Jane Lomax-Smith

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Jane Lomax-Smith
Official portrait, 2023
Lord Mayor of Adelaide
Assumed office
14 November 2022
Preceded bySandy Verschoor
In office
12 May 1997 – 13 May 2000
Preceded byHenry Ninio
Succeeded byAlfred Huang
Minister for Education
In office
5 March 2004 – 25 March 2010
Preceded byTrish White
Succeeded byJay Weatherill
Minister for Tourism
In office
6 March 2002 – 25 March 2010
Preceded byMartin Hamilton-Smith
Succeeded byJohn Rau
Minister for Employment, Training, Further
Education, Science and Information Economy
In office
6 March 2002 – 5 March 2004
Preceded byMichael Armitage
Succeeded byTrish White
Member for Adelaide
In office
9 February 2002 – 20 March 2010
Preceded byMichael Armitage
Succeeded byRachel Sanderson
Personal details
Born (1950-06-19) 19 June 1950 (age 73)
Political partyLabor
ProfessionResearcher, Pathologist, Politician

Jane Diane Lomax-Smith, AM (born 19 June 1950, in the United Kingdom) is an Australian politician and histopathologist serving as Lord Mayor of Adelaide since 14 November 2022. Lomax-Smith previously held the position of Lord Mayor between 1997 and 2000, after serving as a City of Adelaide councillor from 1991 to 1997.

She was elected to the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Adelaide representing the Labor Party from 2002 to 2010, serving as a Minister of Education and Tourism. Following the 2010 South Australian state election, Lomax-Smith served as the chair of South Australian Museum[1][2] as well as becoming involved in a range of science, academic, and community organisations.

Lomax-Smith has been credited for playing "an important role" in shaping modern Adelaide.[3]

Early life and education[edit]

Lomax-Smith was born in Walthamstow in the East End of London, in the United Kingdom. She attended the Woodford County High School Grammar School from 1961 to 1968 and received a grant to attend the London Hospital Medical College, in Whitechapel, where she obtained her medical degree in 1974.[4][5]

Lomax-Smith migrated to Australia in November 1977, becoming a lecturer in the University of Adelaide Medical School's Department of Pathology. A colleague from London, Barrie Vernon-Roberts, had been given a job in Adelaide and suggested she may like to move to Australia and work at the university. In an oral history for the Don Dunstan Foundation, Lomax-Smith recalled: "(Vernon-Roberts) said, well, to be honest, Jane, you wouldn't like Australia. It's a terrible redneck backwater. You really would hate Australia, but South Australia is different. There's a man there called Don Dunstan, and it is the Renaissance capital of the southern hemisphere. And he told me about some of the legislative reform, and he talked vaguely about environmental protection and homosexuality. I think I'm part of a quite a large minority of people who came to South Australia because of Don Dunstan."[6]

Lomax-Smith moved to the United States in 1984 to take up a position as Research Fellow at Harvard University's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. After two years, she returned to the UK, this time working at St James Hospital managing the surgical pathology department. She was made Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia in 1984 and received a Ph.D. from the University of Adelaide in 1985 on "IgA Nephropathy and Liver Disease".

In 1987, she returned to Australia to once again lecture at the University of Adelaide's Medical School, while also working as a Senior Specialist Consultant at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Lomax-Smith worked across the private sector in the early 1990s as clinical pathologist and medical researcher before opening her clinic, Adelaide Pathology Partners, in 1998; a practice she operated until 2002.

In 2017, she was awarded an honorary DSc by the University of Adelaide.[7]

Political career[edit]

Lomax-Smith first entered public office in 1991. She served as Lord Mayor of Adelaide in 1997–2000.[citation needed]

At the 2002 state election, Lomax-Smith was elected a member of the South Australian House of Assembly for the seat of Adelaide, defeating the Liberal Party candidate Michael Harbison, who had been preselected after the retirement of Liberal Party incumbent Michael Armitage. She retained the seat at the 2006 election with a 60 percent two-party vote but was defeated at the 2010 election by Liberal candidate Rachel Sanderson,[8] with a two-party preferred swing of 14.5 percent, the second-largest swing at that election.[9]

