Ljiljana Ravlich In Australian Government
Barry Marjanovich
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Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG
Barry Marjanovich
Barry Marjanovich
Thursday, 23 September 2004
NEW Goldfields-Esperance Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich is the first woman
born in a non-English speaking country to be appointed a minister in the
WA Government.
Ms Ravlich was sworn in as minister on Tuesday, replacing Tom Stephens
who resigned to take on the Labor candidacy for the Federal seat of
Kalgoorlie in the October 9 election.
Ms Ravlich, 46, was born in Split, Croatia, and is the first
Croatian-born woman elected to a parliament outside of the Republic of
Croatia.
She was educated at Midvale Primary School and Governor Stirling Senior
High School and completed her tertiary education at the Curtin
University of Technology where she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree
in social science, majoring in economics, a post graduate diploma in
education and a post graduate diploma in education administration at the
Curtin School of Business.
Between 1980 and 1985, Ms Ravlich worked as a high school teacher
specialising in Aboriginal education at Norseman District High School
and as an economics and history teacher at Kambalda SHS and Northam SHS.
After more stints in education closer to Perth, she entered the
political arena in 1989 when she started work as a consultant to three
ministers, including current deputy premier Eric Ripper, in the State
Labor government.
In 1996, she was elected to the Legislative Council, only the 15th woman
elected to the Legislative Council since its establishment in 1832.
Since the election of the Gallop Labor Government in February 2001, Ms
Ravlich has served as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for
Health until June 2003, the Minister for Community Development; Women's
Interests; Seniors and Youth; Disability Services; Culture and the Arts
and from June 2003, to the Minister for Tourism; Small Business; Sport
and Recreation; Peel and the South West.
In 2003, she established the Western Australian Croatian Chamber of
Commerce, which was officially launched by the Premier in June 2003, to
promote the export of Australian product and expertise to the Republic
of Croatia and through Croatia into the countries of former Yugoslavia
and the European Union.