Nova Peris

Nova Peris

Personal information
Full name	Nova Maree Peris
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1971-11-25) 25 November 1971 Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Height	170 centimetres (5 ft 7 in)
Spouse(s)	Sean Kneebone (1995–2001) Daniel Batman (2002–2011)
Medal record Competitor for  Australia Women's Field Hockey Olympic Games Gold 1996 Atlanta Team Competition World Cup Gold 1994 Dublin Team Competition Champions Trophy Gold 1993 Amstelveen Team Competition Gold 1995 Mar del Plata Team Competition Women's Athletics Commonwealth Games Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 200 metres Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 4x100m relay
Updated on 22 January 2013.

Nova Maree Peris OAM (born 25 February 1971) is an indigenous Australian athlete and politician. She was the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic gold medal as part of the Australian women's hockey (Hockeyroos) team at the 1996 Olympic Games before switching to athletics and contesting the 1998 Commonwealth Games and 2000 Olympic Games. She was elected to the Australian Senate at the 2013 federal election, after then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard named her as a "captain's pick", installing her as the preselected Labor candidate over incumbent Labor senator Trish Crossin.

Sporting career

Peris was a representative in the Australian Women's Hockey team at the 1996 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic gold medal.^[1]

In 1997, she switched sports to athletics and a year later she became a double gold medalist in the 1998 Commonwealth Games (Kuala Lumpur) winning the 200m sprint with a time of 22.77 seconds and sharing in Australia's 4x100 metres relay win. Peris was named Young Australian of the Year in 1997.^[2]

Peris continued to represent Australia on the athletics track, running over 200 metres at the 1999 World Athletics Championships and 400 metres at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. She made the Olympic semi-finals in her individual event and ran in the Australian 4x400 metres relay team, which made the final, finishing fifth.

In the Olympic year of 2000, a portrait of her was hung in the Sporting Archibald Prize, painted by Glenda Jones

In 2005, she sold her Olympic memorabilia to the National Museum of Australia for $140,000.^[3] It included her gold medal, hockey stick, Sydney Olympic torch and the running shoes she wore in the Sydney Olympics.^[4]

Personal life

Peris was born in Darwin, Northern Territory. She met footballer Sean Kneebone when she was 17, they had a daughter in 1990, and married in 1995. Following their divorce^[5] in 2001, she returned to using her maiden name, Peris, and then married Daniel Batman in March 2002;^[5] they were divorced in 2011.^[6] Batman died in a car crash in June 2012.^[7] Peris has three children: Jessica (with Kneebone), Destiny and Jack (with Batman), and became a grandmother at the age of 40.^[8]

Peris' autobiography, Nova: My Story was released on 4 April 2003.^[5][9]

Politics

On 22 January 2013 the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced she would invite Peris to join the Australian Labor Party and stand as a candidate for the Senate in the Northern Territory at the 2013 election.^[10] On 29 January 2013 her preselection was endorsed by the ALP executive 19 votes to 2, meaning her name was placed first on the ALP's senate ticket in the Northern Territory, supporting the likelihood she would become Australia's first female Indigenous federal parliamentarian.^[11]

On 7 September 2013 Peris became Australia's first indigenous woman elected to federal parliament.^[12] Peris was sworn into parliament on the 12th of November, and noted the apology to the stolen generation in her maiden speech.^[13][14]

References

External links

• Athletics Australia profile
• Nova Peris at the Internet Movie Database
• Transcript of Nova Peris interview on Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, 31 March 2003

Nova Peris – International Tournaments v t e Australia squad – 1993 Champions Trophy 1 Sowry 2 Ghisalberti 3 Tooth (c) 4 Annan 5 Haslam 6 Morris 7 Peek 8 Powell 9 Marsden 10 Starre 11 Carbon 12 Pereira 13 Perris 14 Hawkes 15 Buchanan 16 Andrews Coach: Charlesworth v t e Australia squad – 1994 FIH World Cup 1 Sowry 2 Ghisalberti 3 Allen 4 Annan 5 Haslam 6 Morris 7 Peek 8 Powell 9 Marsden 10 Starre 11 Carbon 12 Pereira 13 Perris 14 Hawkes (c) 15 Andrews 16 Farrell Coach: Charlesworth v t e Australia squad – 1995 Champions Trophy 1 Sowry 2 Mott 3 Allen 4 Annan 5 Haslam 6 Morris 7 Peek 8 Powell 9 Maitland 10 Starre 11 Mitchell-Taverner 12 Pereira 13 Perris 14 Hawkes (c) 15 Andrews 16 Farrell Coach: Charlesworth v t e Australia squad – 1996 Summer Olympics 1 Maitland 2 Roche 3 Tooth 4 Annan 5 Haslam 6 Morris 7 Dobson 8 L. Powell 9 Marsden 10 Starre 11 Farrell 12 Pereira 13 Peris-Kneebone 14 Hawkes (c) 15 K. Powell 16 Andrews Coach: Charlesworth