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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-05-05 Daily Xml
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WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (11:30): I move:

That on the 125th anniversary of the Women's Christian Temperance Union this house:

(a) recognises the South Australian branch's work from the early days of settlement in this state, its work on women's enfranchisement and personal safety; and

(b) commends its continuing work on exposing the dangers of alcohol and substance abuse.

Founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1874, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is the oldest continuing, non-sectarian women's organisation in the world. Here in Adelaide, for 125 years the organisation has trained women to think on their feet, speak in public, and run an organisation.

Over the years the WCTU has proposed, supported and helped to establish the protection of women and children at home and work, women's right to vote, shelters for abused women and children, the eight-hour work day, equal pay for equal work, founding of kindergartens, increased funding for education, stiffer penalties for sexual crimes against girls and women, prison reform, the appointment of women police officers, homes and education for disadvantaged girls, promotion of nutrition and preventative health, legal aid, union activism and passive demonstrations, as well as that ever-wanted quest of world peace.

The WCTU has opposed and worked very hard against drug trafficking, use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, white slavery, child labour and army brothels. WCTU members choose total abstinence from all alcohol and illicit substances as their lifestyle, and adopt the following definition of temperance, which according to Xenophon, the Greek philosopher of circa 400 BCE, can be defined as 'moderation in all things healthful and total abstinence from all things harmful'.

The organisation is noted for conducting training seminars for teachers and those interested in alcohol, tobacco and drug education. Today the WCTU is still concerned that the wide availability of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs combines with other social problems to the detriment of our society.

The WCTU was started in Adelaide in 1886, with 57 members meeting on the afternoon of Thursday 8 April in the rooms of the YMCA, then located in Gawler Place. The meeting was chaired by the inspirational American missionary, Mary Clement Leavitt, who died at the age of 81 in 1912. I am indebted to the current World WCTU President, Sarah Ward, for the following information on Mrs Leavitt, prepared for her booklet printed in March this year at the suggestion of SA WCTU President, Dawn Giddings.

Mrs Leavitt was a gifted and inspiring speaker and after a distinguished contribution to the WCTU, which among other things saw her organise the first Boston branch, and at the behest of Frances Willard (whom she met in 1877), Mrs Leavitt was the WCTU's first round-the-world missionary.

At the age of 54, in November 1884, with only $35 in her pocket, she set out for Honolulu. For eight years she relied on the assistance of like-minded persons and travelled the world, starting WCTU branches after seeing first-hand the power of colonialism and the global trade in alcohol and corrupt morals and encountering particular local customs and more perversive social, economic and political practices that demeaned and subjugated women regardless of national affiliation.

Another meeting was held in Adelaide the following day and it was then decided to form a local union, with the rules and objectives outlined by Mrs Leavitt to be adopted. It was during that first visit to Adelaide by Mrs Leavitt that Elizabeth Webb Nicholls first took an interest in the ideals and objectives of the WCTU. She, Catherine Helen Spence, and Mary Lee, widely acknowledged as the leaders of the South Australian suffrage campaign, are a constant inspiration in this chamber, depicted on the tapestry created in 1994 to commemorate the centenary of women's suffrage here in South Australia.

Elizabeth joined the WCTU three months later and went on to become the first state president of the organisation, serving from 1889 to 1897. By 1899 membership of the various branches numbered over 1,100. Elizabeth was appointed the Australasian president of the union from 1894 to 1903 before going on to serve a second term as state president from 1906 to 1927. In these roles she attended conferences in Paris, London and Edinburgh in 1906, and, in 1920, the 10th world convention of the International Women's Suffrage Alliance in Geneva. Under her leadership, the WCTU took an active role in the campaign for women's suffrage in South Australia and, speaking on the passing of the bill in her presidential address to the Australasian branch of the union in 1897, Mrs Nicholls said:

The dire results prophesied by opponents of women's [suffrage] have not come to pass, and you can see in this convention real live women who have voted in a parliamentary election and remain much the same women as before. We have not heard of any domestic quarrels or neglected children as a result of the new departure and dinner was cooked on Election Day the same as usual. There were no disorderly scenes at the polling booths, the women did not grow nervous and afraid, and there were fewer informal votes than usual. I say, unhesitatingly, that the results were in favour of morality and temperance to a greater degree than in any previous election.

