Celebrated Sisters

Rosemary (right) and Joan Ashton at Millamolong, c. 1941

SISTERS ROSEMARY FOOT AO [ASHTON: 1954-58] AND JOAN MASTERMAN AM [ASHTON: 1956-58] FOLLOWED VERY DIFFERENT CAREER PATHS IN THE YEARS AFTER LEAVING WOMEN’S COLLEGE, BUT BUILT EQUALLY ILLUSTRIOUS LEGACIES IN THEIR RESPECTIVE FIELDS OF POLITICS AND ECO-TOURISM.

Rosemary and Joan grew up on the family property Millamolong, near Cowra in New South Wales, where the family were well-known woolgrowers. Their father and brothers were celebrated in the 1930s for their international polo success, and both grandfathers followed political careers. Paternal grandfather James Ashton Snr held the seat of Hay and was NSW secretary for lands from 1904. Sir

John See, their maternal grandfather, was Premier of NSW who introduced a number of progressive legislative changes, including women’s suffrage in 1902.

The sisters credit their undergraduate years spent at Women’s College as being pivotal to their later careers. Rosemary and Joan both pursued Arts degrees and fondly recall their time at College under Principal Betty Archdale. “Miss Archdale was an amazing woman and an inspiring individual,” remarks Joan. “She was ahead of her time in promoting women and not letting us feel inadequate with our male peers.”

Dubbed by the Financial Review as “the matriarch of eco-tourism in Tasmania,” Joan co-founded the first commercial ventures in Tasmania’s wilderness areas: the Cradle Mountain Huts and Friendly Beaches Lodge in Freycinet. These ventures, both of which sit sensitively within their natural environments, introduced tourists to untouched areas, opening up walking trails which put Tasmania on the international tourist map.

Looking back, Joan recalls that her experience of sharing a room with an architecture student at Women’s College in the 1950s led to her own interest in town planning. She met architect Ken Latona while studying a masters of planning, and the pair later formed their own consulting enterprise, Latona Masterman & Associates. Joan’s love affair with Tasmania began when she and Ken worked on a management plan for convict site Port Arthur. Their subsequent work on the Cradle Huts and Friendly Beaches Lodge has had a huge impact on Tasmania’s eco-tourism industry.

While Joan’s planning career was taking off, her sister Rosemary’s political star was on the rise: Rosemary was elected a Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly and was Member for Vaucluse from 1978 to 1986. During this period she was Shadow Minister in a number of portfolios, as well as Deputy Leader of the NSW Opposition, the first woman to hold this senior position. Over her substantial career Rosemary served on various State and Commonwealth advisory bodies and a large number of community boards.

Asked about the influence of Women’s College on her political career, Rosemary reflects: “Having that collegiate life was very important; in politics you’ve got to get on with people or you don’t get anywhere. When I went into politics there were certain men who thought to undermine me and I was the only woman for a period, so it was a good thing to be able to stand up to them.”

The sisters’ careers have both been recognised with Order of Australia Medals. Rosemary was awarded an Officer in the Order of Australia in 1999 and Joan received a Member of the Order of Australia in 2019.