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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-11-07 Daily Xml
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Motions

New Zealand Women's Suffrage Anniversary

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:38): I move:

That this house congratulates the New Zealand Parliament and people on the 125th anniversary of suffrage for all women in their nation, acknowledges the courage and foresight exhibited by this world-leading decision and thanks the women of their suffrage movement, particularly the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, for advising the women of the South Australian suffrage movement to also demand the right to stand for election, along with the right to vote, in our struggle for democratic equality.

I sincerely thank the government for allowing the time for this important motion to be debated today and acknowledge the work of my colleague the member for Ramsay, in her position as minister for women in the 53rd parliament, and her interest in all things quasquicentennial.

New Zealand has a progressive history dating from the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. From the 1890s, the New Zealand Parliament enacted several pieces of enlightened legislation, among them the bills for old-age pensions and women's suffrage, and the right for women, including Maori women, to vote at elections. Work on this important issue began in 1869, culminating in a bill that became law on 19 September 1893 enabling all women who were British subjects aged over 21 the right to vote, making New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world to take this step.

In my grievance of 20 September to mark this momentous achievement, I spoke about some of the history behind the legislation and the link between the women of New Zealand involved with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and their sister organisation here in Australia and more particularly in South Australia, for it is that link to Elizabeth Webb Nicholls (the woman on the tapestry to my right wearing the white ribbon) and her organisation of women in branches all over the state who contributed to the success of the work of Mary Lee and the Women's Suffrage League in gathering signatures for our monster petition lending weight to the movement that eventually led to dual franchise for women in this state in 1894.

In an article in The Academic on 19 September this year by Kate Pickles, we learn much about New Zealand, the country where settlers were keen to create a New World society (much like we were here), their aim being to adapt the best aspects of Britain and leave behind the negative aspects of the Industrial Revolution. They supported universal male suffrage, along with a less rigid class structure, enlightened race relations and humanitarianism that included improving women's rights. Many men aided the women's suffrage movement and struggle for equality for all, which was gaining momentum and strength from the international feminist movements in Britain, America, Europe and, of course, here in Australia. Professor Pickles tells us, and I quote:

At the end of the 19th century feminists in New Zealand had a long list of demands that included equal pay, prevention of violence against women, economic independence for women, old-age pensions and reform of marriage, divorce, health and education and peace and justice for all.

I am amazed that, as I stand here today in 2018, that list is probably identical to my dearest wish for South Australia and society throughout the world. There are many qualifications when we speak of the right for women to vote. However, three of the four frontier US western mountain states—Wyoming in 1869, Utah in 1870 and Colorado 1893 (the same year New Zealand won its rights)—saw women achieve voting rights, preceding South Australia's dual enfranchisement to stand and vote for elections in 1894, which was followed by the fourth, Idaho, gaining the vote in 1895.

The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand provided much of the information in this short history on suffrage in New Zealand. Following a successful trip to Australia in 1884, American WCTU founder and worldwide missionary Mary Leavitt toured New Zealand in 1885, where she founded 10 WCTU branches in seven months. Many women became involved because they wanted secure homes and safety for families and communities suffering from the negative effects of alcohol abuse.

Importantly, in the 1890s many Maori women joined the movement, and more generally the wider public came to back the very logical calls. Apart from temperance activities, the WCTU had many departments involved in almost every kind of social reform, from food-for-all soup kitchens, work with preschools and education centres to industrial and health initiatives to name a few, and everything associated with better lives for women, ergo leading to better lives for all.

Many of the leaders of this new WCTU movement were single, well-off women, giving them time and the ability to promote the struggle, but their status as unmarried and childless was used against them by their detractors, something that sounds very familiar to the lines still being used against prominent women today in the 21st century.

There were many New Zealand women working to achieve equality. The most prominent was Kate Sheppard, head of the WCTU Christchurch branch and more broadly their franchise department. She and her campaign leaders were well organised and hardworking, still a recipe for success today. As in other countries there were many groups working to achieve the vote, the Labor movement among them. The Dunedin Tailoresses’ Union was set up in 1889 by men concerned about the conditions and wages of women working in their trade. Its management was soon taken over by the women who began to pursue a broader agenda. Harriet Morrison, a WCTU member, was a union secretary between 1891 and 1896.

