Meredith Burgmann
Encyclopedia
Meredith Anne Burgmann is an Australia
n politician and Australian Labor Party
member and a former President of the New South Wales Legislative Council
.
) and Lorna Constance Bradbury. Her father was a former Chairman of the CSIRO. Her sister is Verity Burgmann
.
She attended Blackfriars Correspondence School and Abbotsleigh School in Sydney, where she was headgirl.
Burgmann joined the Australian Labor Party in 1971. She was involved in the Industrial Relations Committee between 1990 and 1995, the Foreign Affairs Committee between 1986 and 1990, as well as being a delegate to the Sydney Federal Executive Council. She was a Member of the New South Wales Labor Council between 1978 and 1991 and also of the ACTU Congress between 1983 and 1989.
She attended Sydney University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1969, majoring in English and Government. She continued her studies at the University and obtained a Master of Arts in 1973 specialising in Foreign Policy. In 1981 she completed her doctorate on Industrial Relations at Macquarie University
. She became the first female President of the National Tertiary Education Union
.
She was a tutor and lecturer at Macquarie University from 1974, and became a senior lecturer at Macquarie University in 1989 and remained in that role until 1991. She taught Industrial Relations and Politics.
In 1985 she married Glen Batchelor and they have one son. Batchelor and Burgmann divorced in 1990.
in 1971 during the Springboks tour. She claims to be the only person sent to prison for running onto a sporting field during a major sporting event.
She was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council on 25 May 1991. As an upper house member of parliament, she served as the chair on the Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee. In that committee, she led an inquiry into certain paedophile conspiracy allegations made by former politician Franca Arena
. It was generally acknowledged that the committee observed procedural fairness during that inquiry, and that her time as a politician has shown her to be an “independent and intellectual member” of the New South Wales Parliament.
On 8 April 1999, she was anointed as the President of the Council by the then Premier Bob Carr
to replace retiring president Virginia Chadwick
. She was elected as President of the Council on 11 May.
As President, she continued to reduce the size and scale of the traditional opening of State Parliament. For the 1999 opening, she axed the nineteen gun salute and she invited just three ambassadors, one from Thailand and the other two from Cuba and Vietnam. This was criticised for being left leaning, as the latter two nations had communist governments. She further angered Monarchists when she ordered the removal of the Queen’s portrait from the President’s Office and replaced it instead with an Aboriginal dot painting.
She retired as President on 27 March 2007 at the expiry of her term as a member of the Council. She is the longest serving female presiding officer in Australia.
She is aunt of comedian Charles Firth and former New South Wales Minister for Education and Training, and Women Verity Firth
.
“Green Bans Red Union, Environmental Activism & the New South Wales Builders Labourers' Federation” published through University of New South Wales Press. In 2007 she published with Yvette Andrews “The Ernies Book: 1000 Terrible Things Australian Men Have Said About Women”. She has also published various articles on industrial, environmental and aboriginal rights issues.
She started the “Ernies Award” in New South Wales to highlight things that Australian men say about women.
. She was defeated in the mayoral ballot by incumbent Lord Mayor Clover Moore
, becoming Labor's only councillor on the Council. Burgmann is also a Consultant to the United Nations Development Program. She is also an Ambassador for the Sydney Swans
.
), the peak body for the Australian NGO international aid and development sector.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician and Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
member and a former President of the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
.
Early years
Burgmann was born on 26 July 1947 at Beecroft to parents Victor Dudley Burgmann (son of Canberra Anglican bishop Ernest Henry BurgmannErnest Henry Burgmann
Ernest Henry Burgmann was a prominent Australian Anglican bishop and social activist. He served as the bishop of Goulburn from 1934, and Canberra and Goulburn from 1950 to 1960....
) and Lorna Constance Bradbury. Her father was a former Chairman of the CSIRO. Her sister is Verity Burgmann
Verity Burgmann
Verity Burgmann is Professor of Political Science at the University of Melbourne.Burgmann was born in Sydney, Australia, the daughter of Victor Burgmann and Lorna Bradbury. In 1971 she ran away from home to attend the London School of Economics, where she completed a B.Sc with a major in politics...
.
She attended Blackfriars Correspondence School and Abbotsleigh School in Sydney, where she was headgirl.
Burgmann joined the Australian Labor Party in 1971. She was involved in the Industrial Relations Committee between 1990 and 1995, the Foreign Affairs Committee between 1986 and 1990, as well as being a delegate to the Sydney Federal Executive Council. She was a Member of the New South Wales Labor Council between 1978 and 1991 and also of the ACTU Congress between 1983 and 1989.
