Annette Elizabeth Cameron, ''née'' Moore and formerly Aarons (6 January 1920 – 25 January 2008) was an Australian feminist and political activist. Born in

Middle Swan Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek (d ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, she came from a political family. Her great grandfather's brother, George Fletcher Moore, had been a pioneering settler around the Swan River, while her grandfather

William Dalgety Moore William Dalgety Moore (30 August 1835 – 22 April 1910) was a businessman in Fremantle, Western Australia, and also a pastoralist and politician. Early life Moore was born in the Swan River Colony in 1835, the eldest child of Samuel Moore and ...

was a member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

from 1870 to 1872. Annette was educated in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, where her political interests were awakened by the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, which led her to join the Anti-Fascist League and, in 1941, the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...

. Moving to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, she worked for the party, was briefly jailed for her role in a protest supporting Indonesian independence, and developed a friendship with Katharine Susannah Prichard. Having met prominent communist

Sam Aarons Samuel Aarons (21 October 1895 – 10 January 1971) was an Australian radical activist and communist. Early life He was born in Prahran, Melbourne on the 21st of October 1895, to Louis and Jane Aarons (nee Hyam),'Aarons, Samuel (Sam) (1895 ...

in Sydney, she married him and returned to Perth; they had one son, Gerald, in 1949. In the late 1950s Annette and Gerald were flown to China by the Maoist government to visit Sam, who had suffered a heart attack; ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' alleged that

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

was so impressed by her that he "made it clear that a place was waiting for her as his consort". Annette's interests lay in the Australian communist movement, however, and she stood as a candidate for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1955 and 1958 and for the House of Representatives in 1966. During the 1960s she was prominent in the anti-

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

movement. Sam Aarons died in 1971 and Annette remarried Duncan Cameron, who was also an active communist; they were leading organisers of the Vietnam War moratoriums and campaigned for Aboriginal rights. A long-time sufferer from

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

, Annette Cameron died in 2008, three years after the death of her husband.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Annette 1920 births 2008 deaths Australian socialist feminists Communist Party of Australia members