Margaret Reynolds

Reynolds was born on 19 July 1941 in Hobart, Tasmania. She was the only child of Jess (née Montgomery) and Walter Rodis "Rod" Lyne. Her father was a farm labourer and soldier who served in New Guinea during World War II. He died in 1947, after which she and her mother relocated to Launceston to be closer to her maternal grandparents. Both her mother and maternal grandmother were schoolteachers.[2]

Reynolds attended Trevallyn Primary School and Launceston State High School, matriculating in 1957. She subsequently studied teaching for two years at the University of Tasmania. Her first teaching post was at the small rural locality of Natone in the state's north-west. She subsequently undertook further training in special education and taught at schools in Launceston, Devonport, and the Derwent Valley. Reynolds and her husband moved to England in 1964 and spent a year teaching at schools in London's East End. They returned to Australia in mid-1965 and settled in Townsville, Queensland, where her husband became a lecturer at Townsville University College. In Townsville, Reynolds taught for periods at Cootharinga, a special needs school, and at Aitkenvale State School. She completed a diploma in education at James Cook University in 1977 and was appointed as a tutor in language and literature at the local College of Advanced Education. She subsequently completed the degree of Bachelor of Arts at the University of Queensland in 1982.[2]

In 1966, Reynolds joined the One People of Australia League (OPAL), becoming secretary of the Townsville branch. She helped establish an OPAL kindergarten for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, working with Indigenous activists Bobbi Sykes and Eddie Mabo. She and Sykes were expelled from OPAL in 1967 for their perceived radicalism. During the Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, Reynolds helped establish a branch of the anti-conscription organisation Save Our Sons and was active in the Townsville Peace Committee. She was also a founding member of the Townsville branch of the Women's Electoral Lobby and served as its publicity officer.[2]

Reynolds joined the ALP in 1971 and unsuccessfully sought preselection for a state parliament seat in 1976. She was elected to the Townsville City Council in 1979 and served for four years until her election to the Senate. She also served on the ALP state council from 1981 to 1983 and was a campaign director for federal elections. In 1982 she became a full-time organiser for the party in North Queensland.[2]

Reynolds had three children with her husband Henry Reynolds, whom she married in 1963. Their daughter Anna was elected Lord Mayor of Hobart in 2018.[2]

In December 2016, Margaret Reynolds became the founding President of ABC Friends National Inc., the co-ordinating body of the various state/territory Friends groups around Australia.

Reynolds was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the 2023 Australia Day Honours for "eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, to social justice, gender equality and Indigenous rights, to local government, and to the community".[3][4]