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The Honourable
Ros Kelly
AO
The Honourable Ros Kelly AO
Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women
	In office; 23 December 1993 – 1 March 1994
Prime Minister	Paul Keating
Preceded by	Wendy Fatin
Succeeded by	Carmen Lawrence
Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories
	In office; 4 April 1990 – 1 March 1994
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke; Paul Keating
Preceded by	Graham Richardson
Succeeded by	Graham Richardson
Minister for Tourism
	In office; 4 April 1990 – 27 December 1991
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke; Paul Keating
Preceded by	Graham Richardson
Succeeded by	Alan Griffiths
Minister for the Arts
	In office; 4 April 1990 – 24 March 1993
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke; Paul Keating
Preceded by	Graham Richardson
Succeeded by	Bob McMullan
Minister for Telecommunications and Aviation Support
	In office; 6 April 1989 – 4 April 1990
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	Gary Punch
Succeeded by	Title abolished
Minister for Defence Science and Personnel
	In office; 18 September 1987 – 6 April 1989
Prime Minister	Bob Hawke
Preceded by	New title
Succeeded by	David Simmons
Member of the Australian Parliament; for Canberra
	In office; 18 October 1980 – 30 January 1995
Preceded by	John Haslem
Succeeded by	Brendan Smyth
Personal details
Born	Roslyn Joan Raw; 25 January 1948 (age 76)
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Labor
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupation	Teacher

Roslyn Joan Kelly AO (née Raw; born 25 January 1948) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of the Australian House of Representatives, having represented the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating.

Early life and ACT politics

Kelly is the daughter of Michael and Patricia Raw.^[1] She studied at the University of Sydney and received a degree in teaching in 1968 and worked as a secondary school teacher from 1969 until 1974.^[2] Kelly was elected to the then advisory Australian Capital Territory House of Assembly as a member for Canberra in 1974. She was a member of the assembly until 1979.

Federal politics

Kelly was elected to the House of Representatives in 1980. In 1983, she was the first Australian Federal MP to give birth while in office.^[2] In 1987, she became the first female Labor minister from the House of Representatives, when she was appointed Minister for Defence Science and Personnel.^[2] She subsequently held the portfolios of Communications and Aviation Support 1988–90; Arts, Sport, Environment, Tourism and Territories 1991–93; Environment, Sport and Territories 1993–94; and Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories 1994–95. She also served as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on the Status of Women until 1994.^[2]

She suffered considerable embarrassment as a result of the so-called 'sports rorts affair', when she revealed that funding for sporting bodies was arranged on the basis of a group discussion around a "great big whiteboard" in her office.^[3] She resigned from the ministry on 28 February 1994 and from parliament 11 months later on 30 January 1995.^[4] The resulting by-election on 25 March 1995 saw the loss of the Canberra electorate to the opposition Liberal Party.^[4]

Personal life and honours

Kelly is married to David Morgan, the former CEO of Westpac.^[5] She was formerly married to journalist Paul Kelly, whose surname she has retained.

Kelly was made an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia in 2004 for service to the community through promoting corporate environmental responsibility and fostering dialogue between business and conservation groups, to the Australian Parliament, and to women's health.^[6]

When acting as minister of Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories, Kelly gave support to research at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area and was honoured for this in the naming of a new species Priscileo roskellyae in 1997.^[7]

References

^ Who's Who in Australia 2008; Kelly Hon (Ros) entry
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Kelly, Roslyn Joan (Ros) (1948 – )". The Australian Women's Register. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
^ Milliken, Robert (1 March 1994). "Close Keating ally resigns in grants scandal". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Canberra (ACT) By-Election (25 March 1995)". AEC. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 24 December 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
^ Hornery, Andrew (9 March 2005). "Ros among Thorns". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
^ MacDonald, Emma (26 January 2004). "Ros Kelly excels in life after politics". The Canberra Times.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ Gillespie, Anna (1997). "Priscileo roskellyae sp. nov. (Thylacoleonidae, Marsupialia) from the Oligocene-Miocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 41: 321–327.

External links

Caricature by John Henry Spooner
Would it help if I ditched the whiteboard? cartoon by Geoff Pryor

Political offices
New title	Minister for Defence Science and Personnel 1987–89	Succeeded by David Simmons
Preceded by Gary Punch	Minister for Telecommunications and Aviation Support 1989–90	Title abolished
Preceded by Graham Richardson	Minister for Arts, Sport, the Environment, (Tourism) and Territories 1990–93	Succeeded by Graham Richardson
Preceded by Graham Richardson	Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories 1993–94	Succeeded by Graham Richardson
Preceded by Wendy Fatin	Minister assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women 1993–94	Succeeded by Carmen Lawrence
Parliament of Australia
Preceded by John Haslem	Member for Canberra 1980–95	Succeeded by Brendan Smyth