Lucy Alesia Horodny ( uk, Люсі Алесія Городня; born 4 March 1957) is an Australian politician and environmentalist. Horodny, who is of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

descent, first made her name as an activist for the Wilderness Society. She entered politics in 1995, running as a Greens candidate for 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 ...

and was immediately successful at the first ever run of the new party: She subsequently defeated liberal independent

Helen Szuty Helen Margaret Szuty (born 3 September 1957) is a former Australian politician. She was an Independent member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 1995. Education Szuty graduated with a BA from the University of ...

, and took her place as one of two Green members in the Assembly, alongside

Kerrie Tucker Kerrie Robyn Tucker (born 15 September 1948), former Australian politician, environmental and human rights activist, was a member of the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the multi-member electorate of ...

. Immediately after the 1995 election, Horodny and Tucker caused some controversy among sections of the left wing when they supported the installation of the conservative

Kate Carnell Anne Katherine Carnell (née Knowlman; born 30 May 1955) is an Australian businesswoman and former Liberal Party politician, who served as the third Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) from 1995 to 2000. Early life and p ...

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

– though they often clashed with Carnell and her party in parliament over social and environmental issues. In her one term in the Legislative Assembly, she was a strong advocate for environmental causes, both inside the ACT, such as the preservation of the Black Mountain area (which had been threatened by the

Gungahlin Drive Extension Gungahlin Drive Extension (GDE) is a freeway grade road, located in the Belconnen district of Canberra, Australia. It is 8.3 kilometres long and extended the previously existing Gungahlin Drive from the Barton Highway in the district of Gungah ...

), and outside, such as her attempts to save

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

's environmentally sensitive Tarkine wilderness area from logging and development. She also advocated for several progressive causes, such as a bid to legalise

voluntary euthanasia Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years. Some forms of ...

in the ACT (which only narrowly failed). She also vocally opposed the demolition of the Royal Canberra Hospital, preferring that the buildings be reused, and later, once the demolition became inevitable, opposed the government's preferred method, implosion, on environmental grounds. Horodny adopted a child in 1997, and announced soon after that she would take a year off from work and step down at the coming election. She was replaced in the Legislative Assembly by conservative independent

Dave Rugendyke David Ross Rugendyke (born 3 April 1953) is an Australian politician, and was a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly for the multi-member electorate of Ginninderra. Prior to entering politics, Rugendyke was a police of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horodny, Lucy Members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly 1957 births Living people Australian Greens members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly Australian people of Ukrainian descent Women members of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly