Sylvia Phyllis Hale (born 12 July 1942) is an Australian social justice, community and environmental campaigner, and a former politician. She was a member of the
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...
from 2003 to 2010 for
the Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to:
Current political parties
*The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria
*Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens''
* Greens of Andorra
* The Greens (Benin)
*The Greens (Bulgaria)
* Greens of Bosnia and He ...
.
Personal life
Hale graduated from
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 ...
in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma in Education; and graduated from the
University of NSW
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949.
The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...
in 1998 with a
LLB
A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
. In 1961, while at Sydney University, Hale was the President of the
Sydney University Labor Club. In 1970, Hale was involved in the Socialist Review Group, a
Trotskyist
Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...
group which was the precursor to the
Socialist Workers Party.
However, she left due to the "Group's opposition to "
deep entry" into the Australian Labor Party".
In 1965, she and her husband, Roger Barnes, established specialist book printers, Southwood Press. In 1977, she, Barnes and
John Iremonger started the independent publishing company,
Hale and Iremonger.
Political career
After the proposed construction of the third runway at Sydney Airport in 1994, she became a member of
No Aircraft Noise. She was later elected a councillor on
Marrickville Council
Marrickville Council was a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the Inner West region of Sydney, Australia. It was originally created on 1 November 1861 as the "Municipality of Marrickville". On 12 May 2016, Marrickvi ...
in 1995 for the party.
She joined the Greens in 2000 and continued to serve on Marickville Council until 2004.
She was elected to the upper house of the New South Wales parliament in 2003.
In 2010, Hale announced that she would be retiring from the
Upper House
An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
at the next year's state election to allow her preselected replacement,
David Shoebridge
David Martin Shoebridge (born 17 September 1971) is an Australian politician and former barrister. He is a member of the Australian Greens and was elected to the Senate as the party's lead candidate in New South Wales at the 2022 federal elect ...
, to contest the upcoming election as a sitting MP. She subsequently sought preselection for the state seat of
Marrickville
Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government ...
. She however failed to win her party's endorsement, losing 15–14 to local councillor Fiona Byrne. She eventually resigned her seat in September 2010.
After politics
After leaving politics, Hale became a spokeswoman for Welcome to Palestine, and was briefly detained by Israeli authorities at Tel Aviv airport.
In 2019, she was elected Co-Convenor of The Greens NSW along with Rochelle Flood, and in 2020 elected as Convenor.
References
External links
Sylvia Hale MLC
Australian Greens members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
1942 births
Living people
University of New South Wales alumni
21st-century Australian politicians
Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
21st-century Australian women politicians
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