Jan Barham
Encyclopedia
Jan Barham is an Australian politician. She has been a Greens
member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
since the 2011 state election
.
As of 2011, Jan Barham's portfolio responsibilities within the Greens include: Family and Community Services, Aging, Disability Services, Aboriginal Affairs, Arts, and Tourism.
Barham quickly became involved in local environmental groups and campaigning in the area. When the then state government granted support and the local council approved the development of a local resort by multinational tourism organisation Club Med, Barham founded and acted as secretary of Byron Shire Businesses for the Future to oppose the resort. The organisation legally challenged the approval by the council, and were ultimately successful in the Land and Environment Court. She also mounted a successful environmental court challenge against a proposed quarry in a coastal area of high ecological significance.
In 1999, Barham was elected to Byron Shire Council. In 2002, after the Greens gained minority control of the council, she became deputy mayor. And in 2004, she was the first Green mayor to be popularly elected in NSW and is currently in her second term as Mayor of Byron Shire
, having been reelected in 2008.
Barham was elected Vice President of the NSW Local Government Association and has been a member of state boards and committees including the Ministerial Advisory Council on Women, the Natural Resources Advisory Sub Committee on Coasts and Natural Environment and the Northern Rivers Tourism Board.
Barham has also worked closely with the Arakwal Aboriginal People, pioneering the first Indigenous Land Use Agreement in NSW and the establishment of the joint Aboriginal/National Parks and Wildlife Service management of the Arakwal National Park.
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of New South Wales in Australia. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney. The Assembly is referred to as the lower house and the Council as...
since the 2011 state election
New South Wales state election, 2011
Elections to the 55th Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday, 26 March 2011. The 16-year incumbent Australian Labor Party government led by Premier Kristina Keneally was defeated in a landslide by the Liberal-National coalition opposition led by Barry O'Farrell.New South Wales has...
.
As of 2011, Jan Barham's portfolio responsibilities within the Greens include: Family and Community Services, Aging, Disability Services, Aboriginal Affairs, Arts, and Tourism.
Early Life
Braham grew up in Wollongong in the southern suburb of Unanderra and later attended university in Newcastle, but did not graduate. She later went on to study at Wollongong TAFE and then won a statewide scholarship to attend East Sydney Tech, where she earned two trade certificates. Upon completion, she undertook work experience with a fashion company and then was then offered a full‐time job in the fashion industry in Sydney, where she lived for eight years prior to moving to the North Coast in 1989, where she currently resides.Barham quickly became involved in local environmental groups and campaigning in the area. When the then state government granted support and the local council approved the development of a local resort by multinational tourism organisation Club Med, Barham founded and acted as secretary of Byron Shire Businesses for the Future to oppose the resort. The organisation legally challenged the approval by the council, and were ultimately successful in the Land and Environment Court. She also mounted a successful environmental court challenge against a proposed quarry in a coastal area of high ecological significance.
Political Career
Barham worked as a staffer for Green MP Ian Cohen in state parliament from 1995 until 1999.In 1999, Barham was elected to Byron Shire Council. In 2002, after the Greens gained minority control of the council, she became deputy mayor. And in 2004, she was the first Green mayor to be popularly elected in NSW and is currently in her second term as Mayor of Byron Shire
Byron Shire
Byron Shire is a Local Government Area located in the North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Pacific Ocean coast between 50 and 80 kilometres south of the Queensland border. The shire, administered from the town of Mullumbimby, covers an area of , and has existed as a local...
, having been reelected in 2008.
Barham was elected Vice President of the NSW Local Government Association and has been a member of state boards and committees including the Ministerial Advisory Council on Women, the Natural Resources Advisory Sub Committee on Coasts and Natural Environment and the Northern Rivers Tourism Board.
Barham has also worked closely with the Arakwal Aboriginal People, pioneering the first Indigenous Land Use Agreement in NSW and the establishment of the joint Aboriginal/National Parks and Wildlife Service management of the Arakwal National Park.