Former leading Labor Senator Dr Rosemary Crowley dies, Premier Peter Malinauskas pays tribute in parliament
One of Labor’s trailblazing female MPs has died with the Premier delivering a tribute in parliament today.
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Labor’s first South Australian woman to be sent to Canberra has died, with Premier Peter Malinauskas paying tribute to former senator Rosemary Crowley in parliament today.
Former South Australian senator Dr Crowley AO who was born in 1938, was recognised as a pioneer for female parliamentarians, she was only the fourth woman elected to parliament from South Australia and the first to be sent to Canberra by the Labor Party.
She advocated for 50 per cent membership of women in Australian parliaments and is recognised as one of the key organisers of the incredibly successful annual International Women’s Day breakfast held in Adelaide annually.
“Rosemary was a tireless advocate for social justice, women’s rights, and progressive reform,” Mr Malinauskas said.
“She inspired countless women to pursue public office.”
Dr Crowley was first elected to federal parliament in 1983 and is a former Minister for Family Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women in the Keating government.
She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2015.
Mr Malinauskas said she believed that “when women were given a voice: ‘they opened huge possibilities for the whole of society’.”
“Rosemary advocated for 50 per cent women in our parliaments, which I am proud to say both state and federal parliamentary Labor parties now have and are better for,” Mr Malinauskas said.
Dr Crowley completed a medical degree at the University of Melbourne before working as a resident medical officer at St Vincent’s Hospital then as a pathologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne.
She moved to Adelaide with her husband James Raymond Crowley in 1969.
She was later a medical practitioner and parent education counsellor at Clovelly Park Community Health Centre in SA, a tutor at the Flinders Medical Centre, and former lecturer at Child Birth, Mother and Babies Health Association from 1973 to 1983.
Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia also offered condolences saying she was a tireless advocate for social justice, and was committed to bettering the lives of those in the community with a passion for “fairness, equality and opportunity”.
Ms Crowley had three sons, Stephen, Vincent and Diarmuid, and two grandchildren.
Her funeral will be held in Melbourne on March 7.
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Originally published as Former leading Labor Senator Dr Rosemary Crowley dies, Premier Peter Malinauskas pays tribute in parliament
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