Silvia Joy Smith (22 December 1939 – 6 March 2020) was an Australian politician. She was a member of 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), serving in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. ...

from 1993 to 1996 and 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 ...

from 1997 to 2003.

Early life

Smith was born on 22 December 1939 in Wivenhoe, Tasmania. She worked as a schoolteacher from 1959 to 1988.

Politics

Smith was an officeholder in the ALP's West Launceston branch and was a delegate to the party's state council from 1987. She was elected to 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 ...

at the 1993 federal election, winning

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

for the ALP from the incumbent Liberal MP Warwick Smith. She was elected with a narrow margin of 40 votes on the two-party-preferred count. In parliament, Smith served on the House standing committees on community affairs and employment, education and training. Her Liberal predecessor Warwick Smith reclaimed the seat at the 1996 election. In 1997, she ran for and was elected to the

electorate of

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

as an Independent Labor candidate. She served for one six-year term before being defeated by conservative independent

Ivan Dean Ivan Noel Dean (born 21 April 1945) is an Australian politician. He was an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 2003 to 2021, representing the electorate of Windermere. He also served as Mayor of Launceston from 2005 t ...

, at the 2003 periodic elections.

Personal life

Smith had two daughters with her husband Jack. They were also foster parents to several other children. Smith died on 6 March 2020, aged 80, having been diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

15 years earlier.

References

1939 births 2020 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bass Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians People from Burnie, Tasmania Women members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council Members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council 20th-century Australian women politicians Australian schoolteachers People with Parkinson's disease Australian MPs 1993–1996 {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub