 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| E-Files |
| Feature
Article |
NSW's
first female governor |
||
| New
South Wales'
first
female Governor, Dr Marie Bashir, promised yesterday to
bring a woman's touch and a sense of compassion to the office. "There would be an expectation from the community that I would do that," Dr Bashir said. "I am a female and therefore the role will evolve in slightly different ways than it has in the past." In announcing yesterday that Dr Bashir would replace Governor Gordon Samuels in March, Premier Bob Carr said he expected her to "breathe new life" into the Governorship. The Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Sydney University says she will not move into Government House, but intends to remain in Mosman where she and her husband, Sir Nicholas Shehadie, have lived for 30 years. The couple have three children and six grandchildren. Sir Nicholas was the Lord Mayor of Sydney, is a former Wallaby captain and was chairman of SBS television for almost two decades. He said yesterday he would resign his role as chair of the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust and Casino Control Authority so that he could support his wife. "We've always worked as a team and it's about time I put something back for her," he said yesterday. Dr Bashir said she was "inspired to do something worthwhile" in her new position and said she intended to be a full-time governor. "I think it's (the Governorship) a very diverse role, particularly in modern times," Dr Bashir said. In an interview conducted in the Premier's office six weeks ago, Mr Carr and Dr Bashir agreed that the modern governor must be play a socially-active part in society. |
 Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of NSW at her investiture, 20 December 2000 [Courtesy of News Ltd Photo library] |
Dr Bashir said she understood her new job had historically called for some political tact. I suspect every governor who has ever been appointed, from Phillip through Macquarie to Bligh – all those great names – have had to hold their tongues at times when things distress them and I guess I'll have to do the same. Sometimes I'm good at it, sometimes my good partner will say silence would have been more diplomatic. Dr Bashir displayed the tact which she will need in her role as a governor when asked whether she was a republican. "I don't think I could label myself either way at this point," she said. "I think the will of the people will eventually prevail and we will have the best outcome." However, the former land rights campaigner was not so restrained when asked about the Federal Government's performance on reconciliation. "My impression is that some of the people involved are strongly involved in reconciliation (but) they may not be verbalising it – others less so," she said. "I think in terms of the Australian people, non-Aboriginal people, immigrants and the Aboriginal people themselves, the reconciliation process is strong and moving inexorably forward." She said her parents had instilled strong social values in her as a child. "I would think that, without exaggerating, my life with Aboriginal people began in my childhood and has been a process of reconciliation and of walking forward together," she said.  |
| Certainly there are ceremonial aspects to it, there are constitutional aspects to it and I think there are important social and socialising aspects to it. I've given a lot of thought to the citizens of our state, particularly those in recent years who have become more marginalised. I'd like to think that the role could enable more people from the edge to have a seat at the table in our society. Dr Bashir was born in Narrandera and is of Lebanese decent. In the past she has played an active role in campaigning for Aboriginal, women's issues and refugees. She identified the poor, disabled and sections of the indigenous community as parts of the community she believed she could help as governor. As a woman, she promised to bring a new perspective to the job. "Women in Australian society are permitted a little more flexibility and leeway in expressing concern and compassion than is popularly accepted from a male," she said. |
||