The memory of Port Adelaide’s influential late female mayor, Anna Moira Rennie, lives on throughout our humble streets.
The council mogul’s impact on our suburb may have commenced in times gone past, but can still be seen and felt in Port Adelaide today.
The Port Adelaide Loop Path has now officially been renamed the Annie Rennie Path.
It was completed in 2014 to provide locals and visitors opportunities for active lifestyles, a chance to relax, enjoyment from views of the river and the Port and hopefully some dolphin-watching too! The cycle and walk loop path provides a 3.5km loop around the Port Adelaide Inner Harbour.
Ms Rennie was on the Port Adelaide council for 19 years, with five years as Mayor. An achievement that was relatively unheard of as a woman in that time. Being the first female councilor in South Australia came with many roadblocks, but this only further encouraged her to push forward with her desires to improve her much loved Port, especially for the women of the area.
Her unmatched compassion was undoubtedly nurtured in her time training as a nurse at the Adelaide Hospital, after which she became extremely active in the community. Amongst campaigning for improvements to the food ration schemes, equal pay for women and improvements to local roads and footpaths, she also opened her doors and gave up beds to disadvantaged families, some of whom had been evicted.
Ms Rennie was active in raising funds and establishing many valuable causes around the Port including the Port Adelaide School Band, the Port Archway facility to help alcoholics, the Elderly Citizen’s Club, various children’s playgrounds and most notably the establishment of the first Meals on Wheels kitchen in Australia.
As a woman who could not drive, Anna walked through her community regularly, ensuring she was always in contact with her constituents. And what better way to honour her memory than to rename the Port Adelaide Loop Path the ‘Annie Rennie Path’?
To officially mark this occasion The Anna Rennie Chapter hosted an International Women’s Day Cocktail Breakfast on 8th March 2018 in the Port.