Frances Bedford
Encyclopedia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, is a member of the South Australian House of Assembly
South Australian House of Assembly
The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...
. She represents the electoral district of Florey
Electoral district of Florey
Florey is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after scientist Howard Florey, who was responsible for the development of penicillin...
and is a member of the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
.
Bedford was born in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and moved to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and then Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
after the death of her mother. She became involved in politics and became an electorate officer for former Labor MP Peter Duncan
Peter Duncan (Australian politician)
Peter Duncan was an Australian Labor Party politician and one of the relatively few members of parliament to have not only served in both a state and national parliament, but also served as a minister in both cases....
. She was elected to State Parliament in the 1997 state election.
Hailing from the Socialist Left faction of the Australian Labor Party, Bedford has described herself as being South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
's most left-wing MP. Her support for the Relationships Bill 2005, a bill which extends legal protections to same-sex couples, has made her a target of fundamentalist groups. Her opinions are considered by some as being incompatible with the opinions of her 'bible belt
Bible Belt
Bible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average.The...
' electorate . Despite this, she was returned at the 2006 state election
South Australian legislative election, 2006
The state election for the 51st Parliament of South Australia was held in the Australian state of South Australia on 18 March 2006, and was conducted by the independent State Electoral Office.-House of Assembly:...
with a swing of over 10 per cent (two party preferred), exceeding the statewide swing to the Labor Government and defeating her Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
opponent Pat Trainor, a former pastor in the Assemblies of God.
As of the 2010 state election, Bedford holds Florey
Electoral district of Florey
Florey is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. It is named after scientist Howard Florey, who was responsible for the development of penicillin...
with a margin of 3.6 percent.