Another group was the Women's Franchise League, soon renamed the Women's Political League, which ran between 1892 and then 1893 to 1894. They were set up by non-temperance women, and apart from working to make sure women won the vote they worked to enrol women in time for the election to be held soon after the bill's enactment. More than 80 per cent of eligible women were enrolled before the close of the rolls.

Another group, the Canterbury Women's Institute, was formed in 1892. Later, in 1896, it convened the first meeting of the National Council of Women, bringing 11 groups together, a world-first national meeting of women who could vote in elections. The NCW still works on important issues here in South Australia. The tactics of these groups were petitions—the largest petition containing 30,000 signatures—pamphlets, letters, public talks and lobbying politicians, the decision-makers. All of this was before modern technology, in the peaceful suffragist era before suffragette militancy. These tactics were impressively capable of moving public sentiment, when today, with all the technology at our disposal, we rarely see such amazing success on any issue.

Gaining the vote was the way women knew that they could truly influence change in their lives and conditions for themselves and their families. Nothing has changed: 100 years later, the power of the vote and the importance of a democracy remain. Democracy can happen every day, not just on the one day of the election. Democracy is the continuous and incremental struggle of competing views to achieve a better life for as many as possible.

It took multiple attempts before the Electoral Act 1893 was passed in New Zealand, and the nuances of the full story behind this achievement are too big to put on record today. Afterwards, New Zealand women had to wait until 1919 to win the right to stand for election, with the first woman elected to their parliament in 1933, a wait of 40 years. Here in South Australia, it took 66 years for a woman to be elected.

Tenacity and perseverance are still as imperative for today's activism and struggles, such as those waged by families here in Adelaide seeking to reform aged care. They are everyday people working together to achieve a better life for all of us, showing that solidarity truly is strength. Social reform and change address injustice and inequality and take real effort. Participatory democracy is just that: it requires each of us to make a contribution to and for the greater good. Some of us make small contributions while others become part of organisations or even seek election to this place or local or federal governments.

In acknowledging and celebrating the achievements of the New Zealand people and their parliament, we salute their courage and foresight. So many countries all over the world were feeling the stirrings of a new age of equality and facing similar difficulties in delivering it. New Zealand may have been in a small and isolated corner of the South Pacific, but it had the will for change in a population where men outnumbered women significantly.

The women and their male supporters were persistent and worked to encourage those less active but nonetheless happy to see change. Importantly, they won over many who were undecided, and even anti in the beginning, producing a groundswell for change. True democracy provides both a voice and an opportunity to be heard. The women took their right to vote and used it to improve the lives of all New Zealanders. Much progress has been made in New Zealand and indeed worldwide. Professor Pickles tells us:

It [New Zealand] retains both a reputation as a tough and masculine place of beer-swilling, rugby-playing blokes and a tradition of staunch, tea drinking, domesticated women.

Dare I say that the same can be said of Aussie blokes and sheilas, although I believe that both New Zealand and Australian women have made progress on changing their image in their choice of drink. New Zealand women have made great progress over the years, and today largely enjoy full and equal rights. The gap between men and women holding tertiary qualifications decreases and, although the female unemployment rate is slightly higher and the female unpaid work rate is double that of men, the gender pay gap is consistently one of the lowest in the world.

Female parliamentary representation is now 38 per cent, the highest ever, with a 75 per cent rate in the Greens and almost 50 per cent in Labor. Women hold the positions of Governor-General, Prime Minister and Deputy and Assistant Speaker. The current Prime Minister and Minister for Women have both given birth this year while holding office. Every key constitutional position in their nation has been held by a woman: Governor-General, Prime Minister three times, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Attorney-General and Chief Justice.