Born on 21 February 1850 at the family home in Rundle Street, Adelaide, Elizabeth Webb Nicholls was the oldest daughter of Samuel Bakewell, a grocer, and his first wife, Mary Ann (née Pye). When Elizabeth was three, her mother died and Elizabeth spent several years in England with relatives. Her father married his sister-in-law, Eliza Hannah Pye, in 1854 and the family resettled in Adelaide.

At a young age, Elizabeth longed for 'the will and the power to be useful', and this was soon fulfilled. Both her father and uncle, William Bakewell, became members of the House of Assembly. She married fellow Methodist Alfred Richard Nicholls on 2 August 1870 and they had a daughter and four sons, as well as raising two orphaned relatives.

A councillor of the Women's Suffrage League, through the WCTU, Nicholls helped to gather 8,268 of the 11,600 signatures for the 1894 suffrage petition to parliament, which I hope will soon be on display in this place. Before the election in which women voted, which was 1896, she prepared the 'Platform of Principles' and noted:

They were not like women who lived in a harem, they were going to decide for themselves and not follow any one party blindfolded.

Nicholls was a member from 1909 of the Women's Non-Party Political Association founded by Lucy Morice. She was its president in 1911 when she led a deputation to premier John Verran stressing the need for women jurors, justices of the peace and police matrons, and for sex instruction for young people. Later, Mrs Nicholls was a life vice president of the League of Women Voters.

Described as a 'lucid and forcible speaker', when Nicholls entered conventions everyone stood. She seemed to have relished conflict, managing it with humour and tact. She also led women in South Australian government appointments, in 1895 to 1922, as a member of the strife-torn Adelaide Hospital board, in 1906 as a member of the royal commission on the treatment of inebriates and, as a justice of the peace, she often sat in the children's court. Mrs Nicholls advocated similar female appointments for other states and argued for prisoner reform and separate juvenile courts.

She sought improvement of conditions and wages for working women and was a shareholder in the women's South Australian Co-operative Clothing Company. Her major concern, however, remained the WCTU, and in 1915 it won a major victory when its six o'clock closing platform succeeded in the state's referendum on hotel hours. Nicholls justified all reforms on the grounds of temperance and social purity.

She died at North Adelaide on 3 August 1943 and is buried in Payneham Cemetery. Her portrait hangs in the WCTU headquarters in Adelaide and shows a benignly smiling Elizabeth with a firm, square jaw, white hair and rosy cheeks.

At the recent celebrations held here in Adelaide, minister Gail Gago hosted a morning tea at Parliament House, which was attended by the member for Ashford and other members here. I attended the WCTU's 125th anniversary lunch. South Australian President, Dawn Giddings, and WCTU members provided a wonderful meal and had on display marvellous ephemera, including many handwritten letters from Elizabeth Webb Nicholls and some even from Catherine Helen Spence, looking as new as the day they were written. Many dedicated WCTU committee members were involved in the preparation of the celebrations, and I congratulate them and thank them for their work and hospitality.

World WCTU President, Sarah Ward, whom we had the pleasure of meeting both here at Parliament House and at the lunch, gave a marvellous address on the luncheon day through which I became aware of the 1897 words of Elizabeth Webb Nicholls that I quoted earlier in this contribution. Sarah has been gracious enough to invite me and the member for Ashford to visit the WCTU museum at our earliest opportunity, and I know that there is a great deal we could learn from an organisation that remains vibrant so many years after its inception. During the Adelaide celebration lunch, it was also my honour to meet Dr Don Nicholls and his wife. Don has every reason to be proud of his extraordinary grandmother, whose work remains important and inspirational.

Just this week, the sobering results of the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer—one of the largest ever studies into the links between diet and cancer—have been released. The study involved more than 360,000 men and women aged between 35 and 70. In a nutshell, it found that one in 10 cancers in men and one in 33 in women across Western Europe are caused by drinking, promoting the Australian Cancer Council to begin television advertisements highlighting this link.

In light of this new danger and the continuing problems involved with the abuse and irresponsible use of alcohol, ranging from foetal alcohol syndrome, the culture of binge drinking in our young, the injuries caused by drink driving and alcohol-related violence, the message of the WCTU remains as relevant today as ever.

The dedicated women of the WCTU became active to change their community to make it a better and safer place for all. The lesson we learn from history and their commitment is that we can change laws and circumstances and become active in working for change. This is the lesson and the continuing legacy of the WCTU. I commend this still active organisation and the motion to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Ms Chapman.

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