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President of the Senate, 20 August 1996 to 18 August 2002
Liberal Party of Australia
Making history as the first female President of the Senate, Margaret Reid (b. 1935) was also the first and only President to represent a Territory.1 A strong advocate for the Senate, particularly its role as a house of review, Reid was well regarded by colleagues for her fairness and integrity in presiding over proceedings.2
Born Margaret Elizabeth McLachlan at Crystal Brook in SA in 1935, Reid graduated from the University of Adelaide in 1959 with a law degree before moving to Canberra in 1965 to work in a family law practice.3 Two years later, she married widower Tom Reid and became stepmother to his four children.
Having joined the Liberal Party in high school, Reid quickly became involved in local politics and in 1976 was elected President of the ACT division of the Party.4 In 1981, following the sudden death of Senator John Knight, she filled a casual vacancy in the Senate for the ACT. The 16th woman to sit in the Senate, she held her seat for nearly 22 years, winning eight consecutive elections.
Soon after entering Parliament, Reid was appointed Deputy Whip (1982–83), the first of several positions she held in the Senate. She served as Deputy Opposition Whip (1983–87) and as Opposition Whip (1987–95) before becoming the first female Deputy President and Chair of Committees (1995–96). Known for her dedication to the Canberra community, Reid supported ACT self-government and from 1981 to 1983 chaired the Joint Committee on the ACT.5
As President, and at the urging of the then-Clerk of the Senate Harry Evans, Reid dispensed with the gowns and wigs traditionally worn by the clerks.6 She was also instrumental in ensuring that time was set aside in the Senate’s routine of business to consider Auditor-General reports, one of the tools that senators use to scrutinise government activities.7 A member and later President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Reid’s commitment to parliamentary democracy extended beyond Australia and she worked closely with parliaments in developing nations, particularly in the South Pacific.8
After losing her party’s support to remain as President, Reid resigned as a senator in 2003. In her valedictory speech to the Senate she detailed the extraordinary events of the Canberra 2003 bushfires, recounting with pride the response of the Canberra community. She said that she felt ‘privileged to have had the opportunity to serve in this place the people of the ACT’.9 She was appointed an AO in 2004.
Tom Alberts
Tom Alberts (b.1962) is an Australian painter known for his offbeat depictions of contemporary life. A Tasmanian by birth, he moved with his family to Perth as a young boy. On completing his schooling, Alberts studied a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in painting at the WA Institute of Technology (now Curtin University). In 1990, he moved to Melbourne to set up his studio practice, working principally as a portraitist and figure artist. Alberts has exhibited as part of numerous solo and group exhibitions across Australia since the late 1980s. His awards include the Australia Council Rome Residency (1999), the Outback Art Award (2002), and the inaugural Rick Amor Self-Portrait Prize (2013). Alberts has received numerous portrait commissions from leading institutions, and his work has been included in various national and international exhibitions. His work is represented in national, state, university and regional galleries.10
Margaret Elizabeth Reid
by Tom Alberts
1999
Oil on canvas
90 x 85.5 cm
Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collections
References
1. Information sourced from Parliamentary Library, ‘Reid, the Hon. Margaret Elizabeth’, Parliamentary Handbook Online, accessed 20 April 2021.
2. See K Lundy, ‘Valedictory: Margaret Reid’, Senate, Debates, 6 February 2003, pp. 8791–92; L Allison, ‘Valedictory: Margaret Reid’, ibid., pp. 8790–91; J Faulkner, ‘Valedictory: Margaret Reid’, ibid., p. 8789.
3. ‘Margaret Reid: lawyer, Senator’, The Canberra Times, 22 March 1990, p. 21; E Macdonald, ‘Rising above the genteel rumble of the pink palace’, The Canberra Times, 7 January 2001, p. 18; ‘Margaret Elizabeth Reid’, Australian Women Lawyers as Active Citizens. Websites accessed 8 August 2021.
4. ‘Senator Reid has confidence in “thriving city”’, The Canberra Times, 19 February 1983, p. 14, accessed 9 August 2021.
5. B Smith, ‘Famous Faces: The Honourable Margaret Reid’, The Canberra Times, 5 September 2003; P Calvert, ‘Valedictory: Margaret Reid’, Senate, Debates, 6 February 2003, pp. 8796–97.
6. M Reid, ‘Contribution from the Hon M Reid AO’, in Nine-tenths of the Senate iceberg: Reflections on Harry Evans, Clerk of the Senate 1988–2009, Department of the Senate, 2015, pp. 1–2, accessed 20 April 2021.
7. The Senate Procedure Committee, ‘First Report of 2000: Consideration of Auditor-General’s Reports’, Commonwealth of Australia, April 2000, p. 1, accessed 8 August 2021.
8. R Hill, ‘Valedictory: Margaret Reid’, Senate, Debates, 6 February 2003, p. 8788–89; ‘The Honourable Margaret Reid: Citation for the conferral of a Doctor of the University (honoris causa)’, Charles Sturt University, 5 May 2006, accessed 8 August 2021.
9. M Reid, ‘Valedictory: Margaret Reid’, Senate, Debates, 6 February 2003, pp. 8784–88.
10. ‘Alberts, Tom’, A McCulloch, S McCulloch and E McCulloch Childs, eds, The New McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Aus Art Editions in association with The Miegunyah Press, 2006, p. 204; ‘Biography of Tom Alberts’, Charles Nodrum Gallery; ‘Tom Alberts’, Brisbane Artguide. Websites accessed 27 April 2021.