Joan Taggart
Joan Margaret Taggart (2 April 1917 – 3 January 2003) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly from 1982 to 1986. She is notable for having been the first woman to hold a national office in the Australian Labor Party.
Early life[]
Taggart was born in Sydney and moved to Canberra in 1964. She worked in administration at the Australian National University and as an executive assistant for the Pipeline Authority.[1]
Political career[]
Taggart was elected junior vice-president of the ALP in 1979.[2] In doing so, she became the first woman to hold a national office bearer post in the Labor Party.[3]
She was elected to the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly for the electorate of Canberra in 1982, and was Deputy Speaker in her term of office.[4] In 1984 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.[5] The House of Assembly ceased to exist in 1986, and Taggart did not stand for election to the replacement assembly in 1989.
Personal life[]
By the time she stood for election in 1982, Taggart was a widow.[6] She died in 2003, aged 85, and her ashes are interred at Norwood Park Crematorium in the Canberra suburb of Mitchell.[7]
References[]
- ^ "Canberra Times: "Meet the House of Assembly candidates", 24 May 1982, p 6, via Trove". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Canberra Times: "Labor Party post", 14 July 1979, p 11, via Trove". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "ACT Legislative Assembly Hansard, 18 February 2003". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Canberra Times: "Australia Day Honours List 1984", 26 January 1984, p 10, via Trove". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Canberra Times: "Australia Day Honours List 1984", 26 January 1984, p 10, via Trove". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Canberra Times: "Meet the House of Assembly candidates", 24 May 1982, p 6, via Trove". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "Find A Grave: Joan Margaret Taggart". Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- Members of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly
- 1917 births
- 2003 deaths
- Australian Labor Party members of the Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly
- Australian Labor Party politicians
- Australian Capital Territory politicians
- 20th-century Australian politicians
- Members of the Order of Australia
- Australian politician stubs