Dame Marie Bashir
Professor Marie Bashir, 2008. Photograph: Australian Opal Centre.
Professor Marie Roslyn Bashir, AC CVO was Governor of New South Wales from 2001 to 2014, the first female Governor of the state and the longest-serving person to hold the office. Born at Narrandera, New South Wales, she studied medicine at the University of Sydney and developed a distinguished career in psychiatry, including founding the Rivendell Child, Adolescent and Family Service and serving as Director of Mental Health for the Central Sydney Area Health Service. She married Sir Nicholas Shehadie, former Lord Mayor of Sydney.
Dame Marie Bashir visited Lightning Ridge in December 2008, while acting in the role of Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, to officially open the Australian Opal Centre showroom in Morilla Street. During the visit, the group were given a tour of historic locations in the town and on the opal fields, shown the Lightning Ridge Olympic Swimming Pool, Central School, Fred Bodel’s famous camp — echoing Lord and Lady Casey’s visit to the site in 1967 — and experienced a demonstration of opal mining and opal processing. Later, a reception was held at the Lightning Ridge Bowling Club for community members.
Dame Marie Bashir later invited the Australian Opal Centre to Government House for a reception in November 2011, demonstrating continued support for the Centre’s development.
Sir Nicholas Shehadie, Bob Hewlett, Her Excellency Marie Bashir and David Lane (President, Lightning Ridge Opal & Fossil Centre Inc)at Fred Bodel’s Camp. Photograph: Australian Opal Centre.
Her Excellency opening the Australian Opal Centre’s showroom in Morilla Street, Lightning Ridge, December 2008. Photograph: Australian Opal Centre.
Professor Marie Bashir’s term as Governor concluded in 2014. She passed away on 20 January 2026.
Article: Research by Russell Gawthorpe and Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: ‘About Us’, ‘Our History’, Australian Opal Centre, australianopalcentre.com, accessed 31 December 2025; The University of Sydney School of Medicine - Online Museum, sydney.edu.au/medicine/museum, accessed 31 December 2025; ‘Her Excellency Professor The Honourable Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO’, University of Wollongong, uow.edu.au/alumni/honorary-alumni/honorary-doctorates, accessed 31 December 2025.