LUMEN Summer 2019 - Flipbook - Page 7
eventually entering politics.
In retrospect, Vickie’s career as a
Liberal MP isn’t a surprising one.
After all, “civil service was something
that was expected in the country.”
“You gave one bail of wool to the local
church, one bail to the local hospital
and one bail to the Liberal party.”
As a woman in the spheres of law
and politics, she’s resolute on the
importance of diversity in leadership.
“Every law we make affects people’s
lives and therefore it’s important that
there’s a perspective of diversity in
the members of parliament who are
considering these laws,” she said.
“People have to know when they
look at the team, or the group, or
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The Hon. Vickie
Chapman MP
the bench that are making decisions
about their life that there is some
capacity to be able to relate to them.”
As the state’s first female Deputy
Premier and Attorney-General, she’s
taken strides to address domestic
violence and reform abortion law.
Earlier this year, the State
Government introduced tough
domestic violence laws, and in
May awarded more than $2
million to fund the Legal Services
Commission for the provision of
legal services to victims of family and
domestic violence.
“In life, in private practice and in
politics I’ve seen domestic violence
as an underpinning ill of our
community,” said Vickie.
“A simple thing like changing the
rules, suspending the need to pay
a bond, or removing the offender
rather than the victim, once initiated,
can change the world for victims.”
These pieces form a puzzle of complex
societal attitudes where, Vickie said,
“it’s very important for girls to have
good role models, to remove barriers
for them accessing education,
to ensure they have financial
independence, and most of all to
teach our boys to respect women.”
She’s also tasked the South
Australian Law Reform Institute
based at the Adelaide Law School,
with considering changes to the
state’s abortion laws.
“We haven’t really dealt with this in
Parliament since it was debated in
1969 and clearly the medical world
has moved on,” said Vickie.
“I think it’s important that we first
get rid of this idea that we should
put someone in prison for 15 years
for taking a toxic substance to try
and destroy a foetus in their own
body. Stop punishing women for
being in a situation that is just not
viable for them.”
Despite holding the position of the
state’s first law officer, the AttorneyGeneral proved you never stop
learning when she returned to the
University forty years post-graduation
to undertake a one-week intensive
Strategic Space Law course.
“We’re going to be the centre of
space, so space law needs an army of
people who are going to know about
contract law in space, the rules of
engagement in the defence world, the
surveillance rules, and the launching
and permit processes for satellites,”
she said.
“Every new industry comes with
an army of regulation and rules, we
need to be prepared for it and I want
South Australians in the legal world
to provide that service.”
For Vickie, a woman proud and
hopeful for her state’s future, this
attitude extends to all new industries.
Between defence, cyber security and
space, she’s dubbed this “the next
golden age of South Australia.”
“We want to be a part of it and we
want our kids to be a part of it. We’re
talking about industries that require
highly skilled young people with
university degrees and we need them
in a hurry,” she said.
“The University of Adelaide offers
that, it’s a premier university, there’s
no question about that.”
Above all else, as a woman leading
the way in South Australian politics,
Vickie is adamant about laying the
groundwork for generations to come.
“People will judge whether
I’ve been good or bad at it, but
what’s important for me is that
I try and demonstrate, for those
who are watching with a view
to their own future, that this is
something that we as women can
competently undertake.”
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