Maryanne was born in Quirindi, New South Wales and raised in Engadine in the Sutherland Shire. She was the youngest child and only daughter in a family of seven children. Her father was a train driver and the employees’ representative on the State Rail Authority. Maryanne’s parents raised her to advocate on behalf of those unable to help themselves.
Maryanne has lived in the Heathcote electorate, both in the Shire and in the northern Illawarra, since she was four years old and currently lives with her husband Russell in Engadine, where they raised their two children. She attended local schools and TAFE, where she studied industrial relations.
Maryanne is a lifelong trade unionist, having first joined a union after starting her first job at the age of fourteen. She has worked for many Unions including the ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions) and has continuously advocated for all workers, especially our NSW Public Sector frontline workforce.
Maryanne has been a strong voice for communities and individual residents across the Sutherland Shire and northern Illawarra regions over many years. Maryanne supported the residents of East Heathcote, opposing the development of the heritage-listed Heathcote Hall and successfully campaigned against the construction of a carpark proposed without consideration of the capacity of the surrounding infrastructure. Maryanne backed the people of Thirroul in the successful two-year “Save Thirroul Village” campaign opposing the addition of a seventy-seven-unit development to Thirroul Plaza.
“I am so proud to be part of a New South Wales Labor government that will prioritise the welfare of frontline workers like nurses, teachers and our wonderful paramedics. It is not just about wages for our State's frontline workers; it is about respect for their profession and conditions of employment.”
As a proud beneficiary of TAFE, Maryanne has been an active supporter of tertiary technical education in her local community including successfully leading opposition to the destruction of Loftus TAFE and university education precinct for the construction of a football stadium. She is also a strong advocate of better health care services and a fair go for health care workers.
Having a strong passion for the environment, Maryanne has energetically advocated for nature within the area. Maryanne knows the value of the diverse nature contained within the electorate and that it is worth protecting. She has fought to protect the Royal National Park from a proposed motorway that would have torn through it and successfully led a campaign to stop a development on a known koala habitat in Woronora Heights.
Maryanne worked as a Lead Community Organiser for the internationally renowned Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia’s national environmental advocacy organisation. She successfully mobilised community support to advocate for positive outcomes for nature. She also served on the Executive of the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN), advocating for positive environmental outcomes across the State.
An unrelenting advocate for her community, Maryanne fights for residents across the southern Shire and northern Illawarra and looks forward to continuing to represent the diverse suburbs and villages across the Heathcote electorate in the New South Wales Parliament.
