The Australian Women's Register

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.

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.

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.

After working as a teacher, and small business person and being active in community services and local charity, Janelle Saffin stood unsuccessfully for the seat of Lismore (New South Wales Legislative Assembly) in 1991. However in 1995 she was elected to the Legislative Council of the New South Wales Parliament and remained in office until 2003. In 2007 she was elected to the House of Representatives of the Australian Parliament as the Member for Page, New South Wales and was re-elected in 2010, but was defeated the 2013 election. She joined the Australian Labor Party in 1982 and held senior positions in her local branch. Janelle was a delegate to Country and State conferences and was a member of the Corrective Services Advisory Council. She was also President of the North Coast Breast Screening Program and a committee member of the Northern Rivers Social Development Council.

She is married to Jim Saffin, and has one son and three stepsons. Janelle Saffin completed a Dip Prim T (Northern Rivers CAE), BLegalStud (Macq), and Mbus.

Beth Smith is a committed Christian activist who stood for the Christian Democrat Party in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly election for Cronulla, 2003 and in the House of Representatives election for Cook, 2004. At the time of her first campaign, Beth Smith had been a resident in the Cronulla area for 11 years and a teacher for more than 30 years. Her campaign stressed the protection of Kurnell and opposition to over development in the Sutherland Shire.

Lorna Stone was a successful Liberal Party candidate with a long history of community activity. In 1991 she was elected to the Sutherland Shire Council, remaining there until 1995 and then in 1997 she was elected to the seat of Sutherland in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly by-election. In 1999 Lorna ran for the Assembly seat of Heathcote but was not elected. She joined the Liberal Party in 1974 and has held many offices at every level of the Party.

Julie Sutton was a dedicated teacher of modern languages, whose service to local government and the ALP has spanned several decades. She was first elected to the Warringah Council in 1980 and was re-elected several times until 2003, then again in 2008. Julie became the first woman Mayor of Warringah in 1995 and served as Deputy Mayor for five terms. Unfortunately she could not match this success at the state level and failed to gain election to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Davidson in 1981, 1984 and 1988.

Kathleen Taperell ran only once for parliament (ALP candidate, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Nepean, 1973) and went on to become a leading feminist and a senior public servant. From 1990, she has been Senior Adviser to the Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Assistant Secretary in the Department. Her papers are deposited in the National Library of Australia.

Jane Ward is a well known local and conservationist activist with a passion for social justice and community action. As an Independent candidate she contested the following elections:
Leichhardt Municipal Council, 1987
New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Balmain, 1988
House of Representatives, Sydney, 2004
City of Sydney council elections, 2004

Rose Watson is a once only candidate, a successful Councillor and a stalwart community worker. In 1987 she was elected Alderman Woollahra Council and held that position until 2003. In 1991 she stood for election as an Independent to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Vaucluse. She has been very active in campaigns for better aged care facilities in her area. She was vigorously opposed to the closing of the Strickland House Nursing Home by the Greiner Government in 1989 and fought to open its grounds to the public. She also led the campaign against the proposed closure of the Post Office in Watsons Bay, taking the case to the Federal Court and winning. She founded the Watsons Bay Society, a resident action group and was instrumental in the re-establishment of the State Emergency Services in Woollahra municipality.

Rose Watson was educated at Coogee Public School, Sydney Girls High School and the University of Sydney from which she graduated B.Sc. and Dip.Ed. She taught mathematics at Vaucluse, Dover Heights, Marrickville, Crown Street and Randwick High Schools. She is married to a medical practitioner, whose practice she managed after her retirement from teaching.

Kathleen Whitten was a successful local government figure for more than a decade, being Alderman of the Campbelltown Municipal Council (1959-72) and Mayor (1961-2). She was in favour of hospitals and sewerage provision for Campbelltown and St Marys and improvement in the rail services to the area. Kathleen Whitten was very active in her electorate and was patron of the local Girl Guides and Boy Scouts associations, a member and patron of Parents and Citizens Associations in North and East Campbelltown, President of the Campbelltown Milk Zone Dairymen’s Council 1963-64, a member of V.I.E.W. and was associated with the Campbelltown Theatre Group and the Girls’ Marching Association.

