Dame Marie Bashir’s gift for championing causes

When Marie Bashir became the first female governor of NSW, she promised to elevate the voices of the vulnerable and disadvantaged, and she fulfilled that promise with grace throughout her tenure.

NSW Premier Chris Minns confirmed Dame Marie’s death at the age of 95 on Tuesday, following a career in medicine and politics that saw her meet presidents, popes and princesses.

She and her husband, former Sydney lord mayor and Wallaby captain Sir Nicholas Shehadie, who died in 2018, even counted Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts as a personal friend.

Throughout her career, she has advocated for a variety of issues including adolescent mental health, suicide prevention, and the well-being of Indigenous communities.

Born on 1 December 1930 to a Lebanese father and a mother of Lebanese descent, Marie Bashir grew up in Narrandera in south-west NSW, where she attended the local primary school.

She then attended Sydney Girls’ High School and completed undergraduate degrees in medicine and surgery at the University of Sydney in 1956.

After working at St Vincent’s Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Sydney, Dame Marie practiced general practice in the city’s western suburbs for several years before deciding to study psychiatry.

She served as Lady Mayor of Sydney with her husband from 1971 to 1973, and also held senior positions at the NSW Department of Health at a time of major change in the delivery of mental health services.

In 1995, it established the Aboriginal Mental Health Unit in partnership with the Aboriginal Health Service.

Before becoming governor, he was awarded the Order of Australia in 1988 for his services to child and adolescent health.

When he was sworn in in 2001, then-NSW premier Bob Carr said Dr Bashir would bring new life to the role, as he did then.

He said he was “absolutely appalled, humbled, honored and inspired to do something worthwhile” when accepting the position.

Dame Marie believed that being a woman would also give the position an extra dimension.

“Women can, with some reservations, speak on behalf of other women, on behalf of working women, rural women… on behalf of indigenous women,” she said.

In June 2014, then prime minister Tony Abbott awarded her the title of Dame, which was removed from the Australian honors system in 1986. This practice was short-lived and was abolished in 2015 by Mr Abbott’s successor, Malcolm Turnbull.

He resigned as governor on October 1, 2014 and was replaced by former Defense force chief General David Hurley.

He was bid farewell with a vice-regal salute and a farewell procession along Macquarie Street, accompanied by a 19-gun salute.

“During my time serving the state as governor, there have been many inspiring events where one’s heart and mind burst with pride at the stability, vision and harmony of multicultural inclusivity supported by the government, working in harmony with the people,” he said.

Dame Marie said she did not extend her term as governor to avoid surpassing Roden Cutler, the state’s longest-serving governor; Mr Minns said the decision “reflected his humility and deep respect for those who came before him”.

After retirement, she and her husband were honored as chiefs at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in 2015 for their work to combat homophobia.

A 73-bed mental health facility at Sydney’s Crown Prince Alfred Hospital, which opened in November 2015, was named after him.