The New Zealand government made $NZ300,000 available for community celebrations this year, and there has been a full calendar of activities and events. We here in South Australia look forward to a similar year in 2019 and extend to every New Zealander an invitation to join us at some time during the year to be part of our celebration. We owe much to New Zealand, the New Zealand parliament and New Zealand women and their example. We acknowledge that they were instrumental in inspiring South Australia to become the first place in the world to grant women dual suffrage.

We join with them in their quasquicentennial celebrations this year. We send them our congratulations on the occasion of the passing of the Electoral Act 1893 on 19 September and on the occasion of the first time women voted at an election, on 28 November, also in 1893. I hope to personally convey these sentiments and deliver messages of goodwill to the New Zealand parliament and the New Zealand people on my visit to Wellington later this month.

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:49): I rise to support the motion. I start by acknowledging the member for Florey for her effort in not just moving this motion but, more importantly, her advocacy in general when it comes to trying to make sure that our state, our nation and the public generally pay enough attention to the history of women's suffrage and the importance of the cause and also the importance of its historical context in the way it can remain true and valid in other pursuits that exist and are almost as important as that of women's suffrage in the past.

Of course, the motion provides an opportunity to underline South Australia's heritage and social equality, and indeed the fact that as a state we led the nation and were a world-first mover when it came to women's suffrage. The passing of the Adult Suffrage Bill in this parliament in December 1894 came only a year after a similar move of success in New Zealand. The adult suffrage movement was based on a simple principle, summed up by the South Australian advocate Mary Lee when she wrote in a letter to the editor, 'No country can be truly said to be free when half of its people are disenfranchised.' Never a truer word has been said.

Mary Lee was one of the women who led the charge via organisations, petitions and advocacy to change entrenched beliefs. The history of women's suffrage was entwined with a social shift that had its roots in the equal rights arguments of philosopher John Stuart Mill. Mill's view was championed by British feminists and the missionary zeal of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. In the then colony of South Australia, the emergence of a women's movement was swift and seeded by the push for unity of various groups representing trades and also labour. Equality and fairness were the main themes.

The member for Florey, who knows this history far better than I, touched on the fact that there was the Social Purity Society in 1882, the Women's Suffrage League in 1883, the United Trades and Labour Council in 1884 and then also the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in 1888 who pursued aggressively, amongst other individuals and organisations, this important change. There was a sudden shift in social standards. Changes in industrialisation and the development of cities saw new opportunities open up for women in education, medicine, in the church and also charitable work. Attention soon turned to women's legal and political rights.

In New Zealand, that move was inspired by Kate Sheppard. In South Australia, it was Mary Lee and of course Catherine Spence and hundreds of other members of various groups that had emerged. During that period, a young teenager, Muriel Matters, was listening intently and became well versed in the ideas of the women's movement. She was a talented musician who moved to London in 1905, aged just 28, and in time became involved in the Women's Freedom League to further the cause of women generally. Women's suffrage in England was legislated in two parts: firstly in 1918—some time after us of course—initially for property owners, and then finally and fully in 1928. The contribution of Muriel in that period is a salute to the efforts of those who had educated her in South Australia in the 1880s and1890s.

The resolution recognises New Zealand's 125th anniversary in this extraordinary achievement and provides a moment of reflection, like I said, of the fact that South Australia was a leader in its own right in both a national and international way. It is also important, on occasions when we reflect on our history with pride in this regard, that we also contemplate the future.

It is utterly incomprehensible for us who work in this place today, and somewhat unfathomable for society generally, that only 125 years ago women did not have the vote. If we discussed now at schools or amongst contemporaries or anyone in our society that women should not have the vote, there would quite rightly be an outcry and it would be quickly disparaged. It seems incomprehensible that this was a reality only 125 years ago. I think that can be a source of hope and aspiration because I hope that, in the not too distant future, we will look at some of the challenges that we have as a society now and take a similar attitude as we do now to women's suffrage.

When you think about the gender pay gap, which is still very real—it is closing but not nearly fast enough—when you think about the still incredibly disappointing disparate proportion representation of women in positions of influence and authority, including in this parliament, particularly on the government benches but also around boardrooms throughout the nation and in other high executive office, when you think about the gender imbalance in these important forums we know that there is still work to do.

