# Kay Brownbill

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{{Short description|Australian politician (1914–2002)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name             = Kay Brownbill
| honorific_suffix = [OBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire)
| image            = Kay_Brownbill.png
| constituency_MP  = [Kingston](/source/Division_of_Kingston)
| parliament       = Australian
| majority         = 
| predecessor      = [Pat Galvin](/source/Pat_Galvin)
| successor        = [Richard Gun](/source/Richard_Gun)
| term_start       = 26 November 1966
| term_end         = 25 October 1969
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1914|7|21}}
| birth_place      = [Adelaide, South Australia](/source/Adelaide%2C_South_Australia)
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|2002|2|3|1914|7|21}}
| death_place      = Adelaide, South Australia
| spouse           = 
| party            = [Liberal](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Australia)
| relations        = 
| children         = 
| education        = [Unley High School](/source/Unley_High_School)
| occupation       = Journalist, broadcaster
| profession       = 
| signature        = 
| website          = 
| footnotes        =  
}}

'''Kay Cathrine Millin Brownbill''' <small>[OBE](/source/Order_of_the_British_Empire)</small> (21 July 1914 &ndash; 3 February 2002) was an Australian media personality and politician. She was a playwright, journalist, radio and television presenter, writer, and publicist, working primarily in [Adelaide](/source/Adelaide). She was the first South Australian woman elected to the [House of Representatives](/source/Australian_House_of_Representatives) and the third overall, serving a single term from 1966 to 1969.

==Early life==
Brownbill was born in [Adelaide](/source/Adelaide) on 21 July 1914.<ref name=obit>{{cite news|title=Remarkable woman of many 'firsts'|first=Miles|last=Kemp|date=16 February 2002|newspaper=The Advertiser}}</ref> She was a child actress under the name "Kitty Brownbill", making her debut on stage at the age of six, but gave up the theatre after injuring an ankle while dancing.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47115512|title=What Women Are Doing: Catherine Brownbill's Success as Playwright|magazine=[The Australian Women's Weekly](/source/The_Australian_Women's_Weekly)|date=16 February 1935|access-date=26 January 2019|archive-date=26 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126221125/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47115512|url-status=live}}</ref> She attended [Unley High School](/source/Unley_High_School)<ref name=news>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/130769961|title=S.A. radio writer to study in U.K.|publisher=[The News](/source/The_News_(Adelaide))|date=9 December 1949|access-date=26 January 2019|archive-date=16 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916043736/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/130769961|url-status=live}}</ref> and [business college](/source/business_college)s in Adelaide and [Sydney](/source/Sydney), earning a certificate in home economics, and also took classes in English and public speaking at the [University of Adelaide](/source/University_of_Adelaide).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/41640512|title=New Secretary for Housewives' Association|newspaper=[The Advertiser](/source/The_Advertiser_(Adelaide))|date=16 February 1935|access-date=26 January 2019|archive-date=27 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127035058/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/41640512|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Media career==
At a young age, Brownbill began writing, producing, and acting in [radio play](/source/radio_play)s under the name "Cathrine Brownbill". Her plays were distributed by the [Australian Broadcasting Corporation](/source/Australian_Broadcasting_Corporation) (ABC) and aired in Canada, New Zealand, India and South Africa. Her play "Sleep to Wake" – about [Colonel William Light](/source/Colonel_William_Light) – won second prize in a competition run by ''[The Advertiser](/source/The_Advertiser_(Adelaide))'' and was performed at the celebrations marking the centenary of South Australia in 1938.<ref name=obit/>

Brownbill briefly worked at radio station [2WG](/source/2WG) in [Wagga Wagga](/source/Wagga_Wagga) before returning to Adelaide in 1939. She spent eight years at [5DN](/source/5DN) and [5RM](/source/5RM), holding the title of "social editress" and helping expand the station's female listenership. Brownbill eventually moved to Sydney to work as an executive at [2GB](/source/2GB), another [Macquarie Network](/source/Macquarie_Network) affiliate.<ref name=obit/> In 1949, she moved to England for a year to study at a television school.<ref name=news/> Upon her return she was heralded by ''[The News](/source/The_News_(Adelaide))'' as "Australia's first television expert".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131129786|title=An expert on television|date=16 August 1950|publisher=The News|access-date=26 January 2019|archive-date=16 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916043829/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131129786|url-status=live}}</ref> She eventually transitioned to the field of public relations, and was deputy state president of the [Public Relations Institute of Australia](/source/Public_Relations_Institute_of_Australia).<ref name=comehome>{{cite magazine|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44555846|title='I feel as if I've come home'|magazine=[The Australian Women's Weekly](/source/The_Australian_Women's_Weekly)|date=21 December 1966|access-date=26 January 2019|archive-date=16 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916043758/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/44555846|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Politics==
Brownbill was active in the [Liberal and Country League of South Australia](/source/Liberal_and_Country_League), and first stood for the House of Representatives at the [1963 federal election](/source/1963_Australian_federal_election). She ran in the [Division of Kingston](/source/Division_of_Kingston) but the seat was retained by the sitting [Labor](/source/Australian_Labor_Party) member [Pat Galvin](/source/Pat_Galvin). She reprised her candidacy [in 1966](/source/1966_Australian_federal_election), defeating Galvin with a 12.7-point swing as the [Coalition](/source/Coalition_(Australia)) won a landslide victory.<ref name=Psephos>{{cite web|last=Carr |first=Adam |title=Australian Election Archive |work=Psephos, Adam Carr's Election Archive |url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia |year=2008 |accessdate=2008-11-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070717093439/http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/ |archivedate=17 July 2007 }}</ref> Brownbill was the third woman elected to the House of Representatives, after [Enid Lyons](/source/Enid_Lyons) and [Doris Blackburn](/source/Doris_Blackburn), and the first from South Australia.  She was the first woman elected to the House since 1949, and the first not to have been the widow of a previous member.<ref name=milestone>{{cite news|url=http://wifp.senate.gov.au/milestones/9/|title=Women in Federal Parliament: Kay Brownbill|publisher=Australian Parliamentary Library|access-date=26 January 2019|archive-date=16 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190316144151/http://wifp.senate.gov.au/milestones/9/|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the time of her election she was the only South Australian woman in federal parliament, but she was joined by Senator [Nancy Buttfield](/source/Nancy_Buttfield) in July 1968.<ref name=sawomen>{{cite news|url=http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/women_and_politics/parl5.htm|title=Statistics of South Australian women in Parliament|publisher=State Library of South Australia|access-date=26 January 2019}}</ref>

Brownbill's maiden speech focused on the need to attract more overseas tourists to Australia, and she lobbied for the appointment of a woman to the board of the newly created [Australian Tourist Commission](/source/Australian_Tourist_Commission). She served on the Printing Committee and the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings,<ref name=obit/> and supported quotas for Australian content on radio and television.<ref name=milestone/> Her speeches showed "a keen interest in aircraft noise, foreign policy, social welfare reform and education".<ref name=obit/> Her parliamentary career came to an end after a single term, as she lost her seat to Labor's [Richard Gun](/source/Richard_Gun) at the [1969 election](/source/1969_Australian_federal_election).<ref name=Psephos/> It was not until 1987 that another South Australian woman, [Elizabeth Harvey](/source/Elizabeth_Harvey_(politician)), was elected to the House of Representatives.<ref name=sawomen/>

==Other activities==
In 1962, Brownbill published a historical mystery novel titled ''Blow the Wind Southerly''. Before and after her political career, she lectured in South Australian history at the [University of Adelaide](/source/University_of_Adelaide)'s Adult Education Department.<ref name=obit/> She began working on a biography of artist [Hans Heysen](/source/Hans_Heysen) in 1963, but after her election to parliament she passed on her notes and tape-recordings to [Colin Thiele](/source/Colin_Thiele) who completed his own biography of Heysen.<ref name=comehome/>

Brownbill was appointed [Officer of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Officer_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (OBE) in the [1980 Queen's Birthday Honours](/source/1980_Queen's_Birthday_Honours_(Australia)). She died in Adelaide in February 2002, aged 87.<ref name=obit/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{AusStage|contributor/414505|Kay Brownbill's Australian theatre credits}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|au}}
{{succession box | title=Member for [Kingston](/source/Division_of_Kingston) | before=[Pat Galvin](/source/Pat_Galvin)| after=[Richard Gun](/source/Richard_Gun)| years=1966&ndash;1969}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brownbill, Kay}}
Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Kingston
Category:Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Category:Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:1914 births
Category:2002 deaths
Category:Women members of the Australian House of Representatives
Category:20th-century Australian journalists
Category:20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights
Category:20th-century Australian novelists
Category:20th-century Australian women novelists
Category:20th-century Australian women politicians
Category:Australian women radio presenters
Category:Australian women television presenters
Category:Australian women dramatists and playwrights
Category:20th-century Australian women journalists
Category:Australian public relations people
Category:People educated at Unley High School
Category:Australian MPs 1966–1969
Category:Politicians from Adelaide

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kay Brownbill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Brownbill) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Brownbill?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.