The Australian Women's Register

A political activist, Helen McAuliffe contested the 1998 House of Representatives elections for Mitchell and the 1999 elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of The Hills. In both cases Helen represented the Australian Democrats.

After graduating as an Electrical engineer from the University of New South Wales, Helen worked in the electricity supply and the information technology industries, before completing her MBA. She is interested in environmental issues, particularly in relation to greenhouse gas emissions and solar energy.

A tireless worker for the rights of women, children and ‘the little people’, Gertrude Melville became known as the ‘grand old lady of the Labor Party’. She was their candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Elections for the Eastern Suburbs in 1925 and for Hurstville in 1932 (Federal Labor party). Gertrude Melville was finally elected to parliament as a Member Legislative Council in 1952 to 1958. Prior to her attempts to enter parliament, she was Alderman in the Cabramatta-Canley Vale Municipal Council from 1944 to 1948, including a period as Mayor (1945-48).

A once only candidate, Joanne Mccafferty represented the Liberal Party at the 2003 election for the seat of Georges River in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. She was born and educated in the Georges River area and later completed a B.A., LL.B, at the University of Sydney and a M.Com. at the University of New South Wales. She has worked as a lawyer, and as a senior manager in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She also spent several years working with Australian companies in China.

A student activist who ran once for election to the Legislative Assembly. That was in 1999 as a Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Wentworthville. Rachel was active in student affairs while at Macquarie University where she obtained a B.A. (Psychology) and Graduate Certificate (Human Resources). She was a delegate to the National Union of Students 1995-6 and President of the Macquarie University Liberal Club. Rachel Merton was also a delegate to State Council 1995 and on the Convention Committee 1995-6.

A follower of Lyndon LaRouche’s economic theories, Jean McClung was a Citizens Electoral Council candidate in the following elections:
House of Representatives, Hume, 1998
House of Representatives, Gilmore, 2001, 2004
New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Southern Highlands, 2003

Jean McLung, who had previously owned and run a small farm in the Gunning area, moved to Bowral in the late 1990s to care for her elderly mother. She believed passionately that Australian society had degenerated and there was despair and apathy amongst all age groups which had to be eradicated. This belief and her opposition to privatisation and deregulation led her to the policies of Lyndon LaRouche, the American founder of the Citizens Electoral Council. She was also in favour of Australia becoming a republic.

A once only candidate, Jean McCoroskin stood as a Council for the Defence of Government Schools candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Coogee in 1971. She did not direct preferences to any of the other four candidates against whom she was running.

Janet McDonald was a once only candidate (ALP, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, North Shore, 1999) whose career in the law has continued successfully. She was President of the Australasian Law Students Association and has worked as a solicitor, waitress, cashier and company director. Janet was admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW on 20 December 1989. She later tutored in Law at the University of Sydney for a short time.

At the time of her campaign, Janet McDonald was in partnership with her husband in Driscoll & Matters, a Legal Costs Consulting company. In 2000, having built up the business to a client base of over 160 firms, they sold out and went into the coffee cart business, selling coffee on the pavements of the city. They found they preferred the law and have re-established themselves as Driscoll Matters + Macdonald Pty Limited, Legal costs lawyers.

Janet is a keen sportswoman and a Sydney Swans Football Club supporter.

Rhonda McDonald was a once-only candidate for parliamentary election. That was in 2003 when she stood as a One Nation Party candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly election for Macquarie Fields. Rhonda McDonald lived at North Crookwell, when she ran for the seat of Macquarie Fields in 2003. In her campaign she stressed the issues of aged care, the health system and freedom of speech. She stated that she would not relocate if elected, but would visit the electorate regularly.
She is married, with a teenage child and works as an aged care nurse.

A once only candidate, who went on to successfully follow her profession. Therese McGee stood as an ALP candidate in the 1981 New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Northcott.

A local activist and community worker, Pippa McInnes has been a Councillor in the Blue Mountains City Council from 1991-1992 and again since 2004. In 2003 she represented the Australian Greens in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections.

Ann Macken was well known at the time of her campaigns for the Democratic Labor Party but her involvement in politics was short lived. She contested only two elections: New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Manly in 1968 and Mosman in 1971. In her campaign for the seat of Mosman, Ann Macken was most vocally concerned with the problems facing women and their lack of representation in the parliamentary sphere. At the time, she was well known for her part in television debates on issues affecting women and her involvement in local school affairs. She was married to James Macken, and had six children at home.

Olwyn Bernice Mackenzie was Alderman in the Ryde Municipal Council from 1968-71 and in the Bellingen Shire Council from 1985-91. In between these two stints in local politics she ran as an Independent in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Eastwood in 1971.

Sarah Lawrence only ran for election once (New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Heffron, 2003), in an unwinnable seat. At the time of her campaign, she was involved in local affairs and was active in raising funds for charities including the MS Society, The Cancer Council, Canteen and drought relief. Sarah Lawrance grew up in outback New South Wales.

