Yvonne Weldon | |
---|---|
Councillor of the City of Sydney | |
Assumed office 4 December 2021 | |
Personal details | |
Born | New South Wales, Australia |
Political party | Yvonne Weldon Independents (since 2023) |
Other political affiliations | Independent (until 2023) |
Known for | Aboriginal rights, social justice, health justice, domestic violence prevention, and child protection |
Awards | 2019 NSW Volunteer of the Year for the South Sydney Region, 2022 Cancer Institute NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award |
Yvonne Weldon AM is an Australian local government politician. She was elected deputy chairwoman of Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and was the first Aboriginal candidate for Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney in 2021. [1] She is the first Aboriginal councillor elected in the City of Sydney.
Weldon is of Wiradjuri ancestry. [2] From a young age, she developed a strong passion and commitment to bringing about positive change for Aboriginal people and communities. She attended public school in Redfern, Sydney. Weldon is currently the Deputy Chair of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council, Deputy Chair of the New South Wales Australia Day Council, [3] a board member of Domestic Violence NSW and a former board member of Redfern Jarjum College. [4] She has spent more than 20 years working in key First Nations and government organisations across the country.
In 2016, she was short-listed for the Queensland Literary Awards, David Unaipon Award for her unpublished manuscript 67 Days and was awarded the 2017 Allen & Unwin Faber Writing Academy scholarship. [5] Sixty-Seven Days was published by Michael Joseph in 2022. Sydney Morning Herald reviewer, Juliette Hughes, claimed the book was more than a romance and that it "should be on every book club’s list". [6]
Weldon conducted the welcome to country ceremony for Australia Day 2019 at Sydney harbourside with the then New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Governor David Hurley. [7]
Weldon was awarded the 2019 NSW Volunteer of the Year for the South Sydney Region [8] and she was awarded the 2022 Cancer Institute NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Award. [9] She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for her work with the Indigenous community of New South Wales. [10]
Lucinda Mary Turnbull is an Australian businesswoman, philanthropist, and former local government politician. She served on the Sydney City Council from 1999 to 2004, including as Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2003 to 2004 – the first woman to hold the position. She has since held positions on a number of urban planning bodies, including as chief commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission from 2015 to 2020. Her husband Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018.
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