Women in Local Government Oral Histories Project
As a part of international Women's Day 2021, we recognise and celebrate the women who have been elected to the Waverley Municipal Council. This exhibition and oral history project captures the triumphs, challenges, and changes for women in local leadership positions.
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Angela Burrill- Liberal Party of Australia (2012 – Present)
“My motivation has always been to make Waverley more beautiful. With my background in design, I believe that everything – even public works - can be beautiful.”
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Annette McCarthy - Australian Labor Party (1995 – 1999)
Annette Mccarthy was elected in 1995 for the Australian Labor Party. Very little is on record regarding Annette’s life of her time with Waverley Council
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Barbara Armitage - Australian Labour Party (1980 – 1999)
“Local Government has the capacity to inspire change, to really know the needs of the little people and the best way to manage and deal with the community is to be completely honest with them.”
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Bev Martin - Liberal Party of Australia (1991 – 1994)
“It is very heartening to see Councillors move into State and Federal Politics and hold positions in the Ministry and Cabinet.” Bev Martin was a Liberal Councillor from 1991 to 1994 in the Hunter Ward.
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Colette Johnson - Save Our Beach (1988 – 1991)
“Do what you want to do. Be what you want to be. Yeah!” Running for Save Our Beach (SOB) which was an independant party opposed to overdevelopment, Colette became Waverley Councillor in 1988
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Elaine Keenan - The Greens (2017 – Present)
“You have to have a bit of a thick skin sometimes, which is probably the thing I found hardest, you think how can they think my politics are so wrong, all I want to do is save the planet, and you are saying I am such horrible person?”
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Elizabeth Ann Symonds - Australian Labor Party (1975 – 1977)
“Well-behaved women rarely make history.” -Death notice, The Sydney Morning Herald. 21 November 2018 Elizabeth Ann Symonds was born in Murwillumbah.
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Eva Sekers: Independant - Waverley Action Committee (1981 – 1987)
“I don’t know what is going to happen to the Waverley Action Committee now. I don’t think it will be disbanded, perhaps it needs a new fresh name.”
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Ingrid Strewe - Australian Labor Party (2004 – 2017)
“He was trying to ban topless bathing. He said it was a family beach, and as a feminist that really annoyed me because there is nothing more intrinsic to the family than women’s breasts.”
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Ivy-May Sheahan - Liberal Party of Australia (1969 – 1974)
Ivy-May Sheahan was the second female Councillor in Waverley Council. She followed in the footsteps of her Mother; Ruby Hutchison, a single mother of seven who was also the first woman elected to the Legislative Council of the Western Australian Parliament.
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Joy Clayton - Liberal Party of Australia (2004 – 2017)
“We are there to make good decisions for the council and the community, not for political point scoring.” Joy Clayton has lived all her life in Bondi.
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Kerryn Sloan - Liberal Party of Australia (1999 – 2012)
Kerryn was born at Royal South Sydney Hospital and was adopted at birth. Her adoptive mother died when she was 9 and she was very close to her adoptive father who raised her. She went to Fairfield Public School.
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Marjorie O’Neill - Australian Labour Party (2017 – Present)
“Being on local council has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. It has very much provided me with a solid foundation for the next stage of my political life.”
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Meredith Symonds- Save Our Beach (1988 – 1995)
“Many people have the wrong impression of how we work” -Women win in Waverley, Sydney Morning Herald, October 5 1989
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Miriam Guttman-Jones - Independant (2008 – 2017)
“Across all levels of Government, I personally feel that Women are natural leaders when given the opportunity.”
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Mora Main- The Greens (1999 – 2012)
“You want to be on the leading edge, not the bleeding edge.” Mora Main was Waverley’s first Green Mayor and the third women to be a Mayor of Waverley. She served on Council for 13 years.
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Paula Masselos- Australian Labor Party (2013 – Present)
“Local council is the place where you can light the bonfire of hope and community participation. It is all about relationships, it is a direct relationship you have with your constituants.”
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Prue Cancian - The Greens (2008 – 2012)
“ Being active in your community is the way to bring about change both locally and globally
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Rose Jackson - Australian Labor Party (2008 – 2012)
“Go in trying to make friends and get stuff done, not score points and take credit. Everyone, particularly yourself, will do better and be happier as a result of this attitude.”
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Rosemary Anne Blake - Liberal Party of Australia (1975 – 1977)
Rosemary Anne Blake was an Councillor for the Liberal Party in from 1975-1977. In 1976 she was featured in the Daily Telegraph in an article comparing her work as a house wife, mother of five and Alderman for Waverley Council to completing a weekly marathon
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Ruby Lonsdale - Australian Labor Party (1962 – 1974)
Ruby was Waverley’s first female councillor in 1962. While on Council, Ruby sat on the Baths and Parks Committee and the Management Committee for Waverley Day Nursery as well as the committee for the Clarrie Martin Club Room for pensioners.
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Sally Betts- Liberal Party of Australia (1995 – Present)
“At one stage, nine out of twelve councillors were women. I don’t think that has happened on any other council. That council worked exceptionally well together. Women have a way of working together which is less adversarial, we were much more likely to compromise with each other.”
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Yvonne Coburn - Liberal Party of Australia (2008 – 2011)
“I think it is really important for young women to think seriously about having a voice and being in a situation where they can influence the outcomes of decisions which affect the community. Local Government is an effective way of doing that.”
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Yvonne Jayawardena - Independent (1987 – 1991)
Yvonne served on Waverley Council for four years as an Independent candidate. She was also a highly celebrated nurse, health researcher and political candidate
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