27 Facts About Janelle Saffin

Janelle Anne Saffin was born on 1 November 1954 and is an Australian Labor Party politician.

Janelle Saffin has been the Member for Lismore in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 23 March 2019.

Janelle Saffin was the Member for Page in the Australian House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013, and a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1995 to 2003.

Janelle Saffin left school at thirteen, and worked in a range of unskilled jobs before gaining her Intermediate Certificate at TAFE.

Janelle Saffin moved to Lismore at the age of 24, and began working as the co-ordinator of a women's refuge.

Janelle Saffin established a domestic violence liaison committee with the local police, which was the first of its kind outside Sydney.

Janelle Saffin later gained a teaching qualification at the Northern Rivers College of Advanced Education, and taught for a period before deciding to retrain as a lawyer and gaining a degree by correspondence from Macquarie University.

Janelle Saffin ran as the Labor candidate for the seat of Lismore at the 1991 state election, but was defeated by incumbent National Party MP Bill Rixon.

Janelle Saffin is associated with the Socialist Left faction of the party throughout her term, and was involved in advocating for progressive causes both inside and outside of parliament.

Janelle Saffin took a particular interest in the fate of East Timor and Burma, and was an official observer for the International Commission of Jurists at the 1999 independence referendum in East Timor.

Janelle Saffin is actively involved in feminist causes, and was one of only two Australian representatives at the Global Forum of Women Political Leaders in Manila in 2000.

Janelle Saffin worked as an anti-nuclear campaigner, being involved in the campaigns against French nuclear testing in the Pacific and uranium mining at Jabiluka.

Janelle Saffin attempted to gain Labor preselection for a second term before the 2003 state election, but was unsuccessful in gaining a winnable position on Labor's ticket and subsequently was not re-elected.

Janelle Saffin had met East Timorese foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta a number of times as an MP, and in 2004, having left politics, she moved to East Timor to take up a position as Ramos-Horta's chief political and legal advisor.

Janelle Saffin served in the role for three years assisting in the rebuilding of the country, staying with Ramos-Horta through his election first to Prime Minister and then President in 2007.

Janelle Saffin resigned in early 2007, choosing to return to Australia for family reasons and contest preselection for the National Party held federal seat of Page, based around her home town of Lismore.

Janelle Saffin then faced a difficult contest in the general election against new National Party candidate Chris Gulaptis, with previous member Ian Causley having decided to retire at the election.

Janelle Saffin campaigned heavily on industrial relations, health and housing affordability, and received a 2PP swing of 7.8 points, beating the Nationals candidate on preferences.

Janelle Saffin was re-elected at the 2010 federal election with a further 1.8-point swing, against the national trend.

On 21 March 2013 Janelle Saffin resigned as Government Whip after an attempt to replace Prime Minister Julia Gillard with the previous Prime Minister Kevin Rudd failed.

Janelle Saffin was defeated at the 2013 election by Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan in a rematch of the 2010 election.

At a TAFE rally on 23 September 2015, with Labor's Shadow Minister for Vocational Education, Sharon Bird, Janelle Saffin announced that she would again contest the federal seat of Page at the 2016 election.

On 22 April 2018 Janelle Saffin won pre-selection to contest the NSW State seat of Lismore, which she won on 23 March 2019.

In doing so, Janelle Saffin became the first woman to represent the seat.

Janelle Saffin received prominent media coverage during the 2022 Lismore floods, both for her support of residents stranded by the flood and where she was forced to swim through flood waters herself after being trapped by rising water at a friend's home.

Janelle Saffin won re-election at the 2023 New South Wales state election increasing her primary vote by over 19 points and delivering a 2PP swing of over 12 points in her favour, one of the largest swings in the state.

Janelle Saffin was sworn in as Minister for Recovery, Minister for Small Business, and Minister for the North Coast.