| Jan Barham MLC | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 26 March 2011 |
|
| Mayor of Byron Shire | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 27 March 2004 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Unanderra, New South Wales |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Political party | Greens New South Wales |
| Residence | Byron Bay, New South Wales |
Jan Barham is an Australian politician. She has been a Greens member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since the 2011 state election.[1]
As of 2011, Jan Barham's portfolio responsibilities within the Greens include: Family and Community Services, Aging, Disability Services, Aboriginal Affairs, Arts, and Tourism.[2]
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Braham grew up in Wollongong in the southern suburb of Unanderra and later attended university in Newcastle, but did not graduate. She later went on to study at Wollongong TAFE and then won a statewide scholarship to attend East Sydney Tech, where she earned two trade certificates. Upon completion, she undertook work experience with a fashion company and then was then offered a full‐time job in the fashion industry in Sydney, where she lived for eight years prior to moving to the North Coast in 1989, where she currently resides.
Barham quickly became involved in local environmental groups and campaigning in the area. When the then state government granted support and the local council approved the development of a local resort by multinational tourism organisation Club Med, Barham founded and acted as secretary of Byron Shire Businesses for the Future to oppose the resort. The organisation legally challenged the approval by the council, and were ultimately successful in the Land and Environment Court. She also mounted a successful environmental court challenge against a proposed quarry in a coastal area of high ecological significance.
Barham worked as a staffer for Green MP Ian Cohen in state parliament from 1995 until 1999.
In 1999, Barham was elected to Byron Shire Council. In 2002, after the Greens gained minority control of the council, she became deputy mayor. And in 2004, she was the first Green mayor to be popularly elected in NSW[3] and is currently in her second term as Mayor of Byron Shire,[4] having been reelected in 2008.
Barham was elected Vice President of the NSW Local Government Association and has been a member of state boards and committees including the Ministerial Advisory Council on Women, the Natural Resources Advisory Sub Committee on Coasts and Natural Environment and the Northern Rivers Tourism Board.
Barham has also worked closely with the Arakwal Aboriginal People, pioneering the first Indigenous Land Use Agreement in NSW and the establishment of the joint Aboriginal/National Parks and Wildlife Service management of the Arakwal National Park.
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