Helen Margaret Szuty (born 3 September 1957) is a former

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politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She was an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

member of the

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly) is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building on Civic Sq ...

from 1992 to 1995.

Education

Szuty graduated with a BA from the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

and a Master of Education from the former

Canberra College of Advanced Education The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

before working in Community Services in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

ACT Legislative Assembly

In 1992 she stood for the ACT Legislative Assembly and was elected as the running mate of sitting independent

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ' ...

on the Moore Independents Group ticket, but sat in the Assembly as an independent. She was unsuccessful in recontesting her seat at the 1995 election on Moore's ticket, and again on an attempt to regain her seat at the 1998 election as an unaligned independent.

''Szuty v Smyth''

In 1998, ACT Minister for Urban Services, Brendan Smyth claimed that Szuty made inappropriate representations to him on behalf of a client of the real estate agency where Szuty had recently been employed. Szuty made representations that her client was facing severe hardship. As a result of Smyth's complaint, made in confidence, to the Real Estate Institute of the ACT, Szuty was dismissed by her employer. Szuty asked Smyth to withdraw his complaint; which he ignored. On the basis of the complaint, Szuty claimed that she had been allegedly defamed, and Smyth's actions adversely affected her employment and had ultimately forced her to leave the ACT. Szuty took defamation proceeding in the

ACT Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory is the highest court of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It has unlimited jurisdiction within the territory in civil matters and hears the most serious criminal matters. The court ha ...

. In a finding that was handed down in 2004, Chief Justice Higgins was scathing in his criticism of Smyth, but ruled that the defamatory remarks he had made about Szuty were protected by

qualified privilege The defence of qualified privilege permits a person in a position of authority or trust to make statements or relay or report statements that would be considered slander and libel if made by anyone else. In New Zealand and Ontario, for instance, ...

South Australia

Szuty moved to Burra,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in 1999. She edited and published "The Visitors Monthly" magazine in Burra from 2001 to 2011, and was also the spokesperson for the Group of Concerned Burra and District Residents and the Ratepayers Action Group (Regional Council of Goyder). She contested the Burra Ward of the

Regional Council of Goyder The Regional Council of Goyder is a local government area located in the Mid North region of South Australia. The council area is reliant on agriculture as a mainstay of its economy, with manufacturing and tourism also becoming prominent. The co ...

at the 2010 and 2014 local government elections and again at a 2016 supplementary election, but was unsuccessful on each occasion. More recently she moved to Tanunda,

where she has worked under contract as a Field Interviewer with

Roy Morgan Research Roy Morgan, formerly known as Roy Morgan Research, is an independent Australian social and political market research and public opinion statistics company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. It operates nationally as Roy Morgan and internation ...

on a variety of projects. In the

2018 South Australian state election The 2018 South Australian state election to elect members to the 54th Parliament of South Australia was held on 17 March 2018. All 47 seats in the House of Assembly or lower house, whose members were elected at the 2014 election, and 11 of 22 se ...

she was the SA Best candidate for the

electoral district of Playford Playford is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. Named after the long serving South Australian premier Tom Playford, it is a 22.7 km² suburban electorate in Adelaide's north, taking in the suburbs ...

.Electorate of Playford
, sabest.org.auHelen Szuty - candidate for the seat of Playford
, sabest.org.au

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szuty, Helen Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 1957 births Living people Independent members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Women members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly