Dianne "Di" Thorley (born 1 December 1949 in Stanthorpe,

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 ...

) is an Australian politician and a former mayor of

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

Biography

Thorley trained as a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

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 ...

and later took up a nursing position at Stanthorpe Hospital. She also spent some time working as a

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

in Blackall. She moved to Toowoomba in 1986, where she worked and owned a number of businesses in the local hospitality industry. Thorley was elected as a Councillor on Toowoomba City Council in 1997 and became

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

in 2000. She was returned to office for a second term in 2004. On 26 June 2007, Thorley confirmed that she would not seek re-election for mayor in March 2008, or any other council position. Thorley spent time running The Lady Franklin Hotel in

Franklin, Tasmania Franklin is a historic Bank (geography), riverside town in the Huon Valley, Tasmania. Located on the western bank of the Huon River about south-west of Hobart, the Huon Highway links Franklin with Tasmania’s southernmost communities. It lies ...

before returning to Queensland. In 2016, Thorley ran as an independent candidate in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the

Electoral district of Toowoomba South Toowoomba South is an Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts, electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It was created with the 1972 redistribution, an ...

in 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 ...

Toowoomba Water Futures

In light of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

's worst drought in a hundred years, which saw the city's dam storages fall below 25% capacity, in 2006 Mayor Di Thorley championed a plan ( Toowoomba Water Futures) to build a recycled sewage plant that would process the city's sewage and use the resulting water for re-use. Because of health and public concerns, the recovered sewage water was to be pumped into one of the city's dams that provide drinking water, where it would be allowed to mix with rainwater collected by the dam, before being redrawn and retreated for distribution to homes. The project was controversial as the first of its kind to be proposed in Australia. A

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

determining community support for the project was held on 29 July 2006 in which a majority (61.87% of voters) said "No" to the proposal.

References

1949 births Living people Mayors of Toowoomba Women mayors of places in Queensland Queensland local councillors Women local councillors in Australia People from Stanthorpe, Queensland Australian nurses {{Australia-mayor-stub