Jann Sonya McFarlane (born 22 May 1944) is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1998 to 2004, representing the

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

n seat 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 ...

for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP).

Early life

McFarlane was born in Sydney on 22 May 1944. Her father abandoned the family when she was a small child and her mother remarried in the early 1950s. She grew up in a rural area and her family "struggled with domestic violence, alcoholism and poverty". After leaving school McFarlane worked as a cleaner, secretary and clerk. She later completed a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

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. ...

as a mature-age student and began working in the community sector. Prior to her election to parliament she had worked at a community legal centre and welfare rights centre for six years.

Politics

McFarlane joined the

(ALP) in 1978. She was elected to the

at the 1998 federal election, defeating the incumbent

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 ...

Eoin Cameron Eoin Harrap Cameron (4 January 1951 – 23 June 2016) was an Australian radio personality in Perth, Western Australia and member of the Australian House of Representatives. Until August 2015 he presented the ABC's Perth local station 720 ABC ...

in the seat of

. McFarlane was re-elected at the 2001 election but lost her seat to the Liberal candidate Michael Keenan at the

2004 election The following elections occurred in the year 2004. Africa * 2004 Algerian presidential election * 2004 Botswana general election * 2004 Cameroonian presidential election * 2004 Comorian legislative election * 2004 Equatorial Guinean legislativ ...

. During the election campaign she attracted attention for a gaffe in which she implied that the ALP's tax policies announced by opposition leader

Mark Latham Mark William Latham (; born 28 February 1961) is an Australian politician and media commentator who is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. He previously served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and Leader of the ...

would need to be "adjusted". She subsequently released a statement retracting her comments. In 2006, McFarlane was investigated by the Department of Finance over allegations she had misused electoral entitlements to allow constituents to make long-distance calls. She stated that she "utterly denied and refuted the allegations".

Personal life

McFarlane was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2004 and underwent surgery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McFarlane, Jann 1944 births Living people Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Stirling Clerks Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians Australian MPs 1998–2001 Australian MPs 2001–2004