Joanna Gash (born 21 July 1944) is a former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n politician who served as a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

representing the

Division of Gilmore The Division of Gilmore is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. History The Division of Gilmore was created in 1984 when the House of Representatives was expanded, and was named after Dame Mary Gilmore, the poet ...

for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

from 1996 to 2013. In 2012, Gash was directly elected as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of the

City of Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses t ...

, a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in the south-eastern coastal region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. In 2016, Gash lost the direct election for Mayor of the City of Shoalhaven to Amanda Findley. She was elected as a Ward 2 Councillor for the City of Shoalhaven.

Personal

Gash was born in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

in the Netherlands, and emigrated to Australia when she was six. She was educated at Institute of Administration in Sydney. Before entering politics she was a Regional Manager with the Tourism Commission of New South Wales, a guest house co-proprietor, and a

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

of the

Wingecarribee Shire Council Wingecarribee Shire is the local government area of the Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of regional Capital Countr ...

. She was for many years a scripture and Sunday School teacher and spent many weekends at the Church of England Camps at the Port

Hacking River The Hacking River is a watercourse that is located in the Southern Sydney region of New South Wales in Australia. For thousands of years traditional owners called the river Deeban, however the colonial settlers renamed the river after Henry Ha ...

(Camp Howard).

Political career

Gash was elected to Federal Parliament at the 1996 federal election. In January 2012, she announced that she would not be contesting the next federal election. At the same time, she announced her intention to stand for the mayoral position at the Shoalhaven City Council elections, due to be held in September 2012. Gash was successful, winning the directly-elected role with 63.19% of the vote. She also led a

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

that saw nine other Councillors elected to the thirteenmember Shoalhaven City Council. Following her election as mayor, there was criticism about her

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

ability to hold office as a federal Member of Parliament and to hold an office of profit under the crown, as Mayor. Gash vigorously defended her position. She sought re-election as mayor of City of Shoalhaven at the 2016 NSW Local Council Elections, but lost her position following a massive swing, which saw her lose about half of the vote she won at the 2012 election. Amanda Findley of the

Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, are a confederation of Green state and territory political parties in Australia. As of the 2022 federal election, the Greens are the third largest political party in Australia by vote and th ...

was elected as mayor, with Gash being elected as a Ward 2 councillor. In the 2019 federal election contest for the seat of Gilmore, which she formerly represented, Gash, together with her successor

Ann Sudmalis Ann Elizabeth Sudmalis (''née'' Hardinge; born 16 September 1955) is a former Australian politician. She was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Gilmore in New South Wales, from September 20 ...

, endorsed the National Party candidate

Katrina Hodgkinson Katrina Ann Hodgkinson (born 10 March 1966) is a former Federal Vice President of the National Party of Australia and a former Australian Member of Parliament. She was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Cootamundr ...

over the Prime Minister

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for t ...

's "captain's pick" candidate for the Liberal Party,

Warren Mundine Nyunggai Warren Stephen Mundine is an Australian Aboriginal leader and politician. He was the National President of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but quit the party in 2012. Mundine was appointed chairman of the Coalition government's Indig ...

. The seat was the only one gained by the Labor Party in the election.

Honours and awards

In 2017, Gash was appointed a member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for significant service to the Parliament of Australia, to local government, and to the community of the Shoalhaven.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gash, Joanna 1944 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gilmore Dutch emigrants to Australia People who lost Dutch citizenship Naturalised citizens of Australia Politicians from Groningen (city) Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Mayors of places in New South Wales Women mayors of places in New South Wales 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Members of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian women politicians