Judith Eleanor Moylan (born 24 February 1944) is a former Australian politician. She served in 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 ...

from 1993 to 2013, representing the

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 ...

n seat of Pearce for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

. She served as Minister for Family Services (1996–1997) and Minister for the Status of Women (1997–1998) in the early years of Howard government and was known for her liberal views.

Early life

Moylan was born on 24 February 1944 in

Guildford, Western Australia Guildford is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, 12 km northeast of the city centre within the City of Swan. Guildford was founded in 1829 as one of the earliest settlements of the Swan River Colony. It is one of only three towns in the ...

. She completed a diploma in real estate management at Perth Technical College. She obtained a real estate licence in 1979 and subsequently established her own real estate business. Moylan was also a TAFE coordinator and lecturer from 1984 to 1987. She was president of the Midland and Districts Chamber of Commerce from 1990 to 1991.

Politics

Moylan was first elected to parliament at the 1993 federal election. She was the first woman to hold a WA seat in the House of Representatives for the Liberal Party. She was a supporter of

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson wa ...

in the 1994 leadership spill, in which Hewson was defeated by

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...

. She was subsequently appointed to Downer's shadow ministry as the shadow small business minister. Following the Coalition's victory at the 1996 federal election, Moylan was appointed Minister for Family Services in the Howard government. She was moved to the status of women portfolio in October 1997 and dropped from the ministry after the 1998 election. In November 1997 she appeared in a television advertising supporting a "Yes" vote in the republic referendum, alongside other Liberal ministers

Amanda Vanstone Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the ...

and John Fahey. Moylan was a leading member of the Liberal Party's "small-l liberal" wing, which made her stand out in an increasingly conservative party. In June 2005 she joined a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

revolt led by Liberal colleague Petro Georgiou in an attempt to end the system of

mandatory detention in Australia The Australian government has a policy and practice of detaining in immigration detention facilities non-citizens not holding a valid visa, suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and ...

of asylum seekers. On 28 July 2011, she announced she would stand down at the next federal election.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moylan, Judi 1944 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Pearce Members of the Australian House of Representatives Women members of the Australian House of Representatives Politicians from Perth, Western Australia Women government ministers of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians 20th-century Australian politicians Government ministers of Australia 20th-century Australian women politicians Australian republicans