Lillian Oh was the president of the Christmas Island Shire Council between 1993 and 1995.

Career

Lillian Oh first moved to

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

to help the

Union of Christmas Island Workers The Union of Christmas Island Workers (UCIW) is a trade union in Christmas Island, the non self-governing territory of Australia. It represents workers on the island, and is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions The Austral ...

to establish a worker-led co-operative mining operation after the mine run by the Christmas Island Phosphate Mining Company was closed by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

. She was keen to ensure that the new mine was more environmentally friendly than the previous operation and later stated that "only under worker control did the mine start caring for the environment". Oh also assisted in the Christmas Island Rainforest Rehabilitation Program, a joint effort with the mine's previous owners and the

Australian Nature Conservation Agency Director of National Parks is a government-owned corporation of the Australian government responsible for the management of a portfolio of terrestrial and marine protected areas proclaimed under the ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Con ...

, that ran from 1989 to restore the natural habitat of the

Abbott's booby Abbott's booby (''Papasula abbotti'') is an endangered seabird of the sulid family, which includes gannets and boobies. It is a large booby and is placed within its own monotypic genus. It was first identified from a specimen collected by Will ...

and the

Christmas Island red crab The Christmas Island red crab (''Gecarcoidea natalis'') is a species of land crab that is endemic to Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean. Although restricted to a relatively small area, an estimated 43.7 million a ...

, which had been damaged by mining. In September 1992 Oh was elected general-secretary of the union. Oh was elected president of the

Christmas Island Shire Council The Shire of Christmas Island is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area of the Australian external territory of Christmas Island (; List of postal codes in Australia, post code: 6798). The island is grouped with We ...

, the island's local government body, in May 1993 and held that position until 1995. In March 1995 she raised the poor accommodation of asylum seekers on the island with the Australian government. Oh participated in the 1995

Commonwealth Grants Commission The Commonwealth Grants Commission is an Australian independent statutory body that advises the Australian Government on financial assistance to the states and territories of Australia under section 96 of the Australian Constitution. The Commis ...

Christmas Island Inquiry into the quality of provision of public services on the island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh, Lillian Women local councillors in Australia Living people Australian trade unionists 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians Christmas Island Year of birth missing (living people)