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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-04-02 Daily Xml
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Crowley, Hon. Dr R.A.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (17:03): I move:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges the recent passing of former Senator for South Australia, the Hon Dr Rosemary Crowley AO;

2. Pays tribute to Dr Crowley’s remarkable legacy, particularly in the areas of social justice, women’s rights and progressive reform; and

3. Extends its deepest sympathies to her family, friends and loved ones.

I rise today with great sadness to speak on behalf of the government, and the Labor Party more generally, of the passing of former South Australian Senator the Hon. Dr Rosemary Crowley AO. First and foremost, I convey the government's condolences formally to Dr Crowley's family and friends, particularly to Rosemary's sons and her beloved grandchildren. I also pay condolences and welcome here today Kaye Johnston and her husband, Wayne, representing the Crowley family in parliament. Kaye worked on Rosemary's staff when Rosemary was a backbencher and again from 1993 when she became a minister.

Born in Melbourne in 1938 as Rosemary Anne Willis, she was the second of six children. Her upbringing in a Roman Catholic household and her education at Kilmaire Brigidine Convent in Hawthorn instilled in her a strong sense of social responsibility and a passion for community service. Rosemary pursued a medical degree at the University of Melbourne before moving to California with her husband, James Crowley, and was completing her qualifications at Berkeley during the social movements of the sixties, which significantly deepened her political interest and engagement.

After settling back in Adelaide in 1969, Rosemary followed her calling in community health care and also joined the ALP, with her advocacy being centred around welfare reforms, health care and women's rights. Rosemary saw a clear connection between her work as a doctor and her role as a member of parliament and, as a result, she vigorously fought for reforms close to her heart. She was exceptionally passionate about restoring Medicare and was not afraid to voice it, saying, 'I will take the fight about Medicare anywhere, anytime to the people of this country and beat the opposition on Fightback dead.' Pretty apt for today's scenario.

Rosemary made history as the first South Australian woman to be elected to the federal parliament and the first woman from South Australia to be a federal minister. She was appointed as Minister for Family Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. She delivered major reforms and expanded financial support for families and disability services.

Some of the key milestones Rosemary was intimately involved with were the passage of the Sex Discrimination Act in 1984 and the establishment of a government working group on attitudes to and support for women's sport, which in 1985 produced a report titled 'Women, Sport and the Media'. As Minister for Family Services, Rosemary enhanced the Hawke government's program of financial assistance for families with increased family payments, additional payments for low income families, maternity allowances, disability support programs, carers' pensions, students' assistance and youth training allowances.

Rosemary will be remembered for her intellect, integrity and dedication to public service. She inspired generations of women to step into leadership. Again, I express our condolences to her family, friends and colleagues. She will be dearly missed, but the impact of what she did in her life lives on.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (17:07): I rise as the lead speaker for the opposition on this motion, and I appreciate the opportunity to celebrate the late Hon. Rosemary Anne Crowley AO.

Rosemary was born in Victoria, and her Catholic education instilled in her a strong sense of community and social justice. She was able to complete her matriculation and then her medical degree through winning scholarships and, after a move to California and marriage in the late 1960s, was surrounded by a hotbed of political activism and social change, with the Vietnam War protests, the civil rights movement, and women's rights issues shaping her future life.

After returning to Australia, Rosemary joined the Australian Labor Party. The mother of three sons, she was one of three Unley High School mothers contesting politics at the time, the other two being Anne Levy and Joan Harcourt. A teenage student at Unley High School at this time may have been inspired by these women and, as we now know, Julia Gillard went on to become the nation's first female prime minister. Following attempts to win the South Australian lower house seat of Mitcham and then preselected for the seat of Unley, she was successfully elected to the Senate in the 1983 federal election.

Rosemary was a strong advocate for social causes, including child care, community health, income support for the aged and accessible health care. Following the election of the Keating government in 1993, she became Minister for Family Services and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women.

Upon her departure from politics, Ms Crowley was acknowledged in valedictory speeches delivered on 27 June 2002 by senators from all sides of politics for her commitment to societal equality, her work ethic and her great sense of humour. Friends and acquaintances have noted that, while her sense of humour was wideranging, Rosemary had the misfortune to have some jokes misquoted. In his book, Mark Latham attributed some particularly colourful quotes to Rosemary that were in fact made by the former Mayor of Port Augusta, Joy Baluch; however, this is unlikely to have bothered Rosemary a great deal for she is remembered for her willingness to deliver unexpected punchlines.

After her retirement from politics, she continued to serve on consultative bodies, public committees and to work for causes she saw as admirable. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2015 Australia Day Honours for distinguished service to parliament and for promoting the status of women.

Rosemary will be fondly remembered as a hardworking and dedicated South Australian who worked to build a better world. She will also be celebrated as a trailblazer who helped to encourage women on all sides of politics to be ambitious and fearless in pursuit of their goals. Vale Hon. Rosemary Anne Crowley AO.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (17:10): I rise to acknowledge the passing of Dr Rosemary Crowley, the former South Australian Labor senator, and I thank the mover for putting this motion on the Notice Paper so that we had this opportunity to mark Rosemary Crowley's passing.

Rosemary was born in Melbourne in 1938 and she won several scholarships throughout her schooling and university life, allowing her to work as a doctor in the early 1960s. She then moved to Berkeley, California, with her husband, where they lived for a couple of years. During this time, Rosemary trained as a children and family counsellor and lived within the civil rights, anti-Vietnam War and women's rights movements era. Being surrounded by this political climate, you could see the impacts on Rosemary's work throughout her career.

Upon her return to Australia, she moved to Adelaide and joined the Labor Party around the time of the election of the Whitlam government in 1972 and became 'capital P' political. Rosemary was elected in 1983 to the Senate under the Hawke government. It took a month to finalise the counting, as she was the final senator, elected at number 5 on the ticket. Yes, that is not a typo, that is how many senators they used to elect back then. By 1996, she was number 1 on the ticket.

Rosemary has said that there was a clear connection between her work in the medical field and her work in the parliament. She said:

My medical work was very much highlighting ill-health no individual doctor could solve…there was a lot of ill-health, unemployment, a lack of transport…Politics seemed the arena where decisions could be made to try to solve these problems.

During her time in the Senate, she was instrumental in the passing of the Sex Discrimination Act. I remember those debates, those outrageous debates, where spurious claims were made about not necessarily the sky falling in but the end of the world as we knew it under the passage of the Sex Discrimination Act and guess what happened? We stopped having discrimination so much on the basis of sex—a good outcome, one would think.

She also supported the women's camp at Pine Gap—again, good on her—advocated for several health and social welfare reforms such as Medicare and childcare, and she publicly spoke out against the Hawke government's move to introduce a Medicare co-payment back in 1991. That co-payment was introduced but quickly abolished by the Keating government the following year—on the right side of history.

She was a minister in the Keating government. She served as Minister for Family Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. As minister, childcare was a priority, and Rosemary Crowley introduced legislation for cash rebates for childcare and a home childcare allowance—groundbreaking stuff at the time.

She retired from 'capital P' politics in 2002. Rosemary was the fourth woman to be elected to the federal parliament for South Australia and the only woman Labor senator from South Australia during her nearly 20 years in the Senate. She was the first woman minister from South Australia and she was rightfully recognised as a pioneer amongst her colleagues and frequently argued for initiatives that would lead to more women being elected, knowing that 'it is a matter of justice, it is a matter of equity and it is also a matter of best practice', to choose her well-worn words.

In 2015, Rosemary Crowley was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the federal parliament and for promoting the status of women. Women in this country are better off due to the amazing work of Rosemary Crowley. My thoughts are with her family, her friends and loved ones. She was and is a true icon. I was honoured to have met her. I am honoured to have lived in a time when she made such great leaps forward and long may they continue.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (17:14): I thank all those who have contributed to this debate. As the words that have been spoken in this chamber show, the Hon. Rosemary Crowley had a very significant impact right across the political spectrum and was respected on all sides of politics for her work and her advocacy. Once again, we thank all those who have contributed and paid tribute to the life and the work of Dr Rosemary Crowley.

Motion carried.

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