Ruth Nancy Coleman (; 27 September 1931 – 27 March 2008) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

(ALP) and served as a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1974 to 1987. She was prominent in the

anti-nuclear movement The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, nationa ...

Early life

Coleman was born on 27 September 1931 in

Collie, Western Australia Collie is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, south of the state capital, Perth, and inland from the regional city and port of Bunbury. It is near the junction of the Collie and Harris Rivers, in the middle of dense jarrah fo ...

, the daughter of Alice Beatrice (née Boulden) and Vincent Huckstep. Her father was a railway ganger and the family moved frequently during her childhood. She began her schooling at a state school in East Victoria Park and later boarded at a convent school in Toodyay. She left school at the age of 13 and "was variously employed as a bus conductress, usherette, waitress, housemaid and cashier". She later trained as a telephonist and found work as a secretary, then moved into "publishing, advertising and copywriting, and eventually public relations". Coleman moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in the 1950s with her first husband, where she began working in radio and television. In 1964 she made an appearance as a cafe proprietor in ''

Consider Your Verdict ''Consider Your Verdict'' is an Australian television series made by Crawford Productions for the Seven Network originally screening from February 1961 through to June 1964. It was based on a radio series with the same name broadcast on 3DB in ...

''. She returned to Perth in 1964 following her divorce and worked for Swan Television (Channel Nine) as a publicity and promotions officer. In 1970, Coleman became interested in

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

after buying a

pantsuit A pantsuit, also known as a trouser suit outside the United States, is a woman's suit of clothing consisting of pants and a matching or coordinating coat or jacket. Formerly, the prevailing fashion for women included some form of a coat, p ...

falsely labelled as pure linen. She became the inaugural secretary of the Consumers' Action Movement in 1971 and was subsequently appointed to the Consumer Affairs Council of Western Australia and the Retail Trades and Control Advisory Committee. ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

'' reported in 1974 that she was a "household name throughout Western Australia" and had made 117 speeches the previous year.

Politics

Before her election to parliament, Coleman served as treasurer of the

Mount Lawley Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

branch of the ALP and was a member of the state executive. She was elected to the Senate at the 1974 federal election, with all seats vacant due to a

double dissolution A double dissolution is a procedure permitted under the Australian Constitution to resolve deadlocks in the bicameral Parliament of Australia between the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). A double dissolution ...

. She and

Jean Melzer Jean Isabel Melzer (7 February 1926 – 18 June 2013) was an Australian Australian Senate, Senator representing the Australian Labor Party and the state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. She was elected at the 1974 Australian federal electio ...

of Victoria was the ALP's first female senators since the retirement of

Dorothy Tangney Dame Dorothy Margaret Tangney DBE (13 March 19073 June 1985) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1943 to 1968. She was the first woman elected to ...

in 1968. Coleman was re-elected at the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

and

1983 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1983. Africa * 1983 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1983 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1983 Kenyan general election * 1983 Malagasy parliamentary election * 1983 Malawian general elec ...

, retiring prior to the 1987 election. Coleman served on numerous Senate committees, including as chair of the Industry and Trade committee during the

Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

and Hawke governments. Although she described herself as "not a feminist", she spoke frequently on women's issues. She was also interested in Aboriginal affairs but was "most remembered for her passionate opposition to the threat of nuclear warfare and to uranium mining, and for her defence of civil liberties". In 1979, she was arrested at a protest against the

Bjelke-Petersen Bjelke-Petersen is the name of an Australian family of Danish descent. The common ancestors of the Australian family are Georg Peter Bjelke-Petersen (born c. 1845), a Danish farmer and master-builder, and his wife Caroline Vilhelmine (maiden name ...

government in Queensland, and subsequently fined $70. She was again arrested and fined the following year following a protest in Perth. Coleman sponsored the ''Nuclear News Roundup'' newsletter and was a co-founder of Women Against Uranium Mining. In 1983 she was threatened with expulsion from the ALP if she crossed the floor to vote against the Hawke government's approval of the

Olympic Dam mine The Olympic Dam mine is a large poly-metallic underground mine located in South Australia, NNW of Adelaide. It is the fourth largest copper deposit and the largest known single deposit of uranium in the world. Copper is the largest contributor ...

. She suffered a cerebral haemorrhage at her office in Midland in 1984, and was "critically ill for two weeks". While serving as a temporary chairman of committees, Coleman remarked "I have no sex in this position" in response to

Michael Townley Michael Vernon Townley (born December 5, 1942, in Waterloo, Iowa) is an American-born former agent of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the secret police of Chile during the regime of Augusto Pinochet. In 1978, Townley pled guilty t ...

expressing confusion over the correct form of address for a woman in the chair. Her retort "immediately sent more than a ripple of laughter through the chamber" and she was reputedly "annoyed

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official print ...

did not show the comments".

Personal life

Coleman had a daughter from her first marriage. She remarried in 1967 to Jim Coleman, with whom she had one son. Her husband served as the secretary of the Trades and Labour Council of Western Australia and was later appointed to the

Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission and from 1973 to 1988 as the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, was a tribunal with powers ...

. He also retired in 1987 and the couple settled in Yunderup. Coleman returned to Perth following her husband's death and lived in Bassendean until her death from cancer on 27 March 2008. She was cremated at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Ruth 1931 births 2008 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Australian Senate for Western Australia Women members of the Australian Senate 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians Australian anti–nuclear weapons activists Australian anti–nuclear power activists Australian anti-uranium activists Australian public relations people Consumer rights activists Deaths from cancer in Western Australia People from Collie, Western Australia