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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-09 Daily Xml
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WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:42): The Women's Christian Temperance Union of South Australia is now based in the electorate of Ashford on Sir Donald Bradman Drive, and I understand that on 8 April 2011 it will celebrate 125 years of existence, its first meeting being on that date 125 years ago at the YMCA hall in Gawler Place. Elizabeth Webb Nicholls was the first WCTU president in South Australia and also the first Australian president of that organisation. Looking over at the House of Assembly tapestry, it is wonderful to see Elizabeth Webb Nicholls there with Mary Lee as well as Catherine Helen Spence.

Mrs Dawn Giddings, the current state president of the WCTU in South Australia, has called on South Australians to ensure that Mrs Nicholls is recognised for her many achievements. I must say that the list of those achievements is very long, so in this brief time I will highlight just a few of them. Mrs Nicholls was very involved in voting reform in 1894, and I understand that under her leadership the WCTU gathered 8,268 of the 11,600 signatures for the 1984 suffrage petition to parliament. It is also said that the suffrage bill would not have passed in the House of Assembly with 31 to 14 votes (this is under the Kingston government) if it were not for the women's campaign, in which the Women's Christian Temperance Union played a major role. I understand that Mrs Nicholls was also involved, with the union, in campaigning and petitioning for universal suffrage in the federal sphere.

Elizabeth Nicholls was one of the founding members of the Women's Non-Party Association from 1909 and its federal president in 1911. She led deputations to premier John Verran stressing the need for women jurors, justices of the peace, and police matrons, and, interestingly, also advocated sex education for young people.

The Hon. J.R. Rau: Verran was a total Prohibitionist.

The Hon. S.W. KEY: Well, they would have got on well, I imagine. She was also a campaigner for equal federal marriage rights and divorce laws. The member for Light asked me if I am a member. One of the reasons I am not is that I am not prepared to be a hypocrite and sign a pledge to say that I will never, ever have an alcoholic drink. I do like a red wine and, although I think moderation is the word we all need to keep in mind, the Women's Christian Temperance Union saw alcoholism as a consequence of larger social problems rather than just being a personal weakness or failing. It is interesting that Elizabeth Nicholls is quoted as saying:

The WCTU represent women whose hearts have been broken, whose homes have been destroyed and whose lives have been wrecked through the terrible drink traffic.

Elizabeth Nicholls was involved in establishing the first hostels in South Australia for women migrants who had been brought here to work in domestic service. She was also a great advocate for the value of homemaking and the need to have dignity in the cause and vocation of household services. She campaigned for the maternity bonus to be given to every mother, regardless of her status or income, for every baby that was born.

In researching some of the work that Elizabeth did, she was also a campaigner against the Contagious Diseases Act. In this act, women could be forcibly examined for possible sexually transmitted diseases and forcibly quarantined in locked hospitals if they were found to be infected. Interestingly, under this act men could not be forcibly examined or quarantined in locked hospitals—this was directed solely at women, which I find very interesting. She was successful in having this act abolished in South Australia, but also went on to campaign in Queensland and Tasmania.

The list of achievements is absolutely incredible. I mentioned her alcohol campaigning, but she was also—and the member for Davenport will be interested in this—a campaigner against tobacco and was very active in reforms in the prison sector.

Time expired.

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