We know that it is not simple or true to say that a young woman born today is as likely to achieve a high income as a young man born today. We know it is a statement of statistical fact that a young woman born today is not as likely to achieve high office, whether it be in the corporate world or in the public world, compared with a young man, and that is worthy of being addressed, worthy of further examination and worthy of a comprehensive public policy effort.

But we should not be dissuaded from taking on that challenge because it is all too hard. We should draw inspiration from the fact that now it seems inconceivable that women once did not have the vote. I sincerely hope that, not too far away from now, it will be inconceivable that there is a gender pay gap or a disproportionate representation of women in important roles in our society.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (15:56): I rise today to second the motion by the member for Florey and, in so doing, reaffirm the commitment of the entire parliament to celebrating the achievements of the women's suffrage movement and our desire to see the contribution of women in this parliament acknowledged.

As the member for Florey has already stated, New Zealand was the first nation to grant women the right to vote, or at least a region thereof at the time. I recognise this historic achievement and note her intention to visit New Zealand to participate in the celebrations. South Australia was the second jurisdiction in the world to grant this right and, just as importantly, the first in the world to grant the right to stand for parliament. In South Australia, 18 December 2019 will mark the 125-year celebration of the passage of landmark legislation of this historic political moment. Our history is a proud one, as is New Zealand's.

However, in the recognition of New Zealand, I acknowledge that our historical achievement was not one that was easily well run and fought. I want to acknowledge a few men who tried and failed and the many men who were in the colony of South Australia at the time. If it were not for their drunken habits, we probably would not have achieved the passage of this legislation. Drunkenness in the colony was a major social problem and a very strong basis upon which women wanted to have the right to participate in making decisions that later culminated in other things that we still argue the point about today in relation to the restrictions on alcohol trading.

I acknowledge Dr Edward Stirling, who passed a successful resolution to give widows and single women who owned property the right to vote in 1885. His introduction of a bill failed to be successful in 1886. Robert Caldwell introduced bills in 1888, 1889 and 1890. All of these were unsuccessful. We had John Warren MLC introduce a bill to grant women of property the vote in 1891. It was unsuccessful. J. Cockburn had an unsuccessful introduction of a bill in 1893.

By that stage, there was certainly significant movement from women and a number of petitioners, led by such notables as Mary Lee and Catherine Helen Spence, who look over us in the tapestry in this chamber. Catherine Helen Spence was known to have put a representation claiming that she was 'in her seventh decade and still had no more vote than a child of three years', believing that it was 'perfectly absurd to condemn half the human race to silence upon public questions'. In 1894, John Hannah Gordon MLC introduced his bill, which ultimately we know was similar to the 1893 bill. Finally, on 18 December 1894, this bill passed and had Her Majesty Queen Victoria's royal assent on 21 March 1895.

We recognise in this motion the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in both New Zealand and South Australia, having played a leading role in the emerging suffragette movement and the advancement of women's rights in an era when women faced legal and social restrictions, such as property ownership, education and work opportunities. The campaign for women's suffrage sought to gain the vote for women as a means of representing social values, then unrepresented in the parliament.

We can look back in relation to women's rights and women's right to employment, opportunities for employment, protection of and promotion of children's rights and, controversially. today still, the trading restrictions on alcohol. For anyone who wants to follow the passages of significance of the social ills that prevailed in the 1890s, one can just look at the marches in the 1920s. These culminated in the 6 o'clock closure of public establishments after women marched in the streets to try to get their husbands home, trying to minimise the risk in relation to alcohol consumption in the colony and the incredible toll it took on the social fabric of that community.

What is often forgotten is that the desire to get more women into parliament was not largely because there was a desire for women to have equal rights or greater opportunities but, rather, because it was believed that having more women in politics would lead to greater social morality. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union and the Social Purity Society were also opposed to the legalisation of prostitution, abortion and contraception. This was as much a Christian movement as a women's movement. That is not to say that suffragettes were doing this for these reasons, but it is important to remember the genesis of the movement.

