Maureen Gertrude Theresa Worsley (née Anderson; 1937–2001) was an Australian politician. Worsley was born in

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

in England in 1937. In 1970 she married Mike Worsley and later that year migrated to

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. She was elected to the new Legislative Assembly as a member for

in 1975 for the centrist

Australia Party The Australia Party was a minor centrist political party in Australia from 1969 to 1986. It was most influential in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The party was established in 1969 under the leadership of Senator Reg Turnbull, as a merger o ...

. When most of the Australia Party merged into the new

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party splinter groups, it was Australia's lar ...

in 1977, Worsley declined to join the new party, and sat as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

until the 1979 election. She was an Independent candidate for the electorate of

in the 1982 election for the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

, which by then had replaced the earlier Legislative Assembly. Worsley was active in abortion rights protests in the 1970s, and was an active member of the Women's Tent Embassy outside

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...

protesting against abortion laws in 1973. One of the leaders of that protest was Beryl Henderson, who founded the Canberra Women's Refuge in 1975. The immediate prompt for the Women's Tent Embassy was to support the

Private Member’s Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

proposed by MPs David McKenzie and

Tony Lamb Antony Hamilton Lamb (born 7 March 1939) is a former Australian politician. He served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1975 and from 1984 to 1990, representing the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He was a pharmacist prior to entering ...

, the Medical Practice Clarification Bill, which, if it had passed, would have allowed abortion in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

.Warhurst, John, and Vance Merrill. “The Abortion Issue in Australia: Pressure Politics and Policy.” ''The Australian Quarterly'', vol. 54, no. 2, 1982, pp. 119–135. ''JSTOR'', www.jstor.org/stable/20635163. Accessed 18 Nov. 2020. Worsley died in 2001 of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worsley, Maureen 1937 births 2001 deaths Australia Party politicians Australian Capital Territory politicians Members of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians

See also

References