Cardell-Oliver, Annie Florence Gillies (1876 - 1965)

Florence Cardell-Oliver became the first woman in Australia to be appointed to a cabinet or ministry when made Western Australian Minister for Health, Supply and Shipping in 1949.

During the First World War Florence Cardell-Oliver spoke at recruitment meetings for the armed services. Her husband, an honorary captain in the Army Medical Corps Reserve, joined the Australian Imperial Force, and served in England before requesting his appointment be terminated. He then set up a medical practice in South Melbourne and retired in 1924 due to ill health. The family travelled to England where he died on 15 September 1929.

Florence Cardell-Oliver returned to Western Australia and became vice-president of the State Branch of the Nationalist Party. Defeated in 1934 for the House of Representative seat of Fremantle she was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly as the member for Subiaco. On 1 April 1947 she was appointed honorary minister without portfolio and on 5 January 1948 honorary minister for supply and shipping. Florence Cardell-Oliver became the first woman in Australia to attain full cabinet rank when she was appointed minister for health on 7 October 1949. She remained in these positions until the defeat of government in 1953 and retired in 1956.

Florence Cardell-Oliver died on 12 January 1965 in Perth and she is buried beside her husband (Arthur) in St Columb Minor churchyard, Newquay, England.

She was appointed to the Order of the British Empire (Dames Commander) on 3 June 1951 for service to the state of Western Australia as Minister of Health.

Chronology

1936 - 1956	Member of the Legislative Assembly for Subiaco, Western Australia
1947 - 1953	Honourary Minister for Supply and Shipping, Western Australia
1949 - 1953	Honourary Minister of Health, Supply and Shipping, Western Australia
3 June 1951	Created Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)

Membership

• KarraKatta Club (1894 - )
• Women's Service Guilds of Western Australia (1909 - 1997)

  First President of the Women's Service Guild at Albany

Books

• Brown, R K, Dame Florence Cardell-Oliver : a study of a parliamentarian, 1984, 18 pp. [ Details... ]

Book Sections

• Black, David, '[Cardell-Oliver : biography of a politician.]', in Black, David,d1936-. Biographical register of members of the Parliament of Western Australia, Vol.2 (1930-1990), vol. 2, Western Australian Parliamentary History Project, Perth, 1990, p. 23. [ Details... ]
• Black, David, 'Cardell-Oliver, Dame Annie Florence Gillies (1876-1965)', in Ritchie, John (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 13, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, 1993, pp. 365-366. [ Details... ]

See also

• Black, David and Phillips, Harry, Making a difference : women in the Western Australian Parliament 1921-1999, Western Australian Parliamentary History Project, Perth, 2000, 309 pp. [ Details... ]
• Popham, Daphne; Stokes, K.A.; Lewis, Julie, Reflections : profiles of 150 women who helped make Western Australia's history; Project of the Womens Committee for the 150th Anniversary Celebrations of Western Australia, Carrolls, Perth, Melbourne [etc.]:, 1979, 266 pp. [ Details... ]