Judith Louise Jackson (born 31 August 1947 in ) is an Australian former Labor Party politician, in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

from 1986 to 2006. She was the first female

attorney-general of Tasmania The attorney general of Tasmania, in formal contexts also attorney-general or attorney general for Tasmania and usually known simply as the attorney general, is a minister in the Government of Tasmania who has responsibility for the administr ...

and also served as the Minister for Environment in the

Tasmanian Government The Tasmanian Government is the executive branch of the Australian state of Tasmania. The leader of the party or coalition with the Confidence and supply, confidence of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly, the lower house of the ...

. During her time in parliament, she was a member of the

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

-based seat of Denison.

Political career

Before her entry into parliament, Jackson graduate from the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

with a Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Education and Bachelor of Laws. Jackson commenced work as a school teacher. She entered

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1986, despite not coming from a union or political family. She held a number of portfolios including; Minister for Community Services (1989), Minister for Roads and Transport (1991), Shadow Attorney-General (1996–1998) and Minister for Health and Human Services. Jackson is a committed

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and has worked tirelessly to bring equal opportunity to women in Tasmania. As Attorney-General, Jackson drafted several laws including ''The Family Violence Act'' which outlawed domestic violence in Tasmania and the ''Relationships Act'' which made it possible for non-married (including

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

) couples to register a union and obtain similar rights as married couples.

Criticism

Jackson had many critics; the Risdon prison siege in 2005 caused much controversy and she was widely blamed as not handling the situation. In 2005 the ''Family Violence Act'' she drafted was criticised by judges as one of the provisions in the legislation prevented courts from granting bail to alleged domestic violence offenders, as well as the points system used discriminating against people of different ethnic or lower socio-economic backgrounds. However Jackson remained firm about the issue and the legislation was introduced, unchanged. In 2005 the government also drafted the ''Sex Regulation Act'' which sought to further legalise and regulate

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

. Under the legislation,

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

s in Tasmania would be legal and could be owned by any individual except convicted criminals, patrons of prostitution would be required by law to wear a

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...

. However Jackson was unable to convince the community and members of the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two Chambers of parliament, chambers of the Parliament, the other being the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly. Both ho ...

rejected her bill. As a result, she made a back flip; abandoning her legislation and banning brothels in Tasmania. Jackson faced criticism from both sides; sex workers and supporters fearing that prostitution will go underground and others for supporting prostitution in the first place. Jackson, in a statement, revealed how she felt that regulation of the industry was better than banning it altogether. As Environment Minister she was highly criticised by the

Tasmanian Greens The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign. They form a part of the Australian Greens. Followi ...

for inaction over the

devil facial tumour disease Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an aggressive non-viral clonally transmissible cancer which affects Tasmanian devils, a marsupial native to the Australian island of Tasmania. The cancer manifests itself as lumps of soft and ulcerating tis ...

, a

transmissible cancer A transmissible cancer is a cancer cell or cluster of cancer cells that can be transferred between individuals without the involvement of an infectious agent such as an oncovirus. The evolution of transmissible cancer has occurred naturally in ot ...

that occurs in

Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii''; palawa kani: ''purinina'') is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now con ...

Retirement

In 2005, Jackson announced she would not contest her seat during the 2006 state election and retired when her term ended on 17 March 2006.

Recognition and awards

In 2009 Jackson was inducted to the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women for service to Government and to Human Rights. She was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the people and

Parliament of Tasmania The Parliament of Tasmania is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Tasmania. It follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system and consists of the governor of Tasmania (as representative of the King), the Legislative Counci ...

References

External links

Judy Jackson's maiden speech to parliament
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Judy Living people 1947 births Members of the Order of Australia Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Tasmania 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly University of Tasmania alumni