Jan Louise Murray Wade (née Noone; born 8 July 1937) is a former Australian politician.
She was born in
Sydney to John Murray Noone and Lillian, ''née'' Knight. She attended
Sydney High School and
Firbank Girls' Grammar School
, motto_translation = She conquers who conquers herself
, city = Brighton
, state = Victoria
, zipcode = 3186
, country = Australia
, coordinates ...
in Melbourne, and graduated from the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...
in 1959 with a
Bachelor of Law
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
. She later attained a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
in 1979.
She married Francis Bannatyne Lewis, with whom she had four children. From 1960 to 1961 she worked in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
as a schoolteacher before returning to Australia as a law tutor at the University of Melbourne from 1963 to 1964. A solicitor from 1964 to 1967, she joined the Parliamentary Counsel's office in 1967, becoming Assistant Chief Parliamentary Counsel in 1978. Also in 1978, she married Peter Brian Wade, and, in so doing, acquired a step-daughter. In 1979, she was appointed Commissioner for Corporate Affairs and, in 1985, President of the Equal Opportunity Board.
In 1988, she successfully contested a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...
in the
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne.
The presidin ...
seat of
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
, for the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a l ...
. After her election she was appointed Shadow Attorney-General. She moved to Women's Affairs in 1989 but resumed her previous role in 1990. Following the
Coalition victory at the
1992 state election she became
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
, Minister for Fair Trading, and Minister for Women's Affairs.
She retired from politics in 1999, after which she was a visiting professor at
Victoria University and a writer of an occasional column in the ''
Australian Financial Review
''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New S ...
''.
References
1937 births
Living people
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Victoria
Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
Attorneys-General of Victoria
Women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly
University of Melbourne alumni
University of Melbourne faculty
University of Melbourne women
Victoria University, Melbourne faculty
Australian solicitors
People educated at Sydney Girls High School
People educated at Firbank Girls' Grammar School
Politicians from Sydney
{{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub