Women’s Networking Sessions
Every 6 months MCOT organises Women’s Networking Sessions at various locations around Tasmania.
Visit the Facebook page to get involved and find out when the next event will be.
The Multicultural Council of Tasmania (MCOT) is organizing Women’s networking Sessions at The Parliament House in collaboration with women from community organizations across Tasmania, such as the MRC Tasmania, International Wall Friendship and the AIYA.
The theme of our upcoming networking sessions is “Women in Politics” which will take place on September 6, 2023, at The Parliament House Tasmania in 1 Salamanca Pl, Hobart TAS 7000.
Throughout the evening there will be several speakers including female politicians and leaders Honourable MP Elise Archer, Honourable MP Ella Hadad, Honourable Lara Maria Alexander, as well as Councillor Jade Darko.
The session aims to highlight how important it is for women to be involved in political leadership and empower more women to take on leadership roles in politics. It will provide a platform to discuss about the difficulties, accomplishments, and strategies needed to achieve equality between genders in politics.
Light refreshments will be provided from 5:30 pm and the formal program will commence 6pm.
For more information, please contact the MCOT office via 03 6170 9196 or office@mcot.org.au
Speaker List
Jade Darko
Jade is a Greens Councillor at the City of Clarence with a background in advocacy for environmental & social justice issues. She feels strongly that the crises we face in housing, climate, healthcare, and cost of living are linked together, and rooted in intolerance. She believes the solutions are understanding and empathy, and building community which actively includes and uplifts all peoples.
One of the few transgender elected representatives in so-called Australia, Jade hopes that as she stands up for her local community on the issues that matter to them, she will show that our similarities are more important than our differences. That we’re all in this together, and by embracing all forms of diversity, the world improves for everyone.
Hon. MP Ella Hadad
Elise Archer
Elise Archer practised law in litigation for approximately two decades prior to entering Parliament as Liberal Member for Denison (now Clark) in 2010.
She became the first female Speaker of the House of Assembly in 2014 (in its 157 year history) and then joined the Cabinet in 2017. In 2018 she became Attorney-General for the State of Tasmania and is now also Leader of the House (managing the Government Business), Minister for Justice, Corrections and Rehabilitation, Workplace Safety and Consumer Affairs, and the Arts.
Elise’s decision to enter State politics stemmed from a passion to improve the lives of those less fortunate in our community; an ethos she developed early in life while volunteering and acting pro bono for a number of charities and organisations, and working in her family’s small businesses throughout her school and university years. She strongly backs creating a strong economy to create jobs, to support our health and education systems and Tasmanians in need.
Hon. Lara ALexander
She was elected as the local Member of Parliament (Liberal Party) for Bass in March 2022 and held the role of Government Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for State Development, Construction and Housing, until 12th May 2023 when she decided to leave to the Liberal party and become and Independent MP.
She was born in Romania and spent my early childhood in Morocco. She also lived in New Zealand for five years prior to coming to Australia. She has studied economics and accounting, obtaining a BA Economic Studies (Hons) and a Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) professional qualification.
She is extremely grateful for the opportunities Australia has offered me, which includes the honour of becoming an elected representative of my electorate of Bass and joining the Tasmanian Parliament.
She has a passion for the Not-for-Profit sector having worked since 1998, at an executive level, for several organisations including Save the Children WA, Bethesda Hospital, Cancer Council WA, St John Ambulance Australia, Presbyterian Care Tasmania (aged care) and more recently serving as the Chief Executive Officer of St Vincent de Paul Society in Tasmania from 2018 to March 2022.
She has been involved over the years in major change-management projects around general operations, transfers, and acquisitions. She has also coordinated medium and large capital developments, which in the NFP sectors, with a multitude of stakeholders, can be challenging. She really enjoyed business improvements, risk mitigation and governance, advocacy, program development and stakeholder engagement, bringing people together to achieve meaningful results.
Outside work, she has been involved (and continue to be involved) as a volunteer or a Board member, with several charity and community organisations.
In her current role as Member of Parliament she believes that accountability, respect, empathy, authenticity, integrity, and collaboration are fundamental values which she places at the centre of her interactions with the community.