![Sandra Kanck](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Sandra_Kanck.jpg)
Sandra Myrtho Kanck (born 20 April 1950) is a
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
n politician. She was a member of the
South Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly. It sits in Parli ...
from 1993 to 2009, first elected for the
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
for an eight-year term at the
1993 election and was re-elected for the Democrats for another eight-year term at the
2002 election. Kanck announced her parliamentary resignation in November 2008, taking effect in January 2009. Democrats nominee
David Winderlich
David Nicholas Winderlich (born 18 January 1964), is an Australian teacher, public servant and politician who in February 2009 was the Australian Democrats nominee to fill a South Australian Legislative Council casual vacancy in a joint sittin ...
filled the upper house
casual vacancy
In politics, a casual vacancy (''casual'' in the sense of "by chance") is a situation in which a seat in a deliberative assembly becomes vacant during that assembly's term. Casual vacancies may arise through the death, resignation or disqualifi ...
in a
joint sitting of the
Parliament of South Australia
The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...
in February 2009.
Early life
Sandra Kanck (née Cederblad) was born in
Broken Hill
Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...
,
New South Wales
)
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, 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 ...
with six younger siblings and she credits the associated financial poverty and her Methodist Church upbringing to many of her views about inequality and injustice. She was a primary school teacher in NSW from 1978–80, teaching at Gillieston and Weston Primary Schools in the Hunter Valley.
Early politics
In 1971 she attended her first public meeting to express concern at
nuclear weapons testing by the French at
Muroroa Atoll
Moruroa (Mururoa, Mururura), also historically known as Aopuni, is an atoll which forms part of the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is located about southeast of Tahiti. Administratively Moruroa Atoll ...
. From this point onwards she became involved in the anti-nuclear and then peace and environment movements. From 1991-92 she was employed by the Conservation Council of South Australia as Administrative Assistant and then Administrative Officer. Continuing her
anti-nuclear activism, in 2009, she authored, on behalf of the Australian Democrats (SA Division Inc.) a substantial submission in response to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed
Olympic Dam mine expansion.
Parliament
First elected at the
1993 election, Kanck's first speech in parliament was about the need for an environmentally sustainable level of population for Australia, and her first private member's bill was about the choosing and ongoing education of judges.
Kanck twice introduced a bill for a Midwives Act, and during the course of debate on the ''Nurses Act 1999'' fought hard and successfully to retain a register of midwives separate from that of nurses. For her advocacy the SA Branch of the
Australian College of Midwives
The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) is a professional organisation representing midwives and midwifery policy in Australia.
The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) was founded nationally in 1984, when midwifery associations in a number of s ...
chose her for their inaugural Midwifery Advocate of the Year Award in 1999.
On 14 March 2001 Kanck introduced her ''Dignity in Dying Bill 2001'' to the South Australian Parliament. The bill was drafted in large part by the South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society (SAVES), of which she has since been awarded life membership. She introduced the bill twice, and on the second occasion it passed the second reading vote, but failed at the third reading. In August 2006, Kanck ignored government requests not to discuss
suicide methods
A suicide method is any means by which a person chooses to end their life. Suicide attempts do not always result in death, and a nonfatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries, long-term health problems, and bra ...
in a parliamentary speech on legalising voluntary
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
. Although suppressed from the parliament's internet record by a narrowly resolved Legislative Council vote, the speech was published elsewhere. She is the first parliamentarian in Australia to have been censored in this way.
In May 2006, she controversially advocated the
therapeutic use of
MDMA
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in Tablet (pharmacy), tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for Recreational dru ...
(identified in news media as "ecstasy" or "the base ingredient in ecstasy"). One of her final private members' bills in 2008 was a bill for the medical use of cannabis.
![SandraKanckTreeRally](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/SandraKanckTreeRally.jpg)
Kanck was successful in amending the Commission of Inquiry (Children in State Care)(Children on APY Lands) Bill 2004. The "
Mullighan Inquiry
Edward Picton "Ted" Mullighan, QC (25 March 1939 – 15 September 2011) was an Australian judge who was known as an Indigenous rights advocate and protecting vulnerable people. He was known for his role as Commissioner of the Government of Sout ...
" (named after Commissioner
Ted Mulligan
TED may refer to:
Economics and finance
* TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar
Education
* ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association
** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey
** Transvaal Education Depa ...
) into the
sexual abuse of children in state care and on the
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunyjatjara lands made 54 recommendations for action in its final report, published in March 2008.
Kanck's amendments required the government to respond within three months to indicate which of the recommendations they would implement, and then to table an annual report about that implementation for every year for the following five years after receipt of the report, a first in terms of causing action on a government-commissioned report on Aboriginal Affairs.
During her time in parliament she served on the Social Development, Environment Resources & Development and Natural Resources Standing Committees, and numerous select committees, including chairing the Select Committee on the Impact of Peak Oil on South Australia which reported to the parliament late in 2008.
Kanck was successful in moving a motion to refer the matter of
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), also known as idiopathic environmental intolerances (IEI), is an unrecognized and controversial diagnosis characterized by chronic symptoms attributed to exposure to low levels of commonly used chemicals. Symp ...
to the Social Development Committee. With a strong environmental focus in her politics she also succeeded in referring the matter of Marine Parks to the Environment Resources and Development Committee and actively campaigned against the Upper South-East Drylands Salinity Scheme during her time as a member of that Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.
Kanck announced her resignation on 7 November 2008 with her resignation taking effect on 31 January 2009.
[Last Democrat to resign]
ABC: 7/11/2008. The party membership selected
David Winderlich
David Nicholas Winderlich (born 18 January 1964), is an Australian teacher, public servant and politician who in February 2009 was the Australian Democrats nominee to fill a South Australian Legislative Council casual vacancy in a joint sittin ...
as her replacement in the Legislative Council.
She stood as one of the
Candidates of the South Australian state election, 2010
This is a list of candidates of the 2010 South Australian state election.
Retiring MPs Liberal
*Graham Gunn MHA ( Stuart)
*Liz Penfold MHA ( Flinders)
* Robert Lawson MLC
* Caroline Schaefer MLC
Labor
*Lea Stevens MHA (Little Para)
*Trish White ...
, in the third and unwinnable position in the list of
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Australia ...
Candidates for the Legislative Council.
Post Parliament
Kanck is a continuing
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
and human rights campaigner and
environmentalist
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
.
Since April 2009 Kanck has been the National President of
Sustainable Population Australia,
a Committee Member of the SA Branch of Sustainable Population Australia, President of SA Branch of
Friends of the ABC (2009–2010) and now a Committee Member, a Patron of the Broken Hill Community Foundation and an honorary member of the Leaders Institute of South Australia, SA spokesperson for Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform, a member of the executive of the SA Council for Civil Liberties, State President of the Democrats in South Australia.
In December 2012 a breakaway faction of the Australian Democrats publicly claimed to have revoked her membership. However, the National Executive carried a motion stating she was a member of good standing. In July 2017 Ms Kanck became the Senior Deputy National President of the party.
References
External links
Australian Democrats website*
Fearless activist retires
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanck, Sandra
1950 births
Living people
Australian Democrats members of the Parliament of South Australia
Australian environmentalists
Australian women environmentalists
Women members of the South Australian Legislative Council
Members of the South Australian Legislative Council
Australian anti–nuclear weapons activists
21st-century Australian politicians
21st-century Australian women politicians