Gabrielle Mary Harrison (born 25 March 1964) is a former Australian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. She served as a Labor Party Member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1994 until 2003, representing the electorate of

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

. Harrison succeeded her first husband,

Andrew Ziolkowski Andrew Charles Frederick Ziolkowski (12 December 1963 – 12 April 1994) was an Australian politician. He served as a Labor Party Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1991 until his death in 1994, representing the electo ...

, who died in office.

Private life

Harrison is the daughter of Edwin Harrison and Faye Ware. Harrison's brother, Steve, was a union official and joint secretary of the

Australian Workers' Union The Australian Workers' Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoralism, pastoral and mining industries in the late 1880s and it currently has approximately 80,000 ...

. Harrison has a sister, Jennifer. The death of her first husband came at a very difficult time for her and her brother, who also suffered the loss of their grandparents in the same week.

Early years

Harrison studied law at

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...

, in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. At university she became heavily involved in student politics, and was chairman of the university Students' Union. It was at university that she met her future husband Ziolkowski, who was on the Students' Council and editor of the university newspaper, ''Arena''. She joined the Labor Party in 1984, and was active in

Young Labor Australian Young Labor (AYL), also known as the Young Labor Movement or simply Young Labor, is the youth wing of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) representing all party members aged between 14 and 26. The organisation operates as a federation ...

. After university, she became secretary of the

branch of the ALP. She married Ziolkowski on 30 November 1985.

New South Wales state politics

In July 1993, Ziolkowski advised Leader of the Opposition,

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the New South Wales Labor Party, New South Wales branch of the A ...

, that he had been diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer of the oesophagus. When her husband died in 1994, Harrison was endorsed by the Labor Party as candidate for a by-election for the seat of

. She was criticised by her opponent,

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate, Wendy Jones, for running for office instead of staying at home and looking after her son Tristan, then aged 7. Harrison won the 1994 Parramatta

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 ...

without being forced to preferences, earning a swing of nine percent towards her party. Harrison was re-elected at the

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, and

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

elections. With strong interests in netball, running and fishing, Harrison was appointed Minister for Sport and Recreation in 1995. She lost her portfolio following the 1999 State election. During 2002, Harrison (along with NSW Speaker John Murray) was sued before the

Australian Industrial Relations Commission The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and from 1973 to 1988 as the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, was a tribunal with powe ...

for A$800,000 by former staffer Anne Stonham, who claimed that her contract was "unfair" and she had been overworked. The court subsequently found in favour of Harrison. Another staffer, John Cairn, accused Harrison of keeping photographs of her enemies in a locket around her neck. In the lead-up to the 2003 State Election, it was reported that, :Right-wing party bosses want to replace former sports minister Gabrielle Harrison in Parramatta with Tanya Gadiel, a member of the staff of Police Minister Michael Costa. ..... Mrs Gadiel

oes not Oes or owes were metallic O-shaped rings or eyelets sewn on to clothes and furnishing textiles for decorative effect. Made of gold, silver, or copper, they were used on clothing and furnishing fabrics and were smaller than modern sequins. They were ...

have the support to win local rank-and-file preselection ballots. Harrison conceded that she had lost support among her branch members and subsequently announced on 20 December 2002 that she would not be seeking re-endorsement as the Labor candidate in the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

State election. Gadiel was endorsed as Labor candidate for Parramatta in a bitter pre-selection.

Post politics

Harrison lives with her second husband Ron Bonham, her son Tristan, and Bonham's daughter. In late 2002, she told media that she was looking forward to a quiet life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Gabrielle Mary Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1964 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian women politicians