Quick Facts
Biography
Marie Ann Ficarra (born 25 March 1954) is an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2007 to 2015. She was previously a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Georges River, but was defeated during the landslide election of 1999. She was the Shadow Minister for the Environment for the New South Wales Opposition.
Representative history
Ficarra was elected to Hurstville City Council in 1980 to become one of few young women in local government at the time. She was later the Deputy Mayor and then Mayor of Hurstville City and served in these roles for 16 years until 1995. During this time she was elected president and later life member of the Australian Local Government Women's Association.
On 28 April 2014, Ficarra stood aside as a member of the parliamentary Liberal Party following implication in a hearing of the Independent Commission Against Corruption that she had solicited a donation to the Liberal Party from a prohibited donor. She denied the allegations, but agreed to stand aside from the party and sit on the crossbench as an independent until the matters were resolved.
| Position | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| Member, Health Care Complaints Commission Committee | 1995 | 1999 |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly | 25 March 1995 | 5 March 1999 |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council | 24 March 2007 | 6 March 2015 |
| Member for Georges River | 25 March 1995 | 5 March 1999 |
| Member, Standing Committee on Privacy | 1 December 1996 | 1 December 1998 |
| Parliamentary Information Technology Committee | 1 December 1996 | 1 December 1998 |
| Member, General Purpose Standing Committee No. 2 | 29 May 2007 | 14 May 2014 |
| Member, Standing Committee on Social Issues | 29 May 2007 | 4 March 2011 |
| Shadow Minister for Environment | 1 January 1998 | 1 January 1999 |
Professional history
Ficarra worked in her early career as a scientist investigating children's muscular dystrophy. She became state manager for Hoechst Australia's Behring Diagnostics and later general manager of Cytyc Australia for Australia and New Zealand for many years. Cytyc introduced into Australiac new cervical cancer screening technology and other diagnostics applications related to sexual health.
Education
Ficarra has a BSc (Hons) from the University of Sydney. Following graduation she became a senior tutor at the university in histology and physiology, teaching medical, dental, veterinary science and science students.
As government affairs adviser to Merck Sharp and Dohme Australia, she assisted in obtaining federal government approval and reimbursement for many vital pharmaceuticals including the cervical cancer vaccine. During that time she was elected for three years to the executive of the NSW Liberal Party of which she has been a member for over 30 years.