Roslyn Joan Kelly AO (née Raw; born 25 January 1948) is a former member of the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of ...

, having represented the

Division of Canberra The Division of Canberra is an Australian electoral division in the Australian Capital Territory. It is named for the city of Canberra, Australia's national capital, and includes all of central Canberra, Kowen, Majura, as well as part of West ...

from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments of

Bob Hawke Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...

and

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

Early life and ACT politics

Kelly is the daughter of Michael and Patricia Raw. She studied at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

and received a degree in teaching in 1968 and worked as a secondary school teacher from 1969 until 1974. Kelly was elected to the then advisory

Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly The Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly was the main elected representative body of the Australian Capital Territory between 1975 and 1986, when preparations began to be made for the granting of self-government to the Territory. It ser ...

as a member for

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in 1974. She was a member of the assembly until 1979.

Federal politics

Kelly was elected to the House of Representatives in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 ...

. In 1983, she was the first Australian Federal MP to give birth while in office. In 1987, she became the first female

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

minister from the House of Representatives, when she was appointed

Minister for Defence Science and Personnel In the Government of Australia, the Minister for Defence Personnel is a position which is currently held by Matt Keogh, after the Albanese ministry was sworn in on 1 June 2022, following the 2022 Australian federal election. The ministerial po ...

. She subsequently held the portfolios of Communications and Aviation Support 1988–90; Arts, Sport,

Environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

, Tourism and Territories 1991–93; Environment, Sport and Territories 1993–94; and Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories 1994–95. She also served as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women until 1994. She suffered considerable embarrassment as a result of the so-called '

sports rorts affair The "sports rorts" affair was the name by which Australian media and political commentators came to refer to events during the second Keating ministry in late 1993 and early 1994, where the then Sports Minister, Ros Kelly, was unable to appropria ...

', when she revealed that funding for sporting bodies was arranged on the basis of a group discussion around a "great big whiteboard" in her office. She resigned from the ministry on 28 February 1994 and from parliament 11 months later on 30 January 1995. The resulting by-election on 25 March 1995 saw the loss of the

electorate to the opposition

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Later life

Since leaving politics, Kelly has worked as an environmental management executive and as a director of a number of non-profit organisations. She is currently chair of the board of trustees for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

Personal life and honours

Kelly is married to David Morgan, the former CEO of

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, ...

. She was formerly married to journalist Paul Kelly, whose surname she has retained. Kelly was made an Officer (AO) of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

in 2004 for service to the community through promoting corporate environmental responsibility and fostering dialogue between business and conservation groups, to the Australian Parliament, and to women's health. When acting as minister of Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories, Kelly gave support to research at the

Riversleigh World Heritage Area Riversleigh World Heritage Area is Australia's most famous fossil location, recognised for the series of well preserved fossils deposited from the Late Oligocene to more recent geological periods. The fossiliferous limestone system is located ne ...

and was honoured for this in the naming of a new species ''

Priscileo roskellyae ''Lekaneleo roskellyae'' is a fossil species of carnivorous marsupial that existed during the early Miocene in Australia. Once allied to the type species of the genus ''Priscileo'', later placed as '' Wakaleo pitikantensis'', ''"Priscileo" roskel ...

'' in 1997.

References

External links