Today, women's suffrage is not about these original issues; it is about women having an equal say in the decision-making in their community. I note in the text of this motion that the Temperance Union advised South Australian women also to demand the right to vote as part of any bill. In 1891, in New Zealand, the MP Walter Carncross moved an amendment to allow women to also sit in parliament, which ensured that the conservative upper house would reject the bill. Women did not get the right to stand there until 1919.

A similar tactic was used, or at least attempted, in South Australia by a member of the upper house, Ebenezer Ward. The amendment passed but, when he and the opponents realised that there was a majority for it, it was really humiliating when he tried to remove the amendment and failed—serves him right, I say. Clearly, this was a tactic that backfired. We not only got the right to vote but we also got the right to stand for parliament. All Ebenezer did was ensure that we in South Australia got the right to stand much earlier. These were initial achievements.

Because this is a motion going to New Zealand, who also have an Indigenous people I just wish to recognise that Aboriginal people in Australia, and in South Australia in particular, had an unusual voting history. In fact, they have always had the same voting rights as other South Australians, though they were not always encouraged to exercise those rights. Aboriginal people did not lose the right to vote in South Australian elections when South Australia became a state in 1901. However, a narrow interpretation of the Australian Constitution meant that this right was not transferred to the commonwealth elections from 1901.

In 1949, the law was clarified, extending the vote in commonwealth elections to those Aboriginal natives of Australia who were entitled to vote in state elections. This meant that Aboriginal people in South Australia could vote in commonwealth elections. In 1962, the commonwealth franchise was extended to Indigenous people in all states and territories. What is important to note in South Australia is that black men had the vote before white women.

The first woman to sit in this house was elected in 1959. The lovely Joyce Steele was the first woman elected to cabinet, and she represented the seat of Burnside. She sits there in her Versace blue jacket and watches over us still today. New Zealand's first female MP was elected in 1933 and, of course, they have now had their third female prime minister. We have had a female prime minister in Australia. We are yet to have other firsts but, significantly, women's representation in politics must continue to be pursued and I note, heartfelt, the advance of women who have nominated for the current local council elections.

I congratulate New Zealand on championing women's suffrage 125 years ago. I thank them for the support they have given us, and I thank the mover of this motion for her commitment to the advancement of this and her proposed trip to New Zealand.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (16:06): I rise today to support the member for Florey's motion. In doing so, I thank her for bringing this motion to the house, for her ongoing work and dedication to advancing the status of women and also for her work to have the work of the courageous women who fought for our rights recognised and honoured.

New Zealand has a lot to be proud of. It is a country where women fought for and won the right for all women to vote before we had similar success here in Australia, a year later. New Zealand is a country whose extraordinary current leader, Jacinda Adern, is not the first female prime minister but the country's third female prime minister—a country where Maori culture is preserved and celebrated and where the voice of the Maori people is strong, influential and embedded into every aspect of community life, into decision-making and everywhere else. New Zealand has a lot to be proud of and we have a lot to admire.

Back in the 1800s, in South Australia our women activists looked to New Zealand and learned from them as women came together to secure the vote for all women. Only property-owning women having the vote was then rightly seen as absolutely not good enough. All women deserved and deserve the right to participate equally in our democracy, and I thank those who came before us and fought so hard to secure this right.

South Australia has a strong tradition of activist women we can thank for the progress we have made and for the many rights now in place, as does New Zealand. Kate Sheppard, known for her persuasive public speaking and fine penwomanship, together with her band of activist women and their willingness to fight, petitioned and rallied over the course of many years, with their efforts seeing New Zealand become the first nation in the world where women could vote.

Today, I place on record and offer my deep and heartfelt congratulations to the New Zealand Parliament as they celebrate the 125th anniversary of suffrage for all women in their country. This milestone marks an incredible piece of their history and acts as a proud reminder of their willingness to progress towards equality as a nation and of their commitment to advancing the status of all women. Their suffragettes were world leaders and their efforts undoubtedly had a flow-on effect across the globe as more women fought to be empowered.

