Christabel Chamarette

Christabel Chamarette
Senator for Western Australia
In office
12 March 1992 – 30 June 1996
Preceded by Jo Vallentine
Personal details
Born (1948-05-01) 1 May 1948
Hyderabad, India
Nationality Indian Australian
Political party Greens WA
Occupation Community worker

Christabel Marguerite Alain Chamarette, sometimes Christabel Bridge (born 1 May 1948) was a Greens Senator for Western Australia from 1992 to 1996.[1]

Personal life

Born in Hyderabad, India in 1948,[1] Chamarette is of Anglo-Indian [2] and French Huguenot ancestry.[3] She has worked as a community worker in Bangladesh and later as a clinical psychologist at Fremantle Prison,[3] after gaining a Bachelor, and later a Masters, in Psychology from the University of Western Australia. She also has a Certificate of Tropical Community Medicine and Hygiene from the University of Liverpool.

In 1998, Chamarette led an eight-week discussion group called "Conversations for the 21st Century", while working as a psychologist with child sexual abuse cases and completing a doctorate on the psychopathology of politics.[4] She has been a member of the Anglican Social Responsibilities Commission, the Aboriginal Driver Training Programme, the Psychologists for the Prevention of War and the Christian Justice Association.[3]

Politics

Chamarette was appointed to the Senate in 1992, following the resignation of Jo Vallentine.[1] In 1995, she proposed an Export Control Amendment Bill that would ban woodchip exports from old-growth forests.[5] She was opposed to privatising Telstra[6] and delayed the Mabo legislation by demanding the inclusion of mineral rights in the compensation package for native title holders.[7]

She was defeated at the 1996 general election; her term ending several months later on 30 June 1996.[1] Chamarette said that when working in the Senate, she thought it was the most important work of her life, but she now refers to it as simply "useful experience".[8]

After politics

After leaving politics, Chamarette was Clinical Director of SafeCare, formerly the Sexual Assault in Families Program, from 1997 to 2008.

She was an expert consultant to the Department of Justice and was appointed to the Western Australian parole board in 2002. She was one of four members who resigned in 2005 in protest against the State Government's response to the Mahoney inquiry.[9][10]

She is currently in private practice which involves individual and group therapy, supervision and teaching. She is also a single expert witness appointed by the Family Court of Western Australia and a supervisor/consultant to Acacia Prison.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Senate Biography". Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  2. ↑ James Jupp, 2001, The Australian People: an encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins, Melbourne, Cambridge University Press, pp. 437, 438.
  3. 1 2 3 "Who are the Green senators?". Sunday Age. 1993-08-22. p. 6.
  4. ↑ Miller, Nick (1998-07-13). "Former senator sees no answers in politics". The West Australian. p. 12.
  5. ↑ Boreham, Gareth (1995-11-21). "Greens test forest policy". The Age. p. 6.
  6. ↑ Chamberlin, Paul (1996-03-12). "Telstra senate warning". The Age. p. 6.
  7. ↑ "The limits of power". The Age. 1993-12-11. p. 19.
  8. ↑ Crompton, Helen (2002-11-16). "Vision ends ex-senator's lavender days". The West Australian.
  9. ↑ Dodd, Mark (2005-12-29). "Parole board members resign". The Australian. p. 5.
  10. ↑ Mahoney, Hon. Dennis Inquiry into the Management of Offenders in Custody and in the Community Parliament of Western Australia, November 2005
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