Carole Frances Marple (''née'' Whitelaw) (born 24 December 1941, died 31 January 2025) was a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n politician. She was the

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member for

Altona Altona may refer to: Places Australia * Altona Beach, in Altona, Victoria, Australia * Altona Meadows, Victoria, Australia * Altona North, Victoria, Australia * Altona, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia ** Altona railway station ** Al ...

in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

from 1992 to 1996. Carole Frances Whitelaw was born at

Benalla Benalla is a small city in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

, north-east of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, daughter of farmer and racehorse trainer John Lindsay ('Jack') Whitelaw and Grace (née Cartwright). She was educated at

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, becoming a primary teacher specialising in helping children with learning difficulties. A member of 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 ...

, she ran as a candidate for several federal elections, contesting the safe

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seat of

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in 1980 and 1983 and running in the unwinnable fourth position on the Victorian Labor

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

ticket in 1984 and 1990. From 1987–90 she was chairperson of the party's Rural Policy Committee, and chairperson of the Conservation Policy Committee 1986–92. She was a member of the Noxious Weeds Board and was instrumental in the development of Landcare. In 1992, Marple was elected to the

as the Labor member for

. She was Shadow Minister for Natural Resources (1992–93) and Agriculture and Rural Affairs (1993–96). In 1996 she was defeated for preselection by

Lynne Kosky Lynne Janice Kosky (2 September 1958 – 4 December 2014) was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Government of Victoria. She represented the electoral district of Altona in the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the Labor Par ...

of the party's Socialist Left faction. Marple was aligned with the Pledge/Labor Left faction of the Party and fell foul of the post-1992 agreement between the Socialist Left and Labor Unity factions. She then won preselection for the

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seat of

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, but was defeated. With her husband, Godfrey Marple (1941-2020), who worked in the wool industry, she had two children.

References

1941 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly {{Australia-Labor-Victoria-MP-stub