Our suffrage movement was very grateful for the support from the women of the New Zealand suffrage movement, as it gave them hope and the strength to keep fighting. We can all be proud of our suffragettes for what they did for the advancement of women and proud that, through their efforts, South Australian women became the first in the world to stand for election.

Catherine Helen Spence, Mary Lee and Elizabeth Webb Nicholls, whose images proudly adorn walls in this place, were women of vision, boundless energy and undimmed optimism who accomplished so many firsts. They are women whom I deeply admire, and to this day I see them as an inspiration for so many women in public life. In an era when women's voices were unfortunately rarely heard outside the home, these women took on a cause, relentlessly rallied people around it and fought until it was won. Their fight continues to have a positive impact to this day. It inspires us to continue this fight until equality is achieved for women in every aspect of life.

Next year, we will of course be celebrating the 125th anniversary of women's suffrage here in South Australia. A very passionate group of parliamentarians from here and the other place have come together as a committee to talk about and plan for this momentous occasion. I look forward to involving every member in this place and the other place in these celebrations and, in turn, having every member involve their communities in this important moment for our state.

Whilst we will rightly and absolutely celebrate and reflect on how far we have come, it will be an important juncture for us to also look to where we still need to go. We can and will celebrate long and hard the right to vote and the right to run for parliament, but we must and we will look at where the inequality between men and women still exists. Women are under-represented in our parliaments, including this one, with one of the major parties here, the Liberal Party, refusing to acknowledge this by refusing to implement quotas to turn their current terrible record on female representation around.

Women remain under-represented on boards and in senior decision-making roles across professions. Women are still regularly overlooked for senior positions across government and non-government organisations, in the judiciary and in many other pursuits. Women do not receive equal pay. The gender pay gap is persistent, and it is crucial that we as a parliament support campaigns, like the Big Steps Campaign for early childhood educators, to turn this around.

Women, unfortunately, are not able to walk down the street and always feel safe. Women are not able to equally participate in sport in the same way that men can, and those opposite are of course making that even harder by cutting our $24 million dedicated Female Facilities Program. Women continue to be objectified and girls sexualised through the increasing pornification of mainstream culture. Women continue to be judged by their appearance. Abortion remains in the criminal code. Fifty-eight women this year have been killed by men and the shocking statistics about domestic violence, and all violence against women, worsen.

The list goes on, with women experiencing inequality every single day. We cannot, however, be overwhelmed by this list. Just as those brave suffragettes who went before us did, we must treat this inequality as a call to action. Together we can ensure that every girl truly receives equal opportunities at every step in her journey, to thrive to reach her true potential and to freely make the choices that she wants to for her life.

Again, my heartfelt thanks and congratulations to New Zealand on their fight for the vote and on their inspiring our activist women to take up this fight here and win. Again, my thanks to the member for Florey for bringing this motion to the house.

Mrs POWER (Elder) (16:13): There have been many quotes capturing the sentiment that none of us are free until all of us are free. With New Zealand being so close and our loved neighbours, it seems only right to celebrate their 125th anniversary of suffrage.

It gives me great pleasure to rise today to congratulate the New Zealand parliament and its people on their 125th anniversary for all women in their nation and to acknowledge the courage and foresight exhibited by this world-leading decision and pay tribute to the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. I would like to thank the women of their suffrage movement and particularly the women and men from all across the world who made it possible for women to gain the right to vote and to have the right to stand for parliament.

I would also like to thank the member for Florey for bringing this motion to the house and her unwavering commitment in this area, for always shining a light on our history and honouring the women before us and, in doing so, paving a way for the future. As a new female member of parliament, I have really appreciated the member for Florey's efforts and have taken note of them, probably more than she realises, and I thank her.

I think girls, young women and perhaps even boys need to imagine a time when women did not have the right to vote or stand for parliament. I think girls and boys growing up today are shocked and horrified by this. They would find it almost impossible to imagine that there was a time when women were unable to vote and that, furthermore, once women were married, all their rights were transferred to their husbands.

