Jane Aagaard
{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Jane Aagaard
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|AM}}
| caption =
| birth_name = Jane Lesley Aagaard
| order = 8th
| office = Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
| term_start = 29 June 2005
| term_end = 23 October 2012
| deputy =
| predecessor = Loraine Braham
| successor = Kezia Purick
| constituency_AM2 = Nightcliff
| assembly2 = Northern Territory Legislative
| term_start2 = 18 August 2001
| term_end2 = 6 August 2012
| predecessor2 = Stephen Hatton
| successor2 = Natasha Fyles
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1956}}
| birth_place = Melbourne, Victoria
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Australian
| party = Labor Party
| spouse =
| relations =
| residence =
| alma_mater = QUT
| occupation = Public relations officer
| profession =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
Jane Lesley Aagaard {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (born 1956) is an Australian former politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the Darwin-based electorate of Nightcliff. She was the Speaker of the Assembly from June 2005 until October 2012—the first Labor member ever to hold the post. Prior to holding the speakership, she had served as Health Minister from 2001 to 2003.{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.curriculum.edu.au/parl.php3?srch=parl&list_params=gender%3D%26offices_held%3D%26party%3D%26parliament%3D%26surname%3DAagaard%26electorate%3D%26former_occupations%3D&ID=612|title=Hon. Jane Lesley AAGAARD MLA|date=30 September 2006 |publisher=Australian Government|accessdate=2009-09-22}}
Early life
{{NT parlbox header}}
{{NT parlbox|term=9th|start={{NT election link|2001}}|end=2005|party=Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch)|electorate=Nightcliff}}
{{NT parlbox|term=10th|start={{NT election link|2005}}|end=2008|party=Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch)|electorate=Nightcliff}}
{{NT parlbox|term=11th|start={{NT election link|2008}}|end=2012|party=Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch)|electorate=Nightcliff}}
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Jane Aagaard was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1956, to John Stuart McIntosh and Jean Brown. She moved to Brisbane, Queensland at the age of seven, where she was educated at Somerville House, a school for girls in South Brisbane.{{cite encyclopedia| editor = Suzannah Pearce| encyclopedia = Who's Who in Business Live!| title = AAGAARD Jane Lesley, Hon. |date=2006-11-17| publisher = Crown Content Pty Ltd| location = North Melbourne, Vic}}
In 1986, she accepted a position with the Northern Territory Department of Mines and Energy, and settled with her husband in Darwin.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}
Aagaard also became heavily involved in many aspects of the Darwin community. She helped found the Brolga Awards and Northern Territory Sports Awards, and continued organising both presentations for several years. Not long before entering parliament, she had also organised the city's commemoration of its bombing by Japanese forces during World War II.Smith, Camden. "Aagaard to stand for Nightcliff seat". Northern Territory News, 7 March 2001.
When former Chief Minister Stephen Hatton, the longtime CLP member for Nightcliff, retired at the 2001 election, Aagaard ran as the Labor candidate against Hatton's son, Jason. In a shock result, Aagaard won the seat on an unexpectedly large swing of 11.7 percent that saw the previously marginal Nightcliff technically become a safe Labor seat. Aagaard's victory was part of a six-seat swing to Labor that saw the party win government for the first time ever, mainly on the strength of a strong performance in the Darwin area. She was reelected in 2005, picking up a healthy swing of 8.5 percent.
In March 2012, Aagaard announced that she would not contest the next election due to "ongoing medical issues that would require treatment and surgery".{{cite web|url=http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2012/03/25/295785_ntnews.html |title=Speaker Aagaard to retire from politics |publisher=NT News |date=25 March 2012 |accessdate=16 April 2012}} In November 2012, Aagaard was granted the title The Honourable for life.[http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012G00283 Ms Jane Lesley Aagaard granted the title "Honourable" for life], Commonwealth Government Gazette C2012G00283, S No. 177 of 2012, 20 November 2012.
References
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{{succession box | before=Stephen Hatton | title=Member for Nightcliff | years=2001–2012 | after=Natasha Fyles}}
{{succession box | before=Loraine Braham | title=Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly | years=2005–2012 | after=Kezia Purick}}
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Category:Australian Labor Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Category:Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Category:Speakers of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Category:Members of the Order of Australia
Category:Politicians from Melbourne
Category:People from Darwin, Northern Territory
Category:21st-century Australian politicians
Category:21st-century Australian women politicians
Category:Women members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly