Robyn Read | |
|---|---|
| Member of theAustralian Parliament forNorth Shore | |
| In office 5 November 1988 – 3 May 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Ted Mack |
| Succeeded by | Phillip Smiles |
| Deputy Mayor of North Sydney | |
| In office 25 September 1974 – 22 September 1976 | |
| Mayor | David Wyllie |
| Preceded by | David Wyllie |
| Succeeded by | Carole Baker |
| Alderman of theMunicipality of North Sydney for Kirribilli Ward | |
| In office 18 September 1971 – 17 September 1977 | |
| Alderman of theMunicipality of North Sydney for East Ward | |
| In office 26 September 1987 – 14 September 1991 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | St Leonards,New South Wales, Australia |
| Political party | Independent |
| Alma mater | University of Sydney |
Robyn Read is a formerAustralian politician. She was theIndependent member forNorth Shore in theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 1991.
Read was born inSt Leonards, the daughter of Norman Read and Edith Gordon. She was educated inSydney and received aBachelor of Arts and a Master of Town and Country Planning from theUniversity of Sydney, becoming a journalist and university tutor. Moving into public service, she was Head of the Central Policy Unit in the New South Wales Department of Planning, Commissioner of Water Resources in New South Wales, and Director of the New South Wales Land Co-ordination Unit. Federally she was Executive Director of City Services inCanberra. She sat onNorth Sydney Municipal Council 1970–77 and 1987–91, and was General Manager ofByron Shire Council.[1]
In 1988, theIndependent MP for the state seat ofNorth Shore,Ted Mack, resigned from Parliament to avoid qualifying for a parliamentary pension. Read contested the resultingby-election as an independent with Mack's endorsement, and easily defeated her nearest rival,Liberal candidateJillian Skinner.[2] In the 1991 redistribution, however, the neighbouring seat ofMosman was abolished, and Read was challenged by its Liberal MP,Phillip Smiles and Smiles won narrowly.[3] Read contested North Shore one more time unsuccessfully in theby-election held in 1994 in which she was defeated in a rematch by her old Liberal rival Jillian Skinner.[4]
A crime novel written by Read,The More Things Change, was published in 1996 by Random House. In the novel the body of a member of parliament is found floating in the pool in parliament house. Set in Sydney, the journalist Kate Corbett investigates the murder, uncovering endemic corruption and vice along the way. The original manuscript is in theNational Library of Australia Trove collection.[5][6]
| Civic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by David Wyllie | Deputy Mayor of North Sydney 1974–1976 | Succeeded by Carole Baker |
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||
| Preceded by | Member forNorth Shore 1988–1991 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | General Manager of Byron Shire Council 2001–2002 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