She attended Sydney University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1969, majoring in English and Government. She continued her studies at the University and obtained a Master of Arts in 1973 specialising in Foreign Policy. In 1981 she completed her doctorate on Industrial Relations at Macquarie University
Macquarie University
Macquarie University is an Australian public teaching and research university located in Sydney, with its main campus situated in Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of Sydney...
. She became the first female President of the National Tertiary Education Union
National Tertiary Education Union
The National Tertiary Education Union is an Australian trade union for all higher education and university employees. It is an industry union and the only union working exclusively in the Australian university sector.-About the NTEU:...
.
She was a tutor and lecturer at Macquarie University from 1974, and became a senior lecturer at Macquarie University in 1989 and remained in that role until 1991. She taught Industrial Relations and Politics.
In 1985 she married Glen Batchelor and they have one son. Batchelor and Burgmann divorced in 1990.
Political career
Some of her first forays into politics have been as an activist. She has been arrested 21 times and spent time in prison for running onto the Sydney Cricket GroundSydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
in 1971 during the Springboks tour. She claims to be the only person sent to prison for running onto a sporting field during a major sporting event.
She was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council on 25 May 1991. As an upper house member of parliament, she served as the chair on the Parliamentary Privileges and Ethics Committee. In that committee, she led an inquiry into certain paedophile conspiracy allegations made by former politician Franca Arena
Franca Arena
Franca Arena is an Australian politician and activist. She was a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1981, first for the Australian Labor Party then as an Independent from 1997 until she left the Council in 1999...
. It was generally acknowledged that the committee observed procedural fairness during that inquiry, and that her time as a politician has shown her to be an “independent and intellectual member” of the New South Wales Parliament.
On 8 April 1999, she was anointed as the President of the Council by the then Premier Bob Carr
Bob Carr
Robert John "Bob" Carr , Australian statesman, was Premier of New South Wales from 4 April 1995 to 3 August 2005. He holds the record for the longest continuous service as premier of NSW...
to replace retiring president Virginia Chadwick
Virginia Chadwick
Virginia Anne Chadwick AO was a Liberal Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1978 to 1999...
. She was elected as President of the Council on 11 May.
As President, she continued to reduce the size and scale of the traditional opening of State Parliament. For the 1999 opening, she axed the nineteen gun salute and she invited just three ambassadors, one from Thailand and the other two from Cuba and Vietnam. This was criticised for being left leaning, as the latter two nations had communist governments. She further angered Monarchists when she ordered the removal of the Queen’s portrait from the President’s Office and replaced it instead with an Aboriginal dot painting.
She retired as President on 27 March 2007 at the expiry of her term as a member of the Council. She is the longest serving female presiding officer in Australia.
She is aunt of comedian Charles Firth and former New South Wales Minister for Education and Training, and Women Verity Firth
Verity Firth
Verity Helen Firth is the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Education Foundation in Australia and a former politician....
.
Author
In 1998 she co-authored with Verity BurgmannVerity Burgmann
Verity Burgmann is Professor of Political Science at the University of Melbourne.Burgmann was born in Sydney, Australia, the daughter of Victor Burgmann and Lorna Bradbury. In 1971 she ran away from home to attend the London School of Economics, where she completed a B.Sc with a major in politics...
“Green Bans Red Union, Environmental Activism & the New South Wales Builders Labourers' Federation” published through University of New South Wales Press. In 2007 she published with Yvette Andrews “The Ernies Book: 1000 Terrible Things Australian Men Have Said About Women”. She has also published various articles on industrial, environmental and aboriginal rights issues.
She started the “Ernies Award” in New South Wales to highlight things that Australian men say about women.
Local Council
In the September 2008 New South Wales Council elections, she ran for the positions of Lord Mayor and councillor in the City of Sydney CouncilCity of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
. She was defeated in the mayoral ballot by incumbent Lord Mayor Clover Moore
Clover Moore
Clover Moore , is an Australian politician, the Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney and an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electorate of Sydney. Moore is the first publicly elected female Lord Mayor of Sydney. Prior to the 2007 NSW state election, she...
, becoming Labor's only councillor on the Council. Burgmann is also a Consultant to the United Nations Development Program. She is also an Ambassador for the Sydney Swans
Sydney Swans
The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...
.
Australian Council for International Development
Meredith is currently President of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFIDACFID
The Australian Council For International Development is an independent national association of Australian non-government organisations working in the field of international aid and development....
), the peak body for the Australian NGO international aid and development sector.