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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-03-06 Daily Xml
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WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:15): In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 8 March as United Nations Day for Women's Rights and World Peace, an interesting combination of goals but, sadly, achieving both is still way beyond our reach. The issue, really, for women is equality. While much has been achieved there still needs to be more done. Here in parliament in particular, as of June 2012, there were 239 women in Australian parliaments, down from 249 in the year 2010-11.

Yesterday saw our first female Primer Minister in Melbourne attending the funeral of the first female speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. Joan Child AO, who died at the age of 91 having raised five boys alone after the death of her husband. Joan really did write the guidebook, as the PM said, for the women who followed. Joan was the first ALP woman in the House of Representatives, first elected in 1974, with the ALP's Senator Dorothy Tangney being the first senator elected in 1943. The first woman ever to take a seat in the House of Representatives was Dame Enid Lyons in 1943. Women were eligible to stand for federal parliament from the year 1902.

South Australia was the first place in the world to grant women dual suffrage in 1894, and the marvellous tapestries here in this chamber attest to the work of Catherine Helen Spence, Mary Lee and Elizabeth Webb Nicholls, herself a member of the WCTU—and more of that later. Sadly, South Australia was the last Australian jurisdiction where a woman was elected, Joyce Steele in the House of Assembly and Jessie Cooper in the Legislative Council, both in 1959.

The ALP's Molly Byrne began her distinguished career here in this place in 1965. I am indebted to Molly for her continuing support. Molly's merit was never recognised and she spent her time in parliament fearlessly representing her electorate, an example to which I have always aspired, for there can be no front bench without a back bench. We have the merit that others have found recognised in them, and I am happy to support our ministerial colleagues.

Another special woman in the ALP pantheon is Anne Levy, first ever Australian presiding officer, President of the Legislative Council here in South Australia from 1986 to 1989. The first woman House of Assembly Speaker was recently removed, unceremoniously, from her position of office, and I thank Lyn Breuer and acknowledge her service in the chair.

Today I want to particularly mention the suffrage struggle of the women in the USA especially as this week is the centenary of their famous suffrage procession. Less than a century ago, women in the United States were not guaranteed the right to vote. Many courageous groups worked hard at state and local level throughout the end of the 19th century, making some small gains towards women suffrage and seeing Wyoming become the first place in the world for a woman to be able to vote.

In 1913, the first major national efforts were undertaken, beginning with a massive parade in Washington DC on 3 March, one day before the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. Organised by Alice Paul for the National American Woman Suffrage Association, the parade called for a constitutional amendment. It featured 8,000 marchers, including nine bands and four mounted brigades, 20 floats and an allegorical performance near the Treasury Building. It is not surprising that this spectacle resembled those of the women in the UK, who only gained limited suffrage in 1918. Alice Paul was the organiser of the Washington parade and she was a veteran of the Pankhurst WSPU, being imprisoned nine times and force-fed for the struggle in England.

Picketing the White House was the first of many of her projects and capped a four-year campaign for a federal women's suffrage amendment that made Paul the country's most controversial suffrage leader. However, neither the parade she organised nor the lobbying, demonstrations, publicity stunts, meetings, petitions or electoral campaigns had won over the hostile Southern Democrats in Congress. Paul's work was eventually recognised and women were granted the vote in America in 1920 through changes to the 19th amendment being secured in the Congress. Her work for the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in 1923 was approved in late 1972 but still awaits national adoption, though many states already have it through their own constitution.

The women's movement in the US had the support of the WCTU (the Woman's Christian Temperance Union) and a statute of Frances Willard graces the Capitol building in Washington, one of the few monuments to women in that marvellous building. I am indebted to Bunny Galladora who so graciously arranged for me to see through the building. I was lucky enough to meet Bunny through an introduction from Sarah Ward, the international president of the WCTU. The Hon. Steph Key and I met Sarah on her visit to South Australia for this state WCTU's 125th anniversary, and it will be our pleasure to again meet with her, along with delegates of the world congress, to meet in Adelaide in May this year. We thank the Hon. Gail Gago, Minister for the Status of Women, for hosting the morning tea to be held here in Parliament House, which will allow delegates from all over the world to see the tapestries and hear our history.

When I think of the women I admire who have gone before and inspired me, there are many like Joan Kirner and Carmen Lawrence, but few have embraced me and been mentors, not because I was not prepared to take help but rather that I was not offered help. Colleagues like Deidre Tedmanson, the first president of the ALP here in South Australia, and Steph Key remain true colleagues and comrades.

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