Name Helen Sham-Ho Role Politician | Education Macquarie University Resigned 2003 | |
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Previous office Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1988–2003) Books Report on the Inquiry Into Aspects of the Department of Corrective Services (GPSC No. 3) | ||
Dragon Footprints - Helen Sham Ho
Helen Wai-Har Sham-Ho OAM (Chinese: 何沈慧霞; pinyin: Hé Shěn Huìxiá) (born 9 September 1943) is a former Australian politician.
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Early life and education
Of Bao'an Hakka ancestry, Sham-Ho was born in Hong Kong. She migrated to Australia in 1961.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Social Work from the University of Sydney, graduating in 1967, and earned a LL.B. at Macquarie University.
Her first marriage produced two daughters; her second marriage was to Robert Ho on 15 December 1987. In 1982 she had joined the Epping Branch of the Liberal Party.
In 1988, she was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council for the Liberal Party. She was the first Chinese to be elected into an Australia parliament. She continued as a Liberal MLC until 1998, when she resigned from the party to sit as an independent. She retired before the 2003 election. In 1992 she became one of the eminent Australians serving on the original Foundation Council of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. Since her retirement she has been involved in various fund-raising activities in her local community.