Joyce Steele (29 May 1909 – 24 September 1991) was an Australian politician and one of the first two women elected to 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 ...

, the other being Jessie Cooper. Steele was elected to the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

and Cooper was elected to the Legislative Council at the 1959 election. Ironically, while South Australian

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

had been given the right to vote and stand for election—a right they had gained at the 1896 election—South Australia had been the last state to elect a female representative. Prior to her election, Joyce Steele was a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

, an ABC broadcaster and active in community organisations, including the Queen Adelaide Club (the women's equivalent of the exclusive

Adelaide Club The Adelaide Club is an exclusive gentlemen's club situated on North Terrace in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. Founded in 1863, the club comprises members of the Adelaide Establishment. South Australian Club (1838–1843) An ea ...

). She was pre-selected for the

Liberal and Country League 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 ...

's (LCL) safest metropolitan seat, Burnside, in 1959 and was comfortably elected. She was not a feminist, and was affiliated with the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

wing of the LCL. Molly Byrne was

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

's first female elected to the

at the 1965 election, and the third ahead of Steele and Cooper. Steele was also the first South Australian woman to achieve Cabinet rank in the South Australian Parliament as Minister of Education in the Hall Government from 1968 to 1969. As South Australian schools were increasingly overcrowded due to the children of the

baby boomers Baby boomers, often shortened to boomers, are the Western demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964, during the mid-20th century baby boom. ...

passing through, it was a tough portfolio, although moderate increases in education spending were allocated. She took the Social Welfare ministry for the remainder of the Hall government's term. After the government passed electoral reform legislation in 1968, Burnside was mostly replaced by the equally safe seat of

Bragg Bragg may refer to: Places * Bragg City, Missouri, United States * Bragg, Texas, a ghost town, United States * Bragg, West Virginia, an unincorporated community, United States *Electoral district of Bragg, a state electoral district in South Austra ...

. However, Steele did not contest this seat, instead transferring to the LCL's safest new seat, Davenport, which covered the south-east of the

City of Burnside The City of Burnside is a local government area in the South Australian city of Adelaide stretching from the Adelaide Parklands into the Adelaide foothills with an area of . It was founded in August 1856 as the District Council of Burnside, the ...

. She received 68% of the primary vote in the 1970 election. On 9 June 1973, Young Liberals State President and Liberal Movement member

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announced his intention to stand for Davenport pre-selection. Steele, in response, announced her retirement, but not without declaring that "

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certainly will not have my support. I think my attitude to the Liberal Movement is well known". In the 1981 New Years Honours Steele was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Joyce 1909 births 1991 deaths Liberal and Country League politicians Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians 20th-century Australian women politicians Women members of the South Australian House of Assembly

See also

References