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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-03-08 Daily Xml
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International Women's Day

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (15:20): Happy International Women's Day everybody. I was honoured to participate in the launch of the second 'Let us be up and doing' exhibition on the pillars of Parliament House. I would like to thank all the members who came along to the launch yesterday. We really appreciate you being there, because I understand there were a number of competing meetings on at the same time.

With advice from Lisa Philip-Harbutt, artists Jennie Groom, Maya Graham and Megan Kerr have done a brilliant job in producing these beautiful portraits of what I call South Australian 'sheroes'. The exhibition was opened by Melissa Bailey and was supported by Jennie Groom, the Hon. Jing Lee MLC and with me as the person of ceremonies. I have to quote what Jing Lee said in her contribution. She wondered whether Mary Lee, who actually coined the term 'let us be up and doing', would have thought that 100 years later she as Jing Lee (no relative, she assured us) would be speaking as a member of parliament on the steps of Parliament House. I thought that was quite a good joke that she put forward, but she also made the point that we have made some progress.

The women who are depicted on the pillars of Parliament House include Mary Lee, as I have just said, who was instrumental in campaigning for South Australian women to be given the vote, the first in Australia. Catherine Helen Spence was another suffragist, but also the first Australian woman to stand for parliament in 1897 in the Federal Convention, but unfortunately she was unsuccessful. Deputy Speaker, you would be very aware that Muriel Matters is also depicted on our pillars. She was involved in a number of campaigns to do with the enfranchisement of women and was famous for being the first woman to unofficially speak in the British House of Commons by chaining herself to the grille in the Ladies' Gallery. I should also tell you that in 1924 she was a Labour candidate for the seat of Hastings. Unfortunately, she was unsuccessful in gaining that seat.

We also have Susan Grace Benny. I am sure the member for Bright will be interested that she was the first woman to be elected in local government in Australia, and that was in 1919. We have Dame Nancy Buttfield OBE, who was the first South Australian woman to enter federal parliament as a senator for the Liberal Party. She was there from 1955 to 1965 and then 1968 to 1974.

We also have Joyce Steele, the first South Australian woman to be elected into the House of Assembly from the Liberal and Country League. Jessie Cooper was the first South Australian woman to be elected into the Legislative Council from the Liberal and Country League in 1959. Despite the fact that we were the first place for women to be able to stand for parliament, it took until 1959 for that to actually be realised.

We recognise Lenore Bishop. I know the member for Mount Gambier will know that she was the first woman mayor in South Australia, and we are looking forward to celebrating her contribution. We also recognise Kay Brownbill OBE, who in 1966 was the first South Australian woman to be elected into the House of Representatives, and she was a member of the Liberal Party. Janine Haines was the first South Australian Democrats woman to be elected in the Senate in 1977. We recognise Ruby Hammond as the first South Australian Aboriginal woman to seek election for the federal seat, again unsuccessfully, in 1988.

I would like to mention that we were very pleased to have Molly Byrne OAM, the Hon. Anne Levy AO, the Hon. Rosemary Crowley AO, Elizabeth Harvey, Natasha Stott Despoja AM and Dr Felicity-ann Lewis as trailblazers, who could actually turn up yesterday to our celebration. I urge members to go out to the front of Parliament House and have a look at the exhibition we have there and, please, encourage people over the next two weeks to view it also.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is until 20 March, is that correct, member for Ashford?

The Hon. S.W. KEY: Thank you, Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: And it is a 24/7 installation, I understand.

The Hon. S.W. KEY: It is a 24/7 installation, thank you, Deputy Speaker.

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