I think it is good to know that girls, women, boys and our community at large are aware that we, as females, are entitled to equal rights. Unfortunately, the right to vote and the right to stand for parliament have not necessarily been the panacea for women's economic, political and social disadvantage. As other members have mentioned in this house, there is a plethora of measures related to gender equality, such as the pay gap, violence against women, and the number of women in senior positions and on boards.

Nonetheless, as we reflect on the past 125 years—which does not really seem that long ago—and how significantly things have changed, I look around the room and see there is almost an equal number of women and men in this chamber at the present time. Perhaps we are filled with hope for the future in celebrating the past. We will be celebrating our 125th anniversary of suffrage in South Australia, and plans are already underway. I think we can all feel energised and elated; let us call upon this energy and optimism and gain strength from it, be fortified and keep fighting for gender equality. I commend this motion to the house.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay) (16:16): I rise to support the motion of the member for Florey. Like many in this house, I have seen her leadership and continued interest in this area. We rise today because we want to congratulate our New Zealand sisters as they recognise the 125th anniversary of suffrage. While they were first in the world to achieve this historic change, South Australia was the first jurisdiction in the first country to enable women to vote.

New Zealand moved the assent to enable women to have the vote on 19 September 1893. We recognise Kate Sheppard and Mary Ann Muller, who led the New Zealand suffrage movement. As the member for Florey has acknowledged, they then advised the South Australian women who were heading in this direction. Of course, it did not happen overnight; it took many, many years and many, many attempts, as I understand it.

Legislation was brought into this parliament three or four times and lost. I understand that it was a bit of a rider, whereby people thought that if they added that women could be elected to parliament it would ensure a bill would fall over again. Surprise, surprise, it did not. I look forward to our re-enactment of that historic moment, probably next year, when we also recognise our 125th anniversary of suffrage in South Australia.

One of the points I think about with regard to this motion is how women were first able to vote in New Zealand on 28 November 1893 but were not able to be elected to parliament until 1919. There was quite a gap there. South Australia led the world and enabled women not just to vote but to stand for parliament as well.

New Zealand has had three female prime ministers: Jenny Shipley was the first in 1997; Helen Clark, their second, was more well known to most of us; and now, Jacinda Ardern, one of the younger prime ministers, is the leader there. We have had one female prime minister and, let's be honest, she was given a bit of a hard time. We almost got another one when Julie Bishop put her hat in the ring a few weeks ago but, alas, that did not progress.

When thinking about this motion today, I wanted to reflect that in some countries around the world women have only had the right to vote for a few years. In Saudi Arabia, it was only in 2015 that women were entitled or allowed to vote. So this is a continuing progression to enable people, regardless of their gender, to vote and participate in different countries. But it is not just about voting, it goes further than that: it is feeling free and safe to vote as well. When I looked at the last countries that gave women the right to vote, a lot of the conversation was around women having the right to vote but being persuaded not to vote because of fear of violence, which we saw in Uganda in 2016, or being seen to be betraying their husbands if they voted.

That takes me back to why I think it is important to have compulsory voting, and why we should continue to have that in Australia. It is important because you have not only the voice of the whole population but that voice is enshrined within the legislation in that you have to vote. That is something we need to work on: making sure people are safe, and when we consider our international situations and our connections, that people are supported to vote.

A few speakers have mentioned other areas that we need to continue with. I would like to raise the gender pay gap that is still a continuing challenge for us. Regarding violence against women, we currently have a bill before the house looking at modernisation and increasing the laws to protect women against violence. A particular area that I focus on is the lack of superannuation for women when they reach retirement. The issue there is not being flexible enough to understand that there are going to be some times in a person's life as a parent when they are not working at full-time capacity.

That really goes to a lack of recognition of the role of carers in our society. Whether you are taking on a childcare role or looking after elderly parents, or even when we look at acknowledgement of the work involved in running a house, in our society we do not value that yet. We have seen some moves in recent years where we have had increasing educational qualifications for childcare workers, and increasing rates of pay, and that acknowledges how important that role is. Recently, we have had some commitments to further support early education. But the reality is that we will still have an adverse outcome for women in regard to superannuation if we do not value the role of caring, and that is a cultural challenge that we need to face.

