SA 125 Suffrage Schools Competition

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:57): My question is the Minister for Education. Can the minister provide the house with an update on the SA 125 Suffrage schools competition?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:57): I thank the member for Florey for the question and note her long interest in this topic. Obviously, this year every member of the house is aware that we celebrate the passage of women's suffrage. The bill that gave effect to it was passed in this chamber on 18 December 1894, very nearly 125 years ago.

We sit here in this chamber under the gaze of our first female member, the Hon. Joyce Steele, and I am very proud to be standing alongside South Australia's first female Deputy Premier and first female Attorney-General, the member for Bragg. In some ways I wish she didn't have that on her. I wish that we had had women deputy premiers and attorneys-general in South Australia for decades, but certainly she deserves plaudits for that.

The member for Florey's contribution to the 125-year celebrations should not be underplayed—the Muriel Matters of the South Australian parliament—

Ms Hildyard interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Reynell is called to order.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —in the 21^st century as she is, and I know she has followed this program with interest. It is an important partnership between the education department, Catholic Education SA, the Association of Independent Schools, the History Trust of South Australia and the Office for Women, which we have been very pleased to support.

The scope of the competition provided students in years 6 to 9 with the opportunity to participate in historical research that would develop their understanding and empathy with the suffrage movement here in South Australia. There was a years 6 and 7 multimodal category and a years 8 and 9 written piece category.

The students who participated, who came from a wide range of schools around South Australia, had to have their entries in by the end of August, and we are grateful to the judging panel, which was drawn from all those partner institutions. I would like to express my thanks to the Minister for Human Services, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, who was able to host a ceremony for the winners and the high commendations next door in Old Parliament House last week, where they were able to be congratulated.

I want to reflect briefly on those winners and highly commended students. The winners in the years 6 and 7 multimodal category—I am sure the member for Unley would be pleased to know; in fact, I am aware he already knows this—were the year 6 students of room 4 at Highgate School. They wrote, acted in, produced, filmed and thought deeply about it, as was very apparent from the film. All 26 students played a role in the film about the role of suffrage. It was very evident that the students put in hours of meticulous planning and that it was a real team effort. I know that they are very proud of that, as is their school.

The high commendations went to students from Seymour College. They are a smaller group: Amelie, Lana, Sana, Emma, Liezel, Airlie, Katherine, Alexandra and Heidi of years 6 and 7, who put together a slide presentation of the suffrage movement in South Australia, effectively communicating the significance of the topic and demonstrating excellent use of primary and secondary resources. One of the groups used their own animation, drawn by the students, and voice overs.

Very commendable in the year 8 and 9 written piece category was the winner, Aerin, a year 9 student from Walford Anglican School for Girls. She wrote a letter from the point of view of a suffragist, painting a vivid picture of her commitment to the cause and the social climate of the time. Highly commended was Mary, also of Walford Anglican School for Girls, scooping the category, for another letter relating to the journey and triumph of the passing of the Adult Suffrage Bill 125 years ago, urging the recipient to lead a similar campaign in Victoria.

These students are to be commended. I thank all members on both sides of the house and the crossbenchers who have supported and participated in engagement with this program. I know that we all wish those students our best.