Selina Siggins | |
---|---|
Born | Selina Sarah Elizabeth Charters 12 May 1878 near Hill End, New South Wales, Australia |
Died | 30 November 1964 Ashbury, New South Wales, Australia | (aged 86)
Other names | Selina Anderson |
Political party | |
Spouse |
Christopher Siggins
(m. 1908; died 1946) |
Selina Sarah Elizabeth Siggins (née Charters, previously Anderson; 12 May 1878 – 30 November 1964) was an Australian political activist who became the first woman to stand for the Australian House of Representatives. She ran as an independent at the 1903 federal election, the first at which women were eligible to be candidates. Although she spent most of her life in New South Wales, in 1918 she also became one of the first two women to stand for the Parliament of South Australia. Siggins was introduced to politics through her involvement in the labour movement, and initially supported the Labor Party. She eventually fell out with the party over its refusal to endorse her as a candidate. Her final run for parliament came at the 1922 federal election, where she became the first woman to stand for the Country Party.