Jeannette McHugh (; born 18 December 1934) is an Australian former politician who was the first woman from

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

elected to federal parliament. She served in 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 1983 to 1996, representing 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), and was Minister for Consumer Affairs in the Keating government from 1992 to 1996. She was a schoolteacher and political activist prior to entering parliament.

Early life and education

Born in

Kandos, New South Wales Kandos is a small town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, within the Mid-Western Regional Council. The area is the traditional home of the Dabee tribe of the Wiradjuri people. The town sits beneath Cumber Melon Mountain (fr ...

, McHugh was educated at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, where she resided at the Women's College.

Career

Early career

She worked as a languages teacher and on social justice issues for many years through her involvement in housing, environment, anti-nuclear, peace and women's organisations before gaining ALP pre-selection for the Division of Phillip, a seat she won at the

1983 Australian federal election The 1983 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election, following a double dissolution. The incumbent Coalition government wh ...

, making her the first woman from New South Wales to sit in the federal parliament.

Parliamentary career

She was made Minister for Consumer Affairs in 1992, making her the first female federal minister from New South Wales. When the Division of Phillip was abolished after an electoral redistribution, it was arranged for McHugh to move to the Division of Grayndler, as she was entitled to a seat as a minister. The sitting member Leo McLeay agreed to move to the new neighbouring electorate of Watson. McHugh announced her retirement from parliament, to be effective at the time of the 1996 Australian federal election, at which the ALP lost government.

Anthony Albanese Anthony Norman Albanese ( or ; born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician serving as the 31st and current prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Leader, leader of the Labor Party si ...

won pre-selection for Grayndler, and retained the seat for Labor at the election. McHugh was a member of Labor's Left faction.

Post-parliamentary career

McHugh is Chair of the Jessie Street Trust, and was Secretary of the Evatt Foundation until November 2006.

Personal life

Jeannette McHugh is married to former

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

justice

Michael McHugh Michael Hudson McHugh (born 1 November 1935) is a former justice of the High Court of Australia; the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. Early years The son of a miner and steelworker, McHugh left school at 15 despite excelling ...

. Her parents were Charles Richard "Charlie" Goffet (1909–91), who taught French at Newcastle Boys High School from 1942 to 1978, and Neta Jean Goffet (née Walsh) (1909–83) Her younger sister is former Labor and Independent local councillor and Mayor of Warringah, Julie Sutton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McHugh, Jeannette 1934 births Living people Australian democratic socialists Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Labor Left politicians Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Phillip Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Grayndler University of Sydney alumni Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives Women government ministers of Australia 20th-century Australian women politicians Australian MPs 1983–1984 Australian MPs 1984–1987 Australian MPs 1987–1990 Australian MPs 1990–1993 Australian MPs 1993–1996