Sharman Stone

After the defeat of the Howard Government in November 2007, Stone took up the role of Shadow Minister for Environment, Heritage, the Arts and Indigenous Affairs. Following Malcolm Turnbull's defeat of Brendan Nelson for the leadership of the Liberal Party, and the retirement of Senator Chris Ellison, Stone became Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the subsequent reshuffle. Stone announced her retirement from politics on 26 March 2016, which took effect from the double dissolution of the Australian Parliament on 9 May, in advance of the 2016 federal election on 2 July.

Elected to federal parliament at the 1996 federal election, Stone was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage in October 1998. Following the re-election of the Howard Government in October 2004, she became Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration. On 27 January 2006 she was appointed Minister for Workforce Participation, succeeding Peter Dutton.

Stone is an author of numerous publications on race relations, environment and geology (with Doug Stone) amongst others, including Aborigines in White Australia (London and Melbourne, 1974).

Sharman Nancy Stone (née Bawden; born 23 April 1951) is a former Australian politician who represented Murray in the Australian House of Representatives between March 1996 and July 2016 as a member of the Liberal Party. She currently serves as the Australian Ambassador for Women and Girls after Natasha Stott Despoja stepped down from the role in late 2016.