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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-26 Daily Xml
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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (15:35): Most years I host an International Women's Day dinner in the south. I think people would recognise that with IWD's being in March, it is not always appropriate to hold an event in March. However, this year we were able to hold one at the Southern Districts Working Men's Club, and about 50 women came along.

Mr Hanna interjecting:

Ms THOMPSON: Yes, we do note the irony and so did they.

Ms Bedford: It should be changed to 'working club'.

Ms THOMPSON: Well, that is another argument, unfortunately. However, it is a good mob of people at the Southern Districts Working Men's Club. I invite people who attend—and, indeed, those who do not—to nominate women who have done something special in their lives for recognition on this occasion. The traditional honours do not accommodate easily women who have worked in their parish church, their local neighbourhood centre, etc., and so we still have the situation where most of the honours that are received in the various national lists go to men and approximately a third go to women. I find that people really appreciate this opportunity to recognise the contribution of a number of local women and the fact that many of them have overcome considerable barriers to work on behalf of the community.

This year we received nominations for 10 women, and I would like to tell the house something about them. Sue King was nominated by women from the Hackham West Community Centre, where she started as a volunteer and overcame a number of personal challenges and feelings of isolation to arrive at a situation where she is now leading the group and, indeed, has a paid position at the centre. The testimonials written by a number of the women, particularly in the Women Having Fun group, about Sue's effort were really moving. They talked about her as 'strong and inspiring'; 'Sue has been my saving grace'; and generally gave the picture of a women who helps other women who are having a really tough time.

Rita Fletcher was nominated by members of the Zonta Club of Noarlunga/Southern Vales. Rita initiated a special prize for young women in high school, so that at every graduation ceremony I attend at local high schools, there is a Zonta prize for leadership for a female student. It is quite obvious that this prize is highly valued by the recipients and, indeed, the school community.

Kath Ashton has been a tireless worker for family drug support and has supported both the families of people who are overcome by drug addictions and the young people themselves. One young woman who had been under Kath's guidance told me that she would not be alive if it were not for the work that Kath had done.

Barbara Roszkowski works at the Noarlunga TAFE in the non-traditional area of engineering. She has consistently developed programs to assist women to get into the non-traditional engineering area. She has established Engineering for Humanity, which is a not-for-profit agency which helps ageing and disability groups. At the moment, she is working on establishing a ceremony to recognise the centenary of David Unaipon and working with the Aboriginal community.

The other nominations were: Ann Haverty from the Catholic Parish of Morphett Vale; Janine Wright from the Women's Education Unit at Noarlunga TAFE; Pam Crabbe from Wakefield House Over 50s Centre; and Pam Wehrmann, Irene Brown and Nancy Bullock from Women's Web were also recognised.

I mention particularly Pam Crabbe, whose husband died recently and has since assisted many other women at Wakefield House Over 50s Centre who have also experienced the death of a partner, and they talked about the strength that Pam has helped them discover in overcoming grief and developing a new life for themselves.

Time expired.

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