Christabel Chamarette
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette (b. May 1, 1948) was a Greens Western Australia Senator for Western Australia from 1992 to 1996.[1]
[edit] Personal life
Born in in Hyderabad, India in 1948,[1] Chamarette is of French Huguenot ancestry.[2] Chamarette has worked as a clinical psychologist at Fremantle Prison and as a community worker in Bangladesh.[2] She has been a member of the Anglican Social Responsibilities Commission, the Aboriginal Driver Training Programme, the Psychologists for the Prevention of War and the Christian Justice Association.[2] In 1998, Chamarette led an eight-week discussion group called "Conversations for the 21st Century", while working as a psychologist with child sexual abuse cases and completing a doctorate on the psychopathology of politics.[3]
Chamarette celebrated her 50th birthday by walking the 800 km (497.1 mi) Pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostella, in 35 days.[3]
[edit] Politics
Chamarette was appointed to the Senate in 1992, following the resignation of Jo Vallentine.[1] In 1995, Chamarette proposed an Export Control Amendment Bill that would ban woodchip exports from old-growth forests.[4] She was opposed to privatising Telstra[5] and delayed the Mabo legislation by demanding the inclusion of mineral rights in the compensation package for native title holders.[6]
She was defeated at the 1996 general election; her term ended several months later on June 30, 1996.[1] Chamarette said that when working in the Senate, she thought it was the most important work of her life, but she now refers to it as simply "useful experience".[7]
Chamarette was one of the four members of the Western Australian parole board who resigned in 2005 after the State Government's response to the Mahoney inquiry.[8] After six months of inquiry, Dennis Mahoney, a retired NSW Supreme Court judge delivered 148 recommendations to improve and retain the parole board.[8] Premier Geoff Gallop instead announced that the board would be replaced.[8] Chamarette said in her resignation letter:
"I have been disturbed by the way the Government (including the Premier and Minister for Justice) have not only failed to defend the board but have directly or by omission added to the attacks on the board. I cannot excuse the failure of the Government to inform the public that the Mahoney inquiry found no fault with the board, or any members of it, and recommended that it be granted legislatively enhanced powers, increased resources and financial independence from the Department of Justice."[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Parliament of Western Australia: Biography. Retrieved on 2008-02-15.
- ^ a b c "Who are the Green senators?", Sunday Age, 22 August 1993, p. 6.
- ^ a b Miller, Nick. "Former senator sees no answers in politics", The West Australian, 13 July 1998, p. 12.
- ^ Boreham, Gareth. "Greens test forest policy", The Age, 21 November 1995, p. 6.
- ^ Chamberlin, Paul. "Telstra senate warning", The Age, 12 March 1996, p. 6.
- ^ "The limits of power", The Age, 11 December 1993, p. 19.
- ^ Crompton, Helen. "Vision ends ex-senator's lavender days", The West Australian, 16 November 2002.
- ^ a b c d Dodd, Mark. "Parole board members resign", The Australian, 29 December 2005, p. 5.
 |
This article about an Australian Greens politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Visit WikiProject Australian politics for article co-ordination. |
