Isobel Redmond
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Isobel Mary Redmond (born 8 April 1953) is a former Australian politician who was the member for the electoral district of Heysen in the House of Assembly from 2002 to 2018. She was the parliamentary leader of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia and the
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
in the
Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat South Australian House of Assembly, House of Assembly (lower house) and the 22-seat South Australian Legislati ...
between 2009 and 2013, and was the first female leader of a South Australian state major party. Under Redmond, the Liberals won 18 of 47 seats in the
South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...
at the 2010 election, a gain of three from the 2006 election. She resigned as leader of the Liberal Party on 31 January 2013.Martin, Sarah. (31 January 2013).
Isobel Redmond quits as South Australian opposition leader
. ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
''. Retrieved 31 January 2013.


Early life

Redmond attended Heathcote High School on the outskirts of Sydney, graduating in 1971. In the 1970s she was briefly a member of the Labor Party. In the late 1970s Redmond and her husband Jim moved to
Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
in the
Adelaide Hills The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker, South Australia, Mount Barker, is one of Australia's fastest-growi ...
. After receiving the winnings of a lottery ticket from her parents she set up her own legal firm. She also worked with Jay Weatherill and Patrick Conlon at Duncan Basheer in the early 90s. Redmond was also elected to Stirling Council in 1982, and in 1999 was elected as the first female president of the Stirling Rotary club.


Parliament

Redmond won the electoral district of Heysen in the
South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...
at the 2002 state election and from 2004 held various shadow ministries. She is linked to the conservative Evans family faction within the Liberal Party's South Australian division. Redmond became deputy leader of the Liberal Party on 4 July 2009 after party leader Martin Hamilton-Smith called a leadership and deputy leadership spill. Hamilton-Smith retained the leadership, with Redmond replacing Vickie Chapman as deputy leader. Hamilton-Smith called a second leadership spill after a close 11–10 vote, and a few days later did not nominate for the leadership position. On 8 July 2009, Redmond was elected leader against Chapman by a 13–9 vote. Steven Griffiths was elected deputy leader by an 8–6 vote against Mitch Williams. He stepped down from the deputy leadership after the 2010 election to be replaced by Hamilton-Smith. The dodgy documents affair, known as "Dodgy-gate", ultimately saw the downfall of Hamilton-Smith. The issue resurfaced with revelations that Redmond had been "a central figure in a strategy meeting in Mr. Hamilton-Smith's office the day the documents were used against the government". It was alleged that she had been shown the documents and the accompanying questions, and gave approval for their use, based on information that the documents came from a Labor source. Hamilton-Smith later admitted that was not true. Redmond led the Liberals into the 2010 election, becoming the first woman to take a major party in the state into an election. Despite winning a slender majority of the two-party-preferred vote, the Liberals only won 18 of 47 seats in the
South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly (also known as the lower house) is one of two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia, the other being the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assem ...
, an increase of three from the 2006 election. This was mainly due to a failure to make significant inroads in
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, which has long tilted toward Labor at the state level. While all three Liberal gains were in Adelaide, the party only won six other seats in the capital, including Redmond's. After the 2006 election, the state Boundaries Commission drew an electoral map that theoretically have seen Labor lose government on a uniform 6.9 percent swing. This would have translated to a seven-seat gain for the Liberals on paper—more than enough to make Redmond South Australia's first female premier. However, while the Liberals picked up a swing of 8.4 percent, much of that swing came in comfortably safe Labor seats. Additionally, Labor actually picked up swings in their favour in their two most marginal seats,
Light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...
and Mawson. With this in mind, when the Boundaries Commission convened in 2012, Redmond and the Liberals pressed for boundaries based solely on the 2010 result—which would have potentially given the Liberals a notional majority. In the end, the Commission decided that the 2007 boundaries were fair, even though they didn't result in the party winning a majority of the two-party vote winning government. On behalf of the SA Liberals, Redmond backed
premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
Mike Rann Michael David Rann (born 5 January 1953) is an Australian former politician who was the 44th premier of South Australia from 2002 to 2011. He was later Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2013 to 2014, and List of Australi ...
's support for
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
in October 2011. She joined all state Labor leaders and, later on a personal basis only, the LNP's
Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is an Australian former politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Que ...
, in support of marriage equality. Redmond came under mounting internal party and media pressure her performance during the 2010 election and she suffered dwindling poll ratings during the period of the Weatherill government. Controversially, Redmond confirmed that she had said in answer to a question that the best way to deal with workplace gender discrimination was to ignore it. She also backed unsuccessful candidate and SA Liberal Party director Bev Barber to replace Mary Jo Fisher in the
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 ...
, even considering replacing Fisher herself. As well, she threatened to sue the Liberal Party in 2006 over a five percent levy on Liberal MP salaries introduced by
Iain Evans Iain Frederick Evans (born 18 April 1959) is a former Australian politician. He was leader of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2006 to 2007. Early life Evans attended Heathfield Primary and subsequently He ...
to fund election campaigns. Her announced intention to cut off a quarter of the public service if she won government, was subsequently said was not to be Liberal Party policy. She also refused to confirm speculation that she had offered the state Liberal leadership to former federal Liberal leader Alexander Downer. On 19 October 2012, her predecessor as opposition leader, Martin Hamilton-Smith, announced he would be challenging Redmond for the parliamentary leadership of the South Australian Liberal Party. Deputy leader Mitch Williams was challenged by
Steven Marshall Steven Spence Marshall (born 21 January 1968) is a former Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of South Australia between 2018 and 2022. He was a member of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the ...
. At the ballot on 23 October, Redmond retained the leadership by one vote, but Marshall was elected to the deputy leadership. Redmond resigned as the leader of the Liberal Party on 31 January 2013, citing the need to end "ongoing leadership speculation and disunity" as the primary factor in her decision.
Steven Marshall Steven Spence Marshall (born 21 January 1968) is a former Australian politician who served as the 46th premier of South Australia between 2018 and 2022. He was a member of the South Australian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia in the ...
was chosen to replace her. Redmond suffered a swing against her at the 2014 election in Heysen on the primary, two-party and two-candidate vote, and faced the SA Greens after preferences. The two-party swing against her was 3 points, while some booths recorded two-party swings against her of up to 8 points. Redmond used
parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...
on 20 May 2014 to claim that the
Electoral Commission of South Australia The Electoral Commission SA is an independent office which forms part of the Government of South Australia, and which conducts parliamentary state elections every four years. History In 1907 the then State Electoral Department was establish ...
's head commissioner Kay Mousley was "utterly corrupt" following the 2014 election result. Facing a potential privileges committee investigation and a request to substantiate or withdraw the remarks, she withdrew her remarks and apologised on 5 June 2014. In response to Mousley's announcement in May 2015 that she would step down after a decade of service, Redmond remarked "hooray". On 18 January 2017, Redmond announced that she would be retiring from parliament at the 2018 state election."Former Liberal leader Isobel Redmond will retire at the 2018 state election"
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Personal life

Redmond is (no longer) married to American teacher Jim Redmond with whom she has had three children, all now adults. She resides in the town of
Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
in the Adelaide Hills.


See also

* Women and government in Australia * Women in the South Australian House of Assembly


References


External links


IsobelRedmond.com.au official website
*   , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Redmond, Isobel 1953 births Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of South Australia Living people Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Leaders of the opposition in South Australia Politicians from Sydney 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the South Australian House of Assembly