Lomax-Smith served as South Australian State Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health & Substance Abuse, Minister for Tourism, and Minister for the City of Adelaide between 2002 and 2010 in Premier Rann's Labor Government.[10]

Later career[edit]

In October 2010, the Federal Minister for Tertiary Education, Chris Evans, announced a Higher Education Base Funding Review, to be chaired by Lomax-Smith. The review was released in December 2011.[11]

On 28 November 2010, the Royal Institution of Australia (RiAus) announced that Lomax-Smith was to act in the role of Director until a permanent appointment was made, but that she would not be an applicant for the permanent role.[12]

On 18 August 2011, Premier Mike Rann announced that Lomax-Smith had been appointed as the new chair of the South Australian Museum board.[1] She is on the Board of the Jam Factory,[13] and TechInSA and in 2017 was made the Presiding Member of The South Australian Teachers Registration Board.[citation needed]

In the 2013 Australia Day Honours List, Lomax-Smith was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the Parliament and the community of South Australia.[14]

In 2015, Lomax-Smith was commissioned by Premier Jay Weatherill to examine options for the post coal-mining future of Leigh Creek, a purpose-built mining town in the Northern Flinders Ranges,[15] and wrote a report entitled Leigh Creek Futures. From 2016–2017, Lomax-Smith had a position on the Advisory Board of UCL Australia.[16] On 3 June 2020, Lomax-Smith was announced as new chair of the Don Dunstan Foundation, taking over from Lynn Arnold.[17]

Lomax-Smith defeated incumbent Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor and former senator Rex Patrick in the 2022 Adelaide City Council election to become Lord Mayor again after 22 years.[18][19]

Personal life[edit]

Lomax-Smith is married with two children,[5] and lives in Adelaide.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Martin, Sarah (19 August 2011). "Former Rann Cabinet minister Jane Lomax-Smith to chair South Australian Museum". The Advertiser. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  2. ^ Museum Board
  3. ^ Martin, Sarah (19 August 2011). "Former Rann Cabinet minister Jane Lomax-Smith to chair South Australian Museum". The Advertiser.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ "About Jane". Jane Lomax-Smith Personal Website. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Hon JANE LOMAX-SMITH MP". Ministers - Premier & Ministers of South Australia. Government of South Australia. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
  6. ^ Dalgetty, Trudy (May 2022). "The Don Dunstan Foundation 20th Anniversary Oral History Project" (PDF). Don Dunstan Foundation.
  7. ^ Jane Lomax-Smith citation The University of Adelaide, 4 May 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  8. ^ "2010 South Australian Election: Adelaide". ABC News Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  9. ^ Green, Antony. "Final Boundaries Released for South Australian Redistribution". Antony Green's Election Blog. Australian Boradcating Corporation. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Lomax-Smith, Jane". Former members of the Parliament of South Australia. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  11. ^ "Base Funding Review". National Tertiary Education Union. Archived from the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  12. ^ "Dr Jane Lomax-Smith to be interim director for the RiAus" (PDF). Royal Institution of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  13. ^ Dr Jane Lomax-Smith AM Board Member Jam Factory, Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  14. ^ "The Honourable Dr Jane Diane Lomax-Smith". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Australian Honours Search Facility. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2024..
  15. ^ Jane Lomax-Smith to collect ideas for Leigh Creek's future after Alinta Energy mine closure ABC News, 13 October 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  16. ^ UCL > People > Advisory Board Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  17. ^ "Dr Jane Lomax-Smith AM appointed as new Chair of the Don Dunstan Foundation". Don Dunstan Foundation. 10 May 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  18. ^ Hough, Andrew (15 November 2022). "Local government elections 2022: Lord Mayor-elect Jane Lomax-Smith says top job is restoring Adelaide City Council reputation". The Advertiser. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  19. ^ Jones, Erin (19 November 2022). "Jane Lomax-Smith and six new councillors join Adelaide City Council, but will much change?". The Advertiser. Retrieved 19 November 2022.

External links[edit]

 

Civic offices
Preceded by Lord Mayor of Adelaide
1997 – 2000
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Mayor of Adelaide
2022 – present
Incumbent
Parliament of South Australia
Preceded by Member for Adelaide
2002 – 2010
Succeeded by