Joy Baluch

{{Short description|Australian politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}

{{Use Australian English|date=November 2016}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Joy Baluch

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| office = Mayor of Port Augusta

| predecessor = William Irvin Charles Howard

| term_start = {{start date|1981|df=y}}

| term_end = {{end date|1982|df=y}}

| successor = Kenneth Charles Naisbitt

| predecessor2 = Kenneth Charles Naisbitt

| term_start2 = {{start date|1983|df=y}}

| term_end2 = {{end date|1993|df=y}}

| successor2 = R. Robertson

| predecessor3 = R. Robertson

| term_start3 = {{start date|1995|df=y}}

| term_end3 = {{end date|2013|5|14|df=y}}

| successor3 = Sam Johnson

| birth_name = Nancy Joy Copley

| birth_date ={{Birth date |1932|10|10|df=y}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|05|14|1932|10|10|df=y}}

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| party = Liberal

| spouse = {{marriage|Teofil Stefan Baluch|1954| 1997|end=died}}

| children =

| occupation =

| profession =

| awards = {{plainlist|

• Centenary Medal (2001)
• Member of the Order of Australia (2007)

}}

}}

Nancy Joy Baluch {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (10 October 1932 – 14 May 2013) was an Australian politician who served as Mayor of Port Augusta from 1981 to 1993 and from 1995 until her death. Her term as mayor of 29 years is believed to be an Australian record.

Baluch was born in Port Augusta to George Budgen Copley and Jessie Stuart Copley, née Parker. She attended Cook and Port Augusta Primary Schools and Port Augusta High School. She married Teofil Stefan Baluch, a Ukrainian who had been imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp in World War II, in 1954.{{cite web |url=https://archival.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/oh/OH862.pdf |accessdate=7 February 2020 |title=Full transcript of an interview with JOY BALUCH |id=OH862 |first=June |last=Edwards |date=27 May 2008 |publisher=State Library of South Australia |work=J.D.Somerville Oral History Collection }} She worked as head stenographer for the Mechanical Engineering Branch of Commonwealth Railways between 1949 and 1953, and was owner/proprietor of a motel from 1961 to 1981. She was elected to Port Augusta City Council in 1970.{{cite book|title=Who's Who of Australian Women|last=Lofthouse|first=Andrea|publisher=Methuen Australia|year=1982|pages=55–56}}

Baluch became involved in local politics after her son, a severe asthmatic, was born and she became a campaigner for improved health services. After becoming mayor in 1981, she led the successful effort to ban drinking in public places in Port Augusta.{{cite news|last=Crouch|first=Brad|title=Joy Baluch: Iron lady with a big heart|newspaper=The Adelaide Advertiser|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/joy-baluch-iron-lady-with-a-big-heart/story-e6freuy9-1226642715687|date=15 May 2013|accessdate=15 May 2013}} She also came to public notice when she imposed a night-time curfew on the citizens of the town in order to reduce violence. She stood as the Liberal candidate for Grey at the 1983 Australian federal election.{{cite web |url=http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1983/1983repssa.txt |title=COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA LEGISLATIVE ELECTION OF 5 MARCH 1983 |website=Adam Carr's Election Archive}}

Her husband died 16 years before she did, of lung cancer. As he did not smoke, it was attributed to the power stations where he worked. Baluch campaigned for solar-thermal technology to replace coal-fired power.{{cite news|title=Long-serving outspoken mayor dies|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=15 May 2013|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/long-serving-outspoken-mayor-dies/4690488?section=sa|accessdate=15 May 2013}}

She died, still the serving mayor, on 14 May 2013, after a long period with breast cancer.