Biography

Watson was born in 1957 in Eastleigh

Eastleigh

Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough which is part of Southampton Urban Area. The town lies between Southampton and Winchester, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation...

, a town in Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and emigrated to Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 in September 1967, travelling extensively through the state. She studied environmental science at Murdoch University

Murdoch University

Murdoch University is a public university based in Perth, Australia. It began operations as the state's second university in 1973, and accepted its first students in 1975...

 and, after leaving university to do voluntary work for a couple of years, graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1980. Watson was involved in protests in Western Australia against the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 in the early 1970s. She also became involved in 1979 in the first forest blockades at Wagerup

Wagerup, Western Australia

Wagerup is a town located in the Peel region of Western Australia just off the South Western Highway, between Waroona and Harvey.-History:...

 against clear felling of jarrah forests for bauxite mining.

She returned to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in the 1980s, where she was involved with training women to participate in the peace camp

Peace camp

Peace camps are a form of physical protest camp that is focused on anti-war activity. They are set up outside military bases by members of the peace movement who oppose either the existence of the military bases themselves, the armaments held there, or the politics of those who control the bases...

 outside the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 base RAF Greenham Common

RAF Greenham Common

RAF Station Greenham Common is a former military airfield in Berkshire, England. The airfield is located approximately south-southwest of Thatcham; about west of London....

, which protested against the deployment of nuclear

Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...

 cruise missile

Cruise missile

A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...

s at the base. In 1985 she participated in the first encirclement by women protestors of Greenham Common. In 1984 Watson attained a trade certificate in carpentry

Carpentry

A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....

 from the City and Guilds of London Institute

City and Guilds of London Institute

The City and Guilds of London Institute is a leading United Kingdom vocational education organisation. City & Guilds offers more than 500 qualifications over the whole range of industry sectors through 8500 colleges and training providers in 81 countries worldwide...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. It was soon after this that she joined the anarchist building collective in London, with everyone from architects to labourers getting the same pay, making decisions equally and subsidising worthy projects.

In 1985 she returned to Australia and ran a building and construction business in Western Australia. In 1992, Watson became one of only three women to be registered as builders in Western Australia. During this time Watson also worked as the coordinator for the Marine & Coastal Community Network in Western Australia.

Political life

Watson joined the Greens WA

Greens Western Australia

The Greens Western Australia is the state branch of the Australian Greens in Western Australia. The Greens WA was formed following the merger of the WA Greens and the Green Earth Alliance...

 party in 1990, and in the federal election that year, stood for the House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 seat of Forrest

Division of Forrest

The Division of Forrest is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. The division was created in 1922 and is named for Sir John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia and a federal Cabinet minister. It is located in the south-western corner of the state, including the towns of...

. Shortly afterwards, she became the co-convener of the Greens WA party. Watson was narrowly elected to the state's Legislative Council

Western Australian Legislative Council

The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...

 at the 1996 election

Western Australian state election, 1996

Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 14 December 1996 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...

, as a member for the North Metropolitan Region

Electoral region of North Metropolitan

The electoral region of North Metropolitan is a multi-member electoral region of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the north-western and western suburbs of Perth. It was created by the Acts Amendment Act 1987, and became effective on 22 May 1989 with seven members who had been...

. She was re-elected in 2001, 2005 and 2008.

Watson has campaigned in parliament on a number of issues, including the banning of uranium

Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

 mining and radioactive waste

Radioactive waste

Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...

 disposal in Western Australia. She has also campaigned against female genital mutilation since at least 1998, and in 2004 successfully lobbied the Attorney-General of Western Australia

Attorney-General of Western Australia

The Attorney-General of Western Australia is the member of the Government of Western Australia responsible for maintenance and improvement of Western Australia's system of law and justice. Before the advent of representative government in 1870, the title was Advocate-General of Western Australia...

, Jim McGinty

Jim McGinty

James Andrew McGinty is an Australian politician. He was a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 2009, representing the district of Fremantle. He was Labor Party leader and Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1996...

, to introduce laws making the practice a crime. Watson, an open lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

, has also served on the Ministerial Committee on Lesbian and Gay Law Reform, which proposed wide reforms in the area of gay and lesbian rights in Western Australia.