An ALP candidate whose other life as a historian and teacher was distinguished. Judith Mackinolty was a candidate for the Hills Shire Council elections in c.1962 and in the 1973 New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for the Hills.

Cheryl Lawrence-Rowe was a once only candidate (ALP) in an unwinnable seat (New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Lane Cove, 1995). She was born in Bowral but grew up on the North Shore of Sydney. She was educated at St Kevin’s Eastwood Primary School, Brigidine College, St Ives and Monte Sant’Angelo College North Sydney. Cheryl Lawrence-Rowe graduated from the University of Sydney with a BA. From 1986 she taught Modern History at Monte Sant’ Angelo, where she was the Secretary of the Independent Teachers Association branch.

Jenny Gordon was active in the Australian Democrats for a decade. She represented them in the following elections:
House of Representatives seat of Sydney, 1983
New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Elizabeth, 1984
New South Wales Senate, 1984, 1987, 1990.

Jenny McLeod had lived in the electorate of Elizabeth for more than a decade, when she ran for election. She had been a secondary school teacher before becoming the mother of five children, and her stated interests largely revolved around education and child welfare. She also espoused the causes of Aboriginal Land Rights and improved public transport.

Anne Leembruggen was a once only parliamentary candidate, but a successful local government councillor. She was Alderman at the Ashfield Municipal Council from 1987-1991 and an Independent candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Ashfield in 1988.

Jean Manuel was a dedicated local activist in southern Sydney, with a wide range of voluntary and community interests. She was a Councillor on the Sutherland Shire council from 1965-80, including stints as the Deputy Shire President from 1968-71 and 1977-78 and Shire President from 1978-79. Jean was less successful in state politics, having been an unsuccessful Independent candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Woronora in 1973 and for Sutherland in 1988.

Tanya Leishman is a committed environmentalist who represented the Australian Greens in the 2003 New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Heathcote. She has more than 10 years experience in conservation and community education, working for National Parks, Streamwatch and the Taronga Zoological Park. She has also been the Bush Fire Project Officer at the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, and is a volunteer member of the Woronora Bush Fire Brigade. In 2003 Tanya Leishman was studying to be a primary school teacher. She lives with her partner and child in Woronora.

An active local councillor and small businesswoman, well known in her electorate. Valerie Marland was Alderman of Queanbeyan City Council from 1966-1995 and Councillor on the Southern Tablelands County Council from 1967 -. She was also a Liberal party candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Monaro in 1976.

Jean Lenane is a well known, lifetime activist, who contested the 1999 New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Port Jackson as an Independent candidate. In 2003 she ran for election to the New South Wales Legislative Council as a Save Our Suburbs candidate. Jean Lenane had been fighting overdevelopment of the inner west of Sydney since 1985, and was well known as the President of the Friends of Callan Park, when she ran her two campaigns. She had convened the first Mort Bay Action Group to fight for the retention of open space, and campaigned for Jubilee Park.

She was sacked from the NSW Department of health in 1990 for publicly speaking out against cuts to mental health services. Subsequently, she was co-founder and later National President of Whistleblowers Australia (2005).

Jo-Anne Lentern ran for election twice, to represent the Greens. That was in the 1998 House of Representatives elections for Hughes and in the 1999 New South Wales Legislative Assembly Heathcote election. At the time of her campaign for Heathcote, Jo-Anne Lentern had been living in the Sutherland Shire for seven years. She was active in community affairs and has two children.

Daisy Lewin represented the Communist Party of Australia in the 1950 elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Newtown-Annandale. There is presently no entry for her on electoral roll, in the Ryerson Index or on Google.

Leellen Lewis was a once only candidate who represented the ALP in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Myall Lakes in 1995.

Maree Lloyd ran once only, in an unwinnable seat. She was a Liberal Party candidate in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly elections for Auburn in 1978. Marie Lloyd’s campaign concentrated on the benefits of the F4 Freeway plan, which she said had been abandoned by the Wran government.

A local activist, Penny Lockwood ran for election to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly once in 1991 as an ALP candidate for the seat of Monaro. She had more success at the local council level, where she was appointed to the Yarrowlumla Shire Council.

Educated at Australian National University, where she gained a Bachelor of Arts degree, Penny Lockwood studied computer programming and German and Slav languages. She worked as a researcher at the Australian National University and Griffith University, before becoming a farmer in 1977. In 1991 she was an Electorate Officer. She was active in the local recycling centre, the New South Wales Transport Action Council, the Queanbeyan Skillshare and the Literacy Action Coalition. She joined the ALP in 1974 in the Australian Capital Territory, and held branch office. She was a delegate to Annual Conference and Country Conference.

Nance Loney, a once only candidate (ALP, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Vaucluse, 1981), continues to take an active part in matters of politics and public policy.