Brigitte Williams was a once only candidate who represented the Australian Democrats in the 1999 elections for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Oxley. She believes in community action and is active in Landcare and the local Catchment Management Committee. Brigitte has worked in the hospitality industry in managing positions in a hotel and a caravan park (1980-82). She then managed a market garden and was Secretary for the Bellinger River Action Group (1984-94) while completing her tertiary qualifications (B.A., Dip. Ed.). She has taught English and History at tertiary and secondary level, and by correspondence.

Matilda Ann Aston (December 11, 1873 – November, 1947), better known as Tilly Aston, was a blind Australian writer and teacher. She founded the Victorian Association of Braille Writers (which became the Victorian Braille Library) and then went on to establish the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, assuming the post of secretary.

Tilly’s energy was unbounded and her achievements (along with those of her co-workers) to promote the human rights of vision impaired people were plentiful. They include:

• Successfully lobbying for the world’s first free post system for braille (and later talking) books.
• Gaining free public transport for blind people.
• Achieving the right to vote for blind people.
• Lobbying for the repeal of the bounty system which meant blind people had to pay hefty levies before they could travel interstate
• Gaining Government approval for a pension for all legally blind people.

Marie Fisher was a member of the Australian Labor Party. She was a Member of the directly elected New South Wales Legislative Council from 1978-1988. Date of Election 7 October 1978.

Anne Press had a parliamentary career that spanned two decades and the opposite ends of the political spectrum. Initially elected in 1959 as an ALP councillor, Press was soon expelled (in 1959) from the party following her vote against party lines when she voted against the Legislative Council Abolition Bill. She then became a member of the Independent Labour Group, to which she belonged for eight years. She joined the liberal party in 1967, and was successfully re-elected to the council as their candidate in 1970. She retired from parliament in 1978.

Virginia Chadwick is a member of the Liberal Party. She was a member of the directly elected Legislative Council. Dates of Election 7 October 1978 and 19 March 1988.
Parliamentary career highlights
Minister for Family and Community Services, 1988-1990
Minister for School Education and Youth Affairs, 1990-1992
Minister for Education and Youth Affairs and Minister for Employment and Training, 1992-93
Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Minister for Tourism and Minister Assisting the Premier, 1993-1995
Opposition Whip, 1984-1988

Virginia Chadwick was the President of the Legislative Council 1998-1999. She was the first woman Opposition Whip and woman to gain ministerial appointment in a Liberal Government.
Granted retention of title of “Honourable” for life.

Robyn Parker was elected to the NSW Legislative Council on 22 March 2003. She was a member of the Liberal Party. She was elected Member for Maitland at the 2011 election after moving from the Legislative Council to contest the seat. She served as Minister for the Environment and Minister for Heritage f rom 2011-2014 and retired at the 2015 election.

Janice Burnswoods was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council on 25 May 1991 and served until 2007. She has been a member of the Australian Labor Party since 1972.

Marlene Goldsmith was a Member of the NSW Legislative Council from 19 March 1988 to 5 March 1999. She was a member of the Liberal Party.

Thai, Ti Bach Tuyet was born in Cholon in South Vietnam. For many years, she taught Vietnamese language and social sciences and provided counselling services at a French High School.

She migrated to Western Australia in 1975 and quickly reskilled, graduating with a Graduate Diploma in Library Studies from the Western Australian Institute of Technology in 1977, and obtaining work at the Perth Technical College library. Around this time, she adopted the name ‘Emily’; inspired by a French poem Emilie ou pays natal because she felt the same homesickness as described in the poem. Adopting this name also made it easier for her Australian colleagues and customers, who couldn’t pronounce ‘Tuyet’ properly.

Not long after, Emily combined her skills in librarianship and teaching at the Perth City Council Library to develop and run a library education service for new migrant students. After that she worked as the Children’s librarian at the City of Gosnells library. She worked very hard at developing programs to build stronger links between the library and the community. She also designed a graded reading system which helped migrants and reluctant readers become literate in English. Her expertise and experience eventually led to her being invited to be the Co-ordinator of the Ethnic Child Care Resource Unit. She introduced Cross-Cultural information packages for Children’s Services and ran a variety of workshops relating to early childhood education.

Since her arrival in Australia, Emily has maintained a strong commitment to community work. She has been an active member of Management Committees for non government organisations that focus on the provision of services to migrant communities, including: the Ethnic Music centre; Community Arts Network; Ethnic Communities Council; Australia Asia Association; Vietnamese Poetry, Classical Music and Opera Association, the Vietnamese Women’s Support Community and the Federated Vietnamese Women’s Association.

