Sandra Myrtho Kanck (born 20 April 1950) is a

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n politician. She was a member of the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, H ...

from 1993 to 2009, first elected for the

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 ...

for an eight-year term at the 1993 election and was re-elected for the Democrats for another eight-year term at the 2002 election. Kanck announced her parliamentary resignation in November 2008, taking effect in January 2009. Democrats nominee David Winderlich filled the upper house

casual vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a novel written by British author J. K. Rowling, published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. It was Rowling's first publication since the ''Harry Potter'' series, her first novel apart fr ...

in a

joint sitting A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose. Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicame ...

of the

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat South Australian House of Assembly, House of Assembly (lower house) and the 22-seat South Australian Legislati ...

in February 2009.

Early life

Sandra Kanck (née Cederblad) was born in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

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 ...

with six younger siblings and she credits the associated financial poverty and her Methodist Church upbringing to many of her views about inequality and injustice. She was a primary school teacher in NSW from 1978–80, teaching at Gillieston and Weston Primary Schools in the Hunter Valley.

Early politics

In 1971 she attended her first public meeting to express concern at

nuclear weapons testing Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...

by the French at Muroroa Atoll. From this point onwards she became involved in the anti-nuclear and then peace and environment movements. From 1991-92 she was employed by the Conservation Council of South Australia as Administrative Assistant and then Administrative Officer. Continuing her

anti-nuclear activism The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

, in 2009, she authored, on behalf of the Australian Democrats (SA Division Inc.) a substantial submission in response to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed Olympic Dam mine expansion.

Parliament

First elected at the 1993 election, Kanck's first speech in parliament was about the need for an environmentally sustainable level of population for Australia, and her first private member's bill was about the choosing and ongoing education of judges. Kanck twice introduced a bill for a Midwives Act, and during the course of debate on the ''Nurses Act 1999'' fought hard and successfully to retain a register of midwives separate from that of nurses. For her advocacy the SA Branch of the

Australian College of Midwives The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) is the peak professional organisation representing midwives and midwifery policy in Australia. ACM was founded nationally in 1984, when midwifery associations in a number of states and territories came tog ...

chose her for their inaugural Midwifery Advocate of the Year Award in 1999. On 14 March 2001 Kanck introduced her ''Dignity in Dying Bill 2001'' to the South Australian Parliament. The bill was drafted in large part by the South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society (SAVES), of which she has since been awarded life membership. She introduced the bill twice, and on the second occasion it passed the second reading vote, but failed at the third reading. In August 2006, Kanck ignored government requests not to discuss

suicide methods A suicide method is any means by which a person may choose to end their life. Suicide attempts do not always result in death, and a non-fatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries, long-term health problems, or ...

in a parliamentary speech on legalising voluntary

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

. Although suppressed from the parliament's internet record by a narrowly resolved Legislative Council vote, the speech was published elsewhere. She is the first parliamentarian in Australia to have been censored in this way. In May 2006, she controversially advocated the therapeutic use of

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as ecstasy (tablet form), and molly (crystal form), is an empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor Psychedelic drug, psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used ...

(identified in news media as "ecstasy" or "the base ingredient in ecstasy"). One of her final private members' bills in 2008 was a bill for the medical use of cannabis. SandraKanckTreeRally

Kanck was successful in amending the Commission of Inquiry (Children in State Care)(Children on APY Lands) Bill 2004. The "

Mullighan Inquiry Edward Picton "Ted" Mullighan, QC (25 March 1939 – 15 September 2011) was an Australian judge who was known as an Indigenous rights advocate and protecting vulnerable people. He was known for his role as Commissioner of the Government of Sou ...

" (named after Commissioner Ted Mulligan) into the

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

of children in state care and on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunyjatjara lands made 54 recommendations for action in its final report, published in March 2008. Kanck's amendments required the government to respond within three months to indicate which of the recommendations they would implement, and then to table an annual report about that implementation for every year for the following five years after receipt of the report, a first in terms of causing action on a government-commissioned report on Aboriginal Affairs. During her time in parliament she served on the Social Development, Environment Resources & Development and Natural Resources Standing Committees, and numerous select committees, including chairing the Select Committee on the Impact of Peak Oil on South Australia which reported to the parliament late in 2008. Kanck was successful in moving a motion to refer the matter of

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is an unrecognized and controversial diagnosis characterized by chronic symptoms attributed to exposure to low levels of commonly used chemicals. Symptoms are typically vagueness, vague and non-specific sympt ...

to the Social Development Committee. With a strong environmental focus in her politics she also succeeded in referring the matter of Marine Parks to the Environment Resources and Development Committee and actively campaigned against the Upper South-East Drylands Salinity Scheme during her time as a member of that Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. Kanck announced her resignation on 7 November 2008 with her resignation taking effect on 31 January 2009.Last Democrat to resign
ABC: 7/11/2008. The party membership selected David Winderlich as her replacement in the Legislative Council. She stood as one of the

Candidates of the South Australian state election, 2010 A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

, in the third and unwinnable position in the list of

Candidates for the Legislative Council.

Post Parliament

Kanck is a continuing

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

and human rights campaigner and

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

. Since April 2009 Kanck has been the National President of Sustainable Population Australia, a Committee Member of the SA Branch of Sustainable Population Australia, President of SA Branch of

Friends of the ABC The Friends of the ABC (), or simply the ABC, is a fictional association of revolutionary French republican students featured in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo. In French, the name of the society is a pun, in which '' abaissé ...

(2009–2010) and now a Committee Member, a Patron of the Broken Hill Community Foundation and an honorary member of the Leaders Institute of South Australia, SA spokesperson for Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform, a member of the executive of the SA Council for Civil Liberties, State President of the Democrats in South Australia. In December 2012 a breakaway faction of the Australian Democrats publicly claimed to have revoked her membership. However, the National Executive carried a motion stating she was a member of good standing. In July 2017 Ms Kanck became the Senior Deputy National President of the party. She ran as the party's No. 2 Senate Candidate in South Australia at the

2022 Australian federal election The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday, 21 May 2022, to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Morrison government, Liberal–National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, soug ...

References

External links

Australian Democrats website
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Fearless activist retires
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanck, Sandra 1950 births Living people Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of South Australia Australian environmentalists Australian women environmentalists Women members of the South Australian Legislative Council Members of the South Australian Legislative Council Australian anti–nuclear weapons activists 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians