Elizabeth Lilian Maud Fowler Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire, Justice of the Peace was an Australian politician, and Australia"s first female mayor.
Background
Fowler was born at Cooma, New South Wales. She was the third daughter of farmer Charles Gill and Frances Rebecca, née Gaunson. After receiving a primary school education she became closely involved in Labor politics with the assistance of her father, a local councillor and Labor League organiser.
Career
Fowler was made secretary of the Newtown-Erskineville Political Labor League, and from 1917 managed the electorate of Newtown Member of Parliament Frank Burke, an anti-conscriptionist. Elected to the central executive of the Australian Labor Party 1920-1921 and 1923-1925, she and Jack Language were behind the move to admit James Dooley at the 1923 conference. Fowler was also instrumental in the anti-corruption moves at the conference which led to the exposure of sliding-panel ballot boxes.
She resigned from the central executive in 1932.
She also petitioned the governor regarding the appointment of women to the Legislative Council, and organised the first interstate Labor Women"s conference. She held office sporadically after that point (1935-1937, 1938-1940, 1941-1944, 1948), but on 7 December 1937 became Australia"s first female mayor, holding the mayoralty until 1939.
In 1941, Fowler unsuccessfully ran against Burke for the seat of Newtown as an independent Labor candidate. She ran again as a Language Labor candidate in 1944, campaigning for reduced taxation, better housing and more day nurseries and baby clinics, and defeating Burke to become the third woman elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since its inception in 1856.
In Parliament she condemned the Labor Party"s centrist tendencies and opposed intervention from Canberra in New South Wales affairs
A fierce critic of bureaucracy, she supported regrouping local councils, and lost her own council seat when Newtown was merged with the City of Sydney in 1949. Fowler was re-elected in 1947, but was defeated in the 1950 election by the "official" Labor candidate Arthur Greenup. Fowler did not long survive her retirement from politics.
She died in King George V Memorial Hospital on 11 May 1954 from coronary occlusion and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery with Methodist rites.
She was survived by a daughter. The federal division of Fowler is named for her.
Politics
Language Labor, Australian Labor Party.