jennie george

Jennie George (born 28 August 1947), Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 2001, representing the Division of Throsby, New South Wales. She was born in Trani, Italy, where her parents were displaced persons from Russia. She was educated at Sydney University and the Sydney Teachers College. George was a Secondary school teacher and teacher trade unionist, and was elected General Secretary of the New South Wales Teachers Federation 1980-82. During the 1960s and early '70s George was a member of the Communist Party of Australia, although she has not confirmed this publicly since it was discussed in a biography by Brad Norrington in 1998. George was Vice President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in 1987, Assistant Secretary of the ACTU 1991-96 and President of the ACTU 1996-2000. She was the first woman to hold this position.

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