Women in the Tasmanian Legislative Council

There have been 22 women in the Tasmanian Legislative Council since its establishment in 1825. Women have had the right to vote since 1903 and the right to stand as candidates since 1921.

The first successful female candidate for the Legislative Council was Margaret McIntyre, who was elected as the member for Cornwall in 1948. Like most MLCs, McIntyre was an independent. She died later in 1948 in an air accident, and the next woman elected to the Council was Labor's Lucy Grounds in 1951. Another Labor woman, Phyllis Benjamin, joined Grounds in 1952; Grounds retired in 1958 and Benjamin in 1976, in which year Kath Venn was elected to the Council. After Venn's departure in 1982 there were no women in the Council until 1992, when Jean Moore was elected. She departed in 1994, and since the election of Silvia Smith and Sue Smith to the Council in 1997 women have been represented continuously. In 2009, Vanessa Goodwin became the first Liberal woman elected to the Council.

List of women in the Tasmanian Legislative Council

Names in bold indicate women who have been appointed as Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries during their time in Parliament. Names in italics indicate entry into Parliament through a by-election or by appointment.

#NamePartyElectoral DivisionPeriod of service1Margaret McIntyreIndependentCornwall8 May 1948 – 2 September 1948 (died)2Lucy GroundsLaborLaunceston29 September 1951 – 10 May 1958 (defeated)3Phyllis BenjaminLaborHobart10 May 1952 – 22 May 1976 (retired)4Kath VennLaborHobart22 May 1976 – 27 May 1982 (defeated)5Jean MooreIndependentHobart11 April 1992 – 28 May 1994 (defeated)6Silvia SmithIndependentWestmorland Windermere31 May 1997 – 3 May 2003 (defeated)Sue SmithIndependentLeven Montgomery31 May 1997 – 4 May 2013 (retired)8Cathy EdwardsIndependentPembroke28 August 1999 – 5 May 2001 (defeated)Lin ThorpLaborRumney28 August 1999 – 7 May 2011 (defeated)10Allison RitchieLaborPembroke5 May 2001 – 20 June 2009 (resigned)11Norma JamiesonIndependentMersey3 May 2003 – 2 May 2009 (retired)12Tania RattrayIndependentApsley McIntyre1 May 2004 – 13Ruth ForrestIndependentMurchison7 May 2005 – 14Vanessa GoodwinLiberalPembroke12 August 2009 – 2 October 2017 (resigned)15Adriana TaylorIndependentElwick1 May 2010 – 7 May 2016 (defeated)16Rosemary ArmitageIndependentLaunceston7 May 2011 – 17Leonie HiscuttLiberalMontgomery4 May 2013 –18Sarah LovellLaborRumney6 May 2017 –19Jo SiejkaLaborPembroke4 November 2017 –20Jane HowlettLiberalProsser5 May 2018 –21Meg WebbIndependentNelson4 May 2019 –22Jo PalmerLiberalRosevears1 August 2020 –

Timeline

References