Silvia Joy Smith (22 December 1939 – 6 March 2020) 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 t ...

(ALP), serving in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

from 1993 to 1996 and the

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two chambers of the Parliament, the other being the House of Assembly. Both houses sit in Parliament House in the state capital, ...

from 1997 to 2003.

Early life

Smith was born on 22 December 1939 in

Wivenhoe, Tasmania Wivenhoe is a locality and suburb of Burnie in the local government area of City of Burnie, in the North West region of Tasmania. It is located about south-east of the town of Burnie. The northern boundary is formed by Bass Strait, and the wes ...

. She worked as a schoolteacher from 1959 to 1988.

Politics

Smith was an officeholder in the ALP's West Launceston branch and was a delegate to the party's state council from 1987. She was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

at the 1993 federal election, winning Bass for the ALP from the incumbent

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

MP Warwick Smith. She was elected with a narrow margin of 40 votes on the

two-party-preferred In Australian politics, the two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP ...

count. In parliament, Smith served on the House standing committees on community affairs and employment, education and training. Her Liberal predecessor Warwick Smith reclaimed the seat at the 1996 election. In 1997, she ran for and was elected to the

electorate of

Windermere Windermere (sometimes tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in length, and almost 1 mile (1.5 km) at its wides ...

as an Independent Labor candidate. She served for one six-year term before being defeated by conservative independent Ivan Dean, at the 2003 periodic elections.

Personal life

Smith had two daughters with her husband Jack. They were also foster parents to several other children. Smith died on 6 March 2020, aged 80, having been diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

15 years earlier.

References

1939 births 2020 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Bass Women members of the Australian House of Representatives 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians People from Burnie, Tasmania Women members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council Members of the Tasmanian Legislative Council 20th-century Australian women politicians Australian schoolteachers People with Parkinson's disease {{Australia-Labor-representative-stub