Rosemary Gillespie

Rosemarie or Rosemary Gillespie (4 February 1941 – 21 June 2010), also known as Waratah Rose, was an Australian lawyer, human rights activist, author and film producer. She was active in human rights causes in Australia, the US, Melanesia, the Pacific Islands and the Middle East for more than forty years.

Life and education Rosemarie Lorraine Sampford was born on 4 February 1941, in Melbourne, to parents of European descent. From 1968 to 1975 she lived in the United States and studied at the universities of Chicago and Colorado where she was involved in anti-Vietnam War and feminist movements, and advocating for African-American and Chicano (Hispanic) rights. A member of Australia's parliament, Gerard Hand, raised the issue of Gillespie being asked to attend a Royal Commission inquiry into the 1982 Fijian elections and asked the Australian government to provide legal aid to her. Gillespie was briefly held as a political prisoner during the 1987 Fijian military coups d'état as she was involved in the Movement for Democracy.

She represented a Bougainvillean asylum-seeker in Australia in 1992, and found out more about Bougainville civil war. She wrote in her website, "A cry for help from behind a military blockade, as children were dying because of a lack of medicines that could save their lives, prompted me to brave the dangers and bring relief to the besieged island." An Australian politician, Gerard Hand, in 1993 welcomed charges against Gillespie being dropped for supplying medicine to Bougainvilleans although she was criticised for her efforts later in parliament by Don Randall in 1997. In 1998, Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer was asked about her role in the Bougainville civil war.

A critic of U.S. foreign policy, Gillespie travelled to Iraq as a human shield during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She was highly critical of capitalism, calling it "institutionalised violence". She was a long-time campaigner for women's rights.

Towards the end of her life she was involved in advocating for Aboriginal rights and

Writing Two of Gillespie's books, Ecocide: Industrial Chemical Contamination and the Corporate Profit Imperative – The Case of Bougainville (1999) and Running with Rebels: Behind the lies in Bougainville's hidden war (2009) focused on her experiences in Bougainville. Invasion of Iraq: An Eyewitness Account (2004) focused on her experience in Iraq. She wrote a pamphlet in 2005, About Aboriginal Sovereignty.

Death and legacy Rosemarie Gillespie died at her daughter's home in Melbourne on 21 June 2010, at the age of 69. She was survived by her two daughters, three grandchildren, one sister and a brother.

In 2016 the Quakers held a smoking ceremony in her honour and dedicated a garden to her "Waratah’s Peace Garden" at Silver Wattle Quaker Centre, Bungendore. Her files relating to her time (1973–1984) working with the National Civic Council are held in the State Library of New South Wales.