Meitka Gruszka was a member of the Polish community in Western Australia who took an active role in multicultural issues. As well as being a leader in the Polish community and having served as President of the Polish Association of Western Australia, she was involved in a number of multicultural organisations. At various times throughout the 1980s and 90s she was a member of the Ethnic Communities Council of Western Australia, the Catholic Migrant Centre and the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council.

Nancy Reardon was a gifted Tasmanian athlete who excelled in rowing and netball.

Marie Bjelke-Petersen is best known as a writer, but as a young woman she enjoyed playing sport and was, it has been argued, instrumental in introducing the sport of netball to Tasmania.

She migrated with her family to Hobart, Tasmania in 1891, where her brother, Hans Christian, established the Bjelke-Peterson Physical Culture school in 1892. Marie joined as instructor in charge of the women’s section; she also taught the subject in schools. It was during that time, it is suggested, that the Bjelke-Petersen’s learned about a new game called basketball that was being played in the United States. Marie introduced drills designed for the game in to the Physical Culture program that she taught in the schools.

Unfortunately, injuries prevented her from continuing with her teaching career much past 1910. At this point, she picked up her career as a writer. She published her first novel The Captive Singer, in 1917 to much acclaim; it sold 100,000 copies in English and 40,000 in Danish. In 1935 she won the King’s Jubilee medal for services to literature.

In recent years, Bjelke-Petersen has become a gay and lesbian icon. She lived in an intimate relationship with Silvia Mills, who she met in 1898, and who, it is argued, The Captive Singer was about, for thirty years.

Ingrid grew up in war-torn Germany. When she was three years of age her home was bombed, and her family lost everything. She and her mother had to flee to a little village in the mountains where they experienced great hardships and survived by living on food gathered from the forest and the fields. After training as a teacher in her teenage years, Ingrid went to the UK where she met and married Malcolm Ross. They spent 10 years teaching in Papua New Guinea before settling in Australia in 1982. Here Ingrid taught German language in a private school for a number of years. She is now employed as a tour guide around historic sites in Canberra and travels with her husband, a Professor of Linguistics, when he lectures overseas. Tempered by her experiences of life, Ingrid has embraced her adopted country of Australia with great affection, as well as warmly embracing all who come across her path.

Betty, adopted as a baby, grew up in a dysfunctional home in a small country town in South Australia, and experienced difficult and stressful formative years. She later moved to Canberra, where she felt welfare was available to young people with problems of all kinds. In Canberra, Betty established a home for her rapidly growing family – in the space of two years, she went from having two children to six. Betty’s many activities included setting up the first secretarial agency in Canberra, from her home.

When Robyn, a profoundly deaf daughter, was born, the family struggled to communicate with her. Robyn eventually trained to become a teacher, and became the first deaf teacher of the deaf in Tasmania.

Betty took an active role in social justice issues, including actively fighting for justice for Lindy Chamberlain and other victims of injustice. She was elected to the House of Assembly on the Family Team before ACT self-government.

Later, as she was living in Queensland in retirement, Betty continued to champion causes for those who could not fight for themselves.

Margaret Peden completed a Bachelor of Arts (1926) and Diploma of Education (1928) at the University of Sydney, where she co-founded the women’s cricket club and served as president of the women undergraduates’ association. While working as sports mistress at Redlands School (1928-34), Peden helped to rebuild the New South Wales Women’s Cricket Association, serving as honorary secretary from 1928 to 1944. She captained every New South Wales women’s cricket team until 1938, with the exception of the 1930 team – that year she co-founded the Australian Women’s Cricket Council. She was secretary of the New South Wales Women’s Amateur Sports Council in 1932-37, and later vice-president.

It was Margaret Peden who organised in 1934 the first tour to Australia by an English women’s cricket team and, with her sister Barbara, set up Australia’s first indoor coaching centre in Sydney. Peden was appointed captain of the Australian team that year, and again in 1937. In 1950 she became an honorary life member of the Women’s Cricket Association, England.

In 1935, Peden married Maurice Ranald Emanuel. She gave birth to a son in 1938.

Sue Pennicuik was elected Member of the Legislative Council for the Southern Metropolitan Region in November 2006, representing the Australian Greens (Victoria). She was re-elected at both the 2010 and 2014 elections. She has held the position of Victorian Greens Whip in the Legislative Council since 2006.