NSW’s First Female Governor Dame Marie Bashir Farewelled At State Funeral

Dame Marie Bashir, has been honoured with a state funeral, commemorating the rich life of the 37th and first female governor of NSW.

Held at St James’ Church on King Street on Wednesday morning, the service was attended by former Prime Ministers John Howard and Scott Morrison, and a number of ex-premiers including Gladys Berejiklian and Mike Baird.

Dame Marie’s daughter, Alexandra Shehadie, spoke of her mother’s connection to her hometown of Narrandera, and later her joy attending Sydney Girls High School with her sister, as their mother had done before them.

“Mum was immensely proud to be a country girl,” she said.

“Her childhood was lived beneath soaring gums, the ancient guardians of the Murrumbidgee River, and this intimate closeness to land, river and sky awakened her enduring awe for the Australian environment.”

Dame Marie’s career in medicine began at St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst, before she worked as a GP in Pendle Hill, during which time she discovered her passion for psychiatry and mental health.

In 1987 she was appointed director of the community health services in the Central Sydney Area Health Service, and made an Officer of the Order of Australia the following year “In recognition of service to medicine, particularly in the field of adolescent mental health”.

In 2001, premier Bob Carr  recommended Dame Marie be appointed the 37th governor of NSW, an appointment that saw her become the first woman and first person of Lebanese heritage to take the role.

“There was this sense that she didn’t have to prove anything as the first female government governor, that she simply assumed this high office,” he said at the service.

In the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Dame Marie was made a Dame of the Order of Australia “For extraordinary and pre-eminent achievement and merit in service to the administration, public life, and people of New South Wales, to medicine, particularly as an advocate for improved mental health outcomes for the young, marginalised and disadvantaged, to international relations, through the promotion of collaborative health programs, and as a leader in tertiary education”

She held the office of governor until the end of 2014, just short of the record of longest-serving governor set by Sir Roden Cutler.

A 737 NSW Rural Fire Service Air Tanker named after Bashir performed a flyover above Phillip Street as the hearse left the church after the service.

Dame Marie is survived by her three children, Michael, Alex and Susan, and six grandchildren, whom she shared with the late Sir Nicholas Shehadie.

Dame Marie died last month on January 20, aged 95, peacefully, and surrounded by family.