Noreen Hay is an Australia

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 and member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

. She has represented Wollongong

Electoral district of Wollongong

Wollongong is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Noreen Hay of the Australian Labor Party.-History:...

 for 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...

 since 2003.

Hay was born 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...

 into a working class family of practicing Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s. She was the second eldest of five children to parents Nora and Tadg Herlihy, who had migrated 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...

 from Cork, Ireland

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

. She married Christopher Martin Hay and in 1982 they migrated with their four children to Wollongong, New South Wales

Wollongong, New South Wales

Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...

.

Hay enrolled in Wollongong TAFE and subsequently found employment with the NSW Home Care Service, caring for the elderly and bedridden in Wollongong's outer suburbs. She became a union official and regional secretary of the Miscellaneous Workers’ Union and worked as an electorate officer to Jennie George

Jennie George

Jennie George , Australian politician, is a former Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from November 2001 to July 2010, representing the Division of Throsby, New South Wales.-Early life:...

, the Federal Member for Throsby

Division of Throsby

The Division of Throsby is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. It covers eastern Wingecarribee Shire, extending from Exeter, Lake Yarrunga and Upper Kangaroo Valley in the south to Aylmerton, Alpine, the Avon Dam, Lake Avon, Dombarton, and Kembla Grange in the north to the Pacific...

.

In 2002, she won ALP preselection from the sitting member, Col Markham

Col Markham

Colin William Markham is an Australian politician. He was an Australian Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 2003, representing the electorates of Keira and Wollongong...

, and was the first woman elected for the seat of Wollongong.

Following the 2007 election, Hay was appointed Parliamentary Secretary

Parliamentary Secretary

A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of a Parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with his or her duties.In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to...

 to Health Minister Reba Meagher

Reba Meagher

Reba Paige Meagher is a former Australian politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing the electoral district of Cabramatta. She was a minister in various portfolios from 2003 to 2008. On 6 September 2008 Meagher announced that she would not be seeking a...

. She was stood down in February 2008 by the Premier Iemma

Morris Iemma

Morris Iemma , is a former Australian politician and 40th Premier of New South Wales, succeeding Bob Carr after he resigned on 3 August 2005. Iemma led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 2007 election before resigning as Premier on 5 September 2008, and as a Member of Parliament on 19...

 being named in an ICAC inquiry into Wollongong Council

City of Wollongong

The City of Wollongong is a Local Government Area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Freeway and the South Coast railway line....

. Hay was re-appointed in March 2008 after being cleared by the ICAC.

State Premier

Premiers of New South Wales

The Premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature...

 Nathan Rees

Nathan Rees

Nathan Rees MP, , an Australian politician, was the 41st Premier of New South Wales and parliamentary leader of the New South Wales division of the Australian Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009...

 dismissed Noreen Hay from her position as Parliamentary Secretary for Health on September 12, 2008 after allegations arose that she participated in simulated mammary intercourse

Mammary intercourse

Mammary intercourse describes a sex act, performed as foreplay or as non-penetrative sex, that involves the stimulation of the male penis by the female breasts. Commonly, this sex act involves the man placing his penis in the woman's cleavage and thrusting between her breasts, while the breasts are...

 with Police Minister Matt Brown

Matt Brown (Australian politician)

Matthew James "Matt" Brown is an Australian politician, elected as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Kiama between 1999 and 2011...

at an office party in June. Both Brown and Hay denied the allegations.