Wendy Machin | |
|---|---|
| Member of theNew South Wales Parliament forGloucester | |
| In office 12 October 1985 – 22 February 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Leon Punch |
| Succeeded by | Abolished |
| Member of theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly forManning | |
| In office 19 March 1988 – 3 May 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Recreated |
| Succeeded by | Abolished |
| Member of theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly forPort Macquarie | |
| In office 25 May 1991 – 28 August 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Bruce Jeffery |
| Succeeded by | Rob Oakeshott |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1958-10-14)14 October 1958 (age 66) Wingham, New South Wales,Australia |
| Political party | The Nationals |
| Alma mater | New South Wales Institute of Technology |
| Occupation | Consultant |
Wendy Susan Machin (born 14 October 1958 inWingham, New South Wales),[1] is a former Australian politician. She was the first woman member of theNationals elected to theNew South Wales Parliament and was Minister for Consumer Affairs and Minister Assisting the Minister for Roads and Assisting the Minister for Transport between 1993–1995.[2] She was later president of theNational Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) from 2008 to 2014.
Machin studied at Wingham High School before earning a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) at theNew South Wales Institute of Technology[2] She also holds a Masters of Commerce from the University of New South Wales.[2][3][4]
Machin worked for the Young National Party as a field organiser, serving on its State Executive, and as Communications Officer for the National Party of Australia from 1981–82.[1][2] In 1983 she was elected to North Sydney Municipal Council an independent alderman at age 25, serving until 1985 when she contested a by-election for theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly seat ofGloucester on 12 October.[1][2][4]
Winning the safe National Party seat, she became the first woman to represent the National Party in the Legislative Assembly.[2] She founded her company Machin Consulting in the same year.
Her original seat of Gloucester was abolished before the1988 state election, so she stood for the newly recreated seat ofManning which covered the a portion of the same area. Manning was subsequently abolished after one term. The bulk of its territory was merged intoPort Macquarie at the1991 state election, and Machin successfully transferred there.
Machin was DeputySpeaker and became the first woman to chair the New South Wales Parliament.[5] She appointed Minister for Consumer Affairs in the coalition government ofJohn Fahey on 26 May 1993.[2][5]
The election of theCarrLabor government in 1995 saw the coalition in opposition. Machin was appointed shadow minister for Consumer Affairs, Roads and Fisheries until she resigned from Parliament on 28 August 1996 after the birth of her second child.[3] Her resignation prompted the 1996 Port Macquarie by election, won by then National Party memberRob Oakeshott.[2][6]
Machin became the President ofSave the Children Fund NSW in 1996, remaining in that position until 2000, as well as serving on the National Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.[3][4][5][7]
Between 1997 and 2000 Machin was the Deputy Chair of theAustralian Republican Movement.[2][4] She was a delegate to theConstitutional Convention in February 1998, elected by a voluntary ballot run by the Australian Electoral Commission[8][9]
In 2005, Machin was elected to the board of the NRMA[10] to represent the Coghlan region, which stretches from theHunter River to the Queensland border. Following her re-election to the NRMA board on 8 December 2008, Machin became President on 10 December until November 2014.[4][7]
Wendy Machin has 3 children; James, Georgia and Emma.[1][2][3][4] Her only sibling, Janne, was left profoundly disabled after a difficult birth.[11]
| New South Wales Legislative Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member forGloucester 1985-1988 | Succeeded by Abolished |
| Preceded by Recreated | Member forManning 1988-1991 | Succeeded by Abolished |
| Preceded by | Member forPort Macquarie 1991-1996 | Succeeded by |
