She has been
referred to as a headline generator, a mould-breaker and a trailblazer, elected
as mayor of Campbelltown at the end of 1961, Alderman Kath Whitten became the
first woman to ever hold that position.
The idea of
a woman holding such a senior rank dismayed many men and they made no secret of
the fact that she had been elected because of a tactical mistake, the result of
a political tug of war between council’s two most influential men, Greg
Percival and Clive Tregear. Nonetheless the new Mayor proved both talented and capable and the public grew to be proud of their “novelty” mayor, her biggest problem was winning over her colleagues.
There was
friction from the start between the Mayor and her male colleagues, with Council
refusing to buy her a better fitting mayoral robe (the existing robe was fitted
for a large man and held together by safety pins) so she purchased her own
sable–trimmed robe. Sympathetic media coverage of the matter only angered her
opponents but her biggest confrontation was to be with councilor Guy Marsden
over Government plans for Campbelltown to become a “satellite city”.
Whilst her
one year term included walkouts by aldermen, an unsuccessful vote of
no-confidence and the eternal opposition of several key councilors that
resulted in a failed bid to regain the mayorship, even her harshest critics
acknowledged her dignity and decorum that she showed in office.
Retiring
from council in 1971, she remained Campbelltown’s only female Mayor until Cr
Meg Oates was elected mayor in 1993.
By Samantha Stevenson
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