Shelley Hancock
Encyclopedia
Shelley Elizabeth Hancock MP (born 14 November 1951), an Australian politician, was elected as the first female Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
at the first sitting of Parliament following the 2011 state election
. She is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
representing South Coast
for the Liberal Party of Australia
since 2003.
and attended Chatswood and Artarmon
Primary Schools and North Sydney Girls High School
. She completed a Bachelor of Arts
at the University of Sydney
. She was a former joint owner of the H Ranch at Milton
and was a School teacher at Ulladulla
High School for 26 years. Hancock is married to Ossie and they have three children.
Hancock served on Shoalhaven City Council for 16 years, serving on a number of Council committees. Hancock was also elected Deputy Mayor from September 2000 to September 2001.
since 2003. She was the only Liberal candidate to win a seat from the governing Labor Party
at the 2003 state election
. She is a member of the State Parliament's Legislative Review Committee and is also Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Transport.
Prior to the 2007 election, local and metropolitan journalists received phone calls encouraging them to print false allegations that Hancock and her husband had been involved in the making of pornographic films. The source of the phone contact was revealed to be a staff member of the Labor Party candidate Michelle Miran, an employee of the New South Wales Department of State and Regional Development. The same reports suggested that Labor had unsuccessfully tried to publish the same allegations at the 1991, 1995 and 2003 elections as well.
At the 2011 general election
, Hancock was re-elected to the South Coast with a swing of 11.2 per cent and won the seat with 70.4 per cent of the vote on a two party preferred basis. Her main opponent was Glenn Sims, representing Labor. Subsequent to the election, on 3 May 2011, Hancock was appointed Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.
Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly, New South Wales's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is Shelley Hancock, who was elected on 3 May 2011...
at the first sitting of Parliament following 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...
. She is a 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...
representing South Coast
Electoral district of South Coast
South Coast is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Shelley Hancock of the Liberal Party of Australia.-Members for South Coast:-Election results:...
for the Liberal Party of Australia
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...
since 2003.
Early years and background
Hancock grew up in ChatswoodChatswood, New South Wales
Chatswood is a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Chatswood is located 10 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Willoughby. Chatswood West is a separate suburb...
and attended Chatswood and Artarmon
Artarmon, New South Wales
Artarmon is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Artarmon is located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby.-History:...
Primary Schools and North Sydney Girls High School
North Sydney Girls High School
North Sydney Girls High School is an academically selective, public high school for girls, located at Crows Nest, on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
. She completed a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
at the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. She was a former joint owner of the H Ranch at Milton
Milton, New South Wales
Milton is a town in the City of Shoalhaven on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, not far from Ulladulla. It was founded in the middle of the 19th century...
and was a School teacher at Ulladulla
Ulladulla, New South Wales
Ulladulla is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia in the City of Shoalhaven local government area. It is on the Princes Highway, about half way between the larger towns of Batemans Bay to the south and Nowra to the north and approximately 179 km south of Sydney...
High School for 26 years. Hancock is married to Ossie and they have three children.
Hancock served on Shoalhaven City Council for 16 years, serving on a number of Council committees. Hancock was also elected Deputy Mayor from September 2000 to September 2001.
Political career
Hancock has represented South Coast for the Liberal Party of AustraliaLiberal 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...
since 2003. She was the only Liberal candidate to win a seat from the governing 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...
at the 2003 state election
New South Wales state election, 2003
Elections to the 53rd Parliament of New South Wales were held on Saturday 22 March 2003. All seats in the Legislative Assembly and half the seats in the Legislative Council were up for election...
. She is a member of the State Parliament's Legislative Review Committee and is also Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Transport.
Prior to the 2007 election, local and metropolitan journalists received phone calls encouraging them to print false allegations that Hancock and her husband had been involved in the making of pornographic films. The source of the phone contact was revealed to be a staff member of the Labor Party candidate Michelle Miran, an employee of the New South Wales Department of State and Regional Development. The same reports suggested that Labor had unsuccessfully tried to publish the same allegations at the 1991, 1995 and 2003 elections as well.
At the 2011 general 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...
, Hancock was re-elected to the South Coast with a swing of 11.2 per cent and won the seat with 70.4 per cent of the vote on a two party preferred basis. Her main opponent was Glenn Sims, representing Labor. Subsequent to the election, on 3 May 2011, Hancock was appointed Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.