20 Facts About Meredith Burgmann

Meredith Anne Burgmann was born on 26 July 1947 and is an Australian politician and Labor Party member and a former President of the New South Wales Legislative Council.

Meredith Burgmann's late father was a chairman of the CSIRO.

Meredith Burgmann attended Blackfriars Correspondence School and Abbotsleigh School in Sydney, where she was headgirl.

Meredith Burgmann attended Sydney University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1969, majoring in English and Government.

Meredith Burgmann continued her studies at the university and obtained a Master of Arts in 1973 specialising in Foreign Policy.

Meredith Burgmann became the first female President of the National Tertiary Education Union.

Meredith Burgmann was involved in the Industrial Relations Committee between 1990 and 1995, the Foreign Affairs Committee between 1986 and 1990, as well as being a delegate to the Sydney Federal Executive Council.

Meredith Burgmann was a Member of the New South Wales Labor Council between 1978 and 1991 and of the ACTU Congress between 1983 and 1989.

Meredith Burgmann was a tutor and lecturer at Macquarie University from 1974, and became a senior lecturer at Macquarie University in 1989 and remained in that role until 1991.

Meredith Burgmann has been arrested 21 times and spent time in prison for running onto the Sydney Cricket Ground in 1971 during the Springboks tour.

Meredith Burgmann was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council on 25 May 1991.

Meredith Burgmann further angered monarchists by ordering the removal of the Queen's portrait from the President's Office and replacing it with an Aboriginal dot painting.

Meredith Burgmann retired as president on 27 March 2007, at the expiry of her term as a member of the council.

Meredith Burgmann is the longest serving female presiding officer in Australia.

Meredith Burgmann is aunt to the comedian Charles Firth and to former New South Wales Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Climate Change and the Environment and Minister for Women, Verity Firth.

Meredith Burgmann is a Consultant to the United Nations Development Program.

Meredith Burgmann was an Ambassador for the Sydney Swans from 2005 until 2018.

Meredith Burgmann was the President of the Australian Council for International Development, the peak body for the Australian NGO international aid and development sector, from 2008 until 2012.

In 1993, Meredith Burgmann started the Ernie Awards to draw attention to comments regarded as misogynist, and in 2007 published with Yvette Andrews The Ernies Book: 1000 Terrible Things Australian Men Have Said About Women.

Meredith Burgmann has published articles on industrial, environmental and Aboriginal rights issues.