Elsie Kay Hallahan (born 4 November 1941) is a former deputy leader of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party. As a member of the Labor Party, she also served as a minister in the

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...

, Dowding and

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

ministries in Western Australia, and was the first woman ever to sit in both the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

and 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 ...

. She joined the

Western Australian Police The Western Australia Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, provides police services throughout the state of Western Australia, an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction, with a population ...

in 1969 before moving into social work in 1981. Her social work career included working at the Western Australian Alcohol and Drug Authority. At the 1983 election, she won one of the

South-East Metropolitan Province The South-East Metropolitan Province was a two-member electoral province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in metropolitan Perth. It was one of several metropolitan seats created following the enactment of the ''Constitution A ...

seats in the

. Following the 1986 election, she became a minister in the Burke Ministry, with the portfolios of Community Services, the Family, Youth, the Aged and Women's Interests, and served in similar roles in the Dowding Ministry. At the 1989 election, with the transition of the Legislative Council to a proportional system of election, she transferred to the

East Metropolitan Region The East Metropolitan Region is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Perth. It was created by the ''Acts Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 1987'', and b ...

. With

Carmen Lawrence Carmen Mary Lawrence (born 2 March 1948) is an Australian academic and former politician who was the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993, the first woman to become the premier of an Australian state. A member of the Labor Party, sh ...

's rise to premier in February 1990, a significant reshuffle saw Hallahan become Minister for Planning, Lands, Heritage and the Arts. On 5 February 1991 she became Minister for Education. At the 1993 election, she moved to the Legislative Assembly, successfully contesting the seat of Armadale and in doing so replacing

Bob Pearce Robert John Pearce (born 24 February 1946) is a former Australian politician, who was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1977 until 1993 representing the seats of Gosnells and Armadale. Biography Pearce was born i ...

whose career had effectively been ended by the

WA Inc WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, the state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie ...

royal commission. She served as Deputy Opposition Leader from February 1993 until October 1994. She retired from parliament at the 1996 election, being succeeded by

Alannah MacTiernan Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan (born 10 January 1953) is an Australian politician. Since 1988, she has served in politics at a federal, state, and local level, including as a minister in the Western Australian state governments of Ge ...

(who had also succeeded her in the East Metropolitan seat in the Council in 1993). In 2002, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "service to the community, particularly as an advocate for the needs of children, women and the elderly, in matters of social justice, and to the Parliament of Western Australia." She also became chairperson of Save The Children Australia. At the 2004 federal election, following the death of one preselected candidate and the resignation of her replacement, Hallahan nominated to run for Liberal-held

Division of Canning The Division of Canning is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. History The division was created in 1949 and is named for Alfred Canning, the Western Australian government surveyor who surveyed the Canning Stock Route. It ...

, which included Armadale, but was defeated. Ironically Alannah MacTiernan, who had succeeded Hallahan in her Legislative Council and then Legislative Assembly seats, also stood for the ALP in Canning at the 2010 election but she too was unsuccessful. However unlike Hallahan, MacTiernan eventually found her way to Federal Parliament when she won the seat of Perth at the 2013 election.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallahan, Elsie Kay 1941 births Living people Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly Women members of the Western Australian Legislative Council