following elections:
New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Bega, 1991, 1995, 1999
House of Representatives, Eden-Monaro, 1990.
In her 1999 campaign, she stressed her opposition to the trend to privatise public utilities and services. Denise Redmond was particularly critical of the privatisation of cleaning services in hospitals and schools and opposed the diversion of funds away from the public education system at all levels.

Karen Reid is a committed Christian activist who has run once for parliament: New South Wales Legislative Assembly, East Hills, 2003. Her motivation to run as a Christian Democrat Party candidate was a worsening moral decline and the lack of Christian values in the society. Karen Reid’s main duties, as stated by her party, are those of a wife and mother. At the time of her campaign, she had four children ranging in age from 4 to 13. She was an enrolled nurse, and helped with a church-organised weekly play group.

Victoria Resch ran for election once only, and is a successful professional. In 1991, she was encouraged by Richard Jones, MLC and Elisabeth Kirkby, MLC to stand in Vaucluse (New South Wales Legislative Assembly) for the Democrats in order to maximise the vote for the upper house. She was interviewed on the Ray Martin Show and appeared in a large “Meet the Democrats” meeting within days of nominating. Victoria Resch was born in Sydney, educated at Abbotsleigh School, Wahroonga and at the Universities of NSW (B.A. (Hons)) and Macquarie. In her youth she played a number of roles on television and through this, knew Elisabeth Kirkby. She has been a psychologist in private practice in the eastern suburbs of Sydney for more than twenty years and has one daughter.

Mahboba Rawi founded the aid organisation, Mahboba’s Promise, in 1998 to assist Afghanistan’s people in rebuilding their lives after two decades of war and oppression.

Terri Richardson is a hard working party member of the Australian Democrats, deeply committed to a just society, and passionate on the subject of Indigenous education. Terri was on the State Executive Committee of the Australian Democrats for nine years, 1989-1998, and continues her connection with the party as Acting Convenor of the Cook Electorate branch. She also contested the following elections on their behalf:
New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Cronulla, 1991
House of Representatives, Cook, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1998
New South Wales, Legislative Council, 1994.

Terri Richardson grew up in the Sutherland Shire and was educated at Oyster Bay Primary School and St George Girls’ High School. She trained as a primary school teacher at the Alexander Mackie College of Advanced Education and taught for 15 years. Subsequently she was a tutor at the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney. In 2005, still passionate about the education of indigenous children, she was actively involved in the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme. She was also part way through a Masters of Professional Studies: Aboriginal Studies from the University of New England. She has one daughter.

Yvonne Piddington has run once as a candidate (Liberal Party) for election to the Legislative Assembly. That was in 1999 for the seat of Wallsend. She is active locally, and is a member of the Hunter Regional Development Committee. She has held branch and electorate council office in the Liberal Party. Yvonne Piddington was educated at Hunter Girls’ High School and is a self-employed Floor-covering specialist. She is married.

Nelle Rickie was an activist, and a once only candidate. That was for the Communist Party in the elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Botany in 1925. Nelle was an actress prior to 1914 and jointed the Victorian Socialist Party in 1916, becoming a committee member. She was also a member of the Women’s Socialist league and opposed conscription in the 1917 referendum. She was imprisoned in 1918 for flying the red flag. Nelle Rickie became a delegate to the Melbourne Trades Hall Council from the Theatrical Employees’ Union and was a foundation member of the Melbourne branch of the Communist party of Australia. She was also a member of its central executive in 1924. She moved to New South Wales in 1924 and was associated with the Newcastle Trades and Labour Council and the local Workers Club.

Susan Pinsuti is a committed Christian who has run once for election to parliament. That was in 2003 as a Christian Democrat Party candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Burrinjuck. Her campaign was aimed at bringing morals and ethics back into society.

Susan Pinsuti grew up in Goulburn and went to the Bourke Street Primary School. She has a Diploma in Education in Early Childhood Teaching and taught for a period in Cabramatta. She married in 2001and at the time of her campaign for Burrinjuck, she taught scripture at four Goulburn Primary Schools.

Maureen Riordan ran for parliament once only: ALP candidate, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Port Macquarie, 1999. She has worked as a residential care assistant, a teacher and a manager. Maureen served on the Board of the Mid Coast Council for Regional and Social Development, and was a member of the Health Council. She is married.