Brenda Gibbs (; born 3 September 1947) is a former Australian politician. She was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

from 1996 to 2002, representing the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP).

Early life

Gibbs was born on 3 September 1947 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. She was the daughter of Margaret Anne (née Clough) and Norman Coombs. Gibbs arrived in Australia with her family in 1953, settling in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

; she did not become an Australian citizen until 1984. They initially lived in a migrant camp in Moorooka and in state housing in Inala, before moving into their own house in Moorooka in 1960. Gibbs attended Windsor State School, Moorooka State School and Salisbury State High School. She left high school after two years. Before entering parliament, Gibbs worked in various administrative and clerical roles, including with the Griffith University Union of Students, the

Australian Journalists Association The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian trade union for journalists from 1910–1992. In 1913 the Australian Journalists' Association merged with the Australian Writers' and Artists' Union. This union had been formed in 19 ...

, and the

Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union (also known as the Meatworkers Union) is an Australian trade union representing workers in the meat industry including in abattoirs, butchers, and smallgoods manufacturers. Structure The AMIEU ha ...

. In 1996 she completed an associate diploma in business and industrial relations at the

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

Politics

Gibbs joined the

(ALP) in 1969. She was a delegate to state council from 1985 and was also a delegate to state conference in 1987 and national conference in 1991. She served on the state administrative committee from 1994 to 1997. Gibbs was elected to a six-year Senate term at the 1996 federal election. Her

preselection Preselection is the process by which a candidate is selected, usually by a political party, to contest an election for political office. It is also referred to as candidate selection. It is a fundamental function of political parties. The presel ...

was controversial, in part due to her husband's position as ALP state president, and occurred only after an existing candidate resigned from the ticket. Her support derived from "an unlikely alliance between her own faction,

Labor Left The Labor Left (LL), also known as the Progressive Left, Socialist Left or simply the Left, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social progressivism and democra ...

, and the right-wing

Labor Unity The Labor Right (LR), also known as Labor Forum, Labor Unity or simply Unity, is one of the two major political factions within the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It is nationally characterised by social democratic to Third Way economic policies ...

faction". Gibbs' son died from a heroin overdose a week after her election to parliament. She was an advocate for drug law reform, supporting a medical approach to drug addiction including the introduction of

supervised injection site Supervised injection sites (SIS) or drug consumption rooms (DCRs) are a health and social response to drug-related problems. They are fixed or mobile spaces where people who use drugs are provided with sterile drug use equipment and can use illic ...

s and increased government funding for treatment facilities. She also spoke frequently on

poverty in Australia Poverty in Australia refers to the incidence and measurement of relative poverty within Australia. Relative income poverty is typically measured as the percentage of the population earning less than the median wage of the working population. In ...

and welfare matters. In June 2000, Gibbs was demoted to the third position on the ALP's Senate ticket in Queensland, widely regarded as "unwinnable". Her demotion resulted from factional conflict within the party. She was not re-elected at the 2001 election and her term concluded on 30 June 2002.

Personal life

In 1965, aged 17, Gibbs married

Bob Gibbs Robert Brian Gibbs (born June 14, 1954) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. He is a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. In A ...

, with whom she had two children. Her husband was a union organiser and was elected to the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

in 1977, later serving as the party's state president. They divorced in 1997. After leaving parliament, Gibbs worked for the

Logan City Council The City of Logan is a local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) located in the south of Greater Brisbane in South East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. Situated between the City of Brisbane to the north and the City of Gold Coast ...

and as a real estate agent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Brenda 1947 births Living people People from Liverpool English emigrants to Australia Naturalised citizens of Australia Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Women members of the Australian Senate 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians