Jane Lesley Aagaard (born 1956) is an Australian former politician. She was a Labor Party member of the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory (also known as the Parliament of the Northern Territory) is the unicameral legislature of Australia’s Northern Territory. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member ...

from 2001 to 2012, representing the Darwin-based electorate of

Nightcliff Nightcliff is a northern suburb of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. It is the traditional country and waterways of the Larrakia people. History Although the origin of the name Nightcliff has alway ...

. She was the Speaker of the Assembly from June 2005 until October 2012—the first Labor member ever to hold the post. Prior to holding the speakership, she had served as Health Minister from 2001 to 2003.

Early life

Jane Aagaard was born in

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 ...

, Victoria in 1956, to John Stuart McIntosh and Jean Brown. She moved to

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 ...

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 ...

at the age of seven, where she was educated at Somerville House, a school for girls in South Brisbane. In 1986, she accepted a position with the Northern Territory Department of Mines and Energy, and settled with her husband in Darwin. Aagaard also became heavily involved in many aspects of the Darwin community. She helped found the Brolga Awards and Northern Territory Sports Awards, and continued organising both presentations for several years. Not long before entering parliament, she had also organised the city's commemoration of its bombing by

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. When former

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Stephen Hatton Stephen Paul Hatton (born 28 January 1948) is an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1986 to 1988. From 1983 until his retirement in 2001, he was MLA for the seat of Nightcliff. He first bec ...

, the longtime CLP member for Nightcliff, retired at the 2001 election, Aagaard ran as the Labor candidate against Hatton's son, Jason. In a shock result, Aagaard won the seat on an unexpectedly large swing of 11.7 percent that saw the previously marginal Nightcliff technically become a safe Labor seat. Aagaard's victory was part of a six-seat swing to Labor that saw the party win government for the first time ever, mainly on the strength of a strong performance in the Darwin area. She was reelected in 2005, picking up a healthy swing of 8.5 percent. In March 2012, Aagaard announced that she would not contest the next election due to "ongoing medical issues that would require treatment and surgery". In November 2012, Aagaard was granted the title The Honourable for life.Ms Jane Lesley Aagaard granted the title "Honourable" for life
''Commonwealth Government Gazette'' C2012G00283, S No. 177 of 2012, 20 November 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aagaard, Jane 1956 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Speakers of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Members of the Order of Australia Politicians from Melbourne People from Darwin, Northern Territory 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly People educated at Somerville House