Sandra Kanck
Encyclopedia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n politician. She was an Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
member of the South Australian Legislative Council
South Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the House of Assembly...
1993-2009, and at the time of the announcement of her resignation in November 2008, her party's sole remaining member of any Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n parliament . She was first elected in 1993 and was re-elected for a second eight-year term in 2002.
Sandra was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
with six younger siblings and she credits the financial poverty of that upbringing to many of her views about inequality and injustice. She was a primary school teacher in NSW from 1978-80, teaching at Gillieston and Weston Primary Schools in the Hunter Valley.
On 14 March 2001 Kanck introduced the Dignity in Dying Bill 2001 (SA). The bill was drafted in large part by the South Australian Voluntary Euthanasia Society (SAVES), of which she has since been awarded life membership. She introduced the bill twice, and on the second occasion it passed the second reading vote, but failed at the third reading. In August 2006, Kanck ignored government requests not to discuss suicide methods
Suicide methods
A suicide method is any means by which one or more persons purposely kill themselves. Suicide methods can be classified according to two modes of interrupting life processes: physical or chemical. Physical modes of interruption typically act by incapacitating the respiratory system or the central...
in a parliamentary speech on legalising voluntary euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
. Although suppressed from the parliament's internet record by a narrowly resolved Legislative Council vote, the speech was published elsewhere.
In May 2006, she controversially advocated the therapeutic use of MDMA (identified in news media as "ecstasy" or "the base ingredient in ecstasy").
The cause of midwifery is another that Kanck championed, twice introducing a bill for a Midwives Act, and during the course of debate on the Nurses Act 1999 fought hard to retain a register of midwives to be separate from that of nurses. For her advocacy the SA Branch of the Australian College of Midwives chose her for their inaugural Midwifery Advocate of the Year Award in 1999.
During her time in parliament she served on the Social Development, Environment Resources & Development and Natural Resources Standing Committees, and numerous select committees, including chairing the Select Committee on the Impact of Peak Oil on South Australia.
Kanck was successful in moving a motion to refer the matter of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity to the Social Development Committee. With a strong environmental focus in her politics she also succeeded in referring the matter of Marine Parks to the Environment Resources and Development Committee.
Kanck announced her resignation on 7 November 2008 with her resignation taking effect on 31 January 2009. The party membership selected David Winderlich
David Winderlich
David Winderlich , is an Australian teacher, public servant and politician who in 2009 was appointed to fill a casual vacancy in the South Australian Legislative Council following the November 2008 resignation of Australian Democrats member Sandra Kanck...
as her replacement in the Legislative Council.
She stood as one of the Candidates of the South Australian state election, 2010
Candidates of the South Australian state election, 2010
-Liberal:*Graham Gunn, MHA in Stuart.*Liz Penfold, MHA in Flinders.*Robert Lawson, MLC.*Caroline Schaefer, MLC.-Labor:*Lea Stevens, MHA in Little Para.*Trish White, MHA in Taylor.-Other:*Rory McEwen, Independent MHA in Mount Gambier.-House of Assembly:...
, in the third and unwinnable position in the list of Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
Candidates for the Legislative Council.
She is a continuing social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
and human rights campaigner and environmentalist
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
.
Since April 2009 Kanck has been the National President of Sustainable Population Australia
Sustainable Population Australia
Sustainable Population Australia is an Australian special advocacy group, founded in Canberra in 1988, which seeks to establish an "ecologically sustainable" human population...
, a Committee Member of the SA Branch of Sustainable Population Australia, President of SA Branch of Friends of the ABC (2009-2010) and now a Committee Member, a Patron of the Broken Hill Community Foundation, SA spokesperson for Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform, a member of the executive of the SA Council for Civil Liberties, and State President of the Democrats in South Australia.