When we look at our house, we have come some way with female representation, but we have some way to go. It was a very proud moment of mine to be on the Labor state council in 1994 as we supported affirmative action. The reality is that it appears it is still necessary, and the Labor Party has made further commitments about that in the last few years. I encourage all political parties in Australia to reflect on why they are not getting equal representation within their parties and to encourage them to change that, to affirmatively change it, to actually change the details as to why that happens because ultimately, at the end of the day, this house should be reflective of our population. Women form 50 per cent of that population, and that should be our ambition.

The midterm elections in the US are currently being held, and I just wanted to touch on this issue given that we are reflecting on international things. There are quite a few firsts: we have Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman elected; Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar are the first Muslim women elected to the US congress; Ayanna Pressley is Massachusetts’s first black woman to be elected; Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia are the first Latino women from Texas to be elected; and Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland are the first Native American women to be elected.

I congratulate those women on those firsts, but ultimately I look forward to the day—and I am not sure whether it will be in my lifetime in this house—when we do not have to celebrate these firsts, as they are part and parcel of being reflective of a democracy and representative of our population.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Industry and Skills) (16:25): I am very pleased to be able to contribute to this debate, and I congratulate the member on bringing the debate to the parliament. The only disadvantage with being in government is that no longer am I looking at Joyce Steele, the very first woman who was elected to this chamber in 1959. She was the member for Davenport.

She went on to be the education minister, the very first female education minister in South Australia. What is striking about that of course is that it took 65 years from when women were given the right to stand for parliament before a woman was successful in being elected into the parliament. If you think that is significant, I think what is even more significant is that the member for Bragg, after 124 years, is the first Deputy Premier of South Australia and the first female Attorney-General in 124 years. Now we are talking!

It is not just about sitting in this place; it is also recognising that some of the biggest jobs in government can be done by women. I congratulate the Deputy Premier on her success and her breakthrough of that glass ceiling. The shattering that we heard on election night was very satisfying. The member for Florey's motion celebrates New Zealand's 125th anniversary, but it should be remembered that it gave women only the right to vote. In South Australia in 1894, women were given the right to stand for parliament. I think that is a significant difference, and it should be something that we are very proud of here in South Australia.

It is one thing allowing one sector of the community, who has not been able to participate in a system previously, limited access, but it is another thing to allow full access in order to do that. Exclusively I talk about the success of Joyce Steele in the school tours as I take them through the chamber. I also talk about old conservative Tom Playford up there.

Any of you who may have read Stewart Cockburn's book about Tom Playford probably would have been as surprised and shocked as I was to hear the very first greeting that Tom Playford gave to Joyce Steele when he came across her in the halls of Parliament House. I tell this story in front of young women, whether they be year 12 students or year 7 students. The greeting was, 'Hello, girlie.' That was the greeting. Of course, the women and girls are absolutely horrified to hear that.

I am happy to explain that things have changed quite a bit since then and that dear old Tom Playford was a bit of an old fuddy-duddy. Also, I believe that we did not even have women's toilets in Parliament House at that time. Despite the fact that women were given the right to run for office in South Australia, we still had no provision for them in having women's toilets. It is a very interesting story indeed, and of course we still have a long way to go.

I like the way the New Zealand capital, Wellington, celebrates Kate Sheppard and her work in bringing equality to voting in New Zealand. I do not know whether you have noticed it or whether it has been pointed out to you if you have ever visited Wellington, but when you are near the parliament and you see a flashing green man it is actually not a flashing green man: it is a woman in an Edwardian dress. It is Kate Sheppard.

It is terrific because it automatically reminds you, and people always ask, 'Who is that?' and somebody nearby knows. One of the locals will tell you that it is Kate Sheppard, the woman who stood up for women in New Zealand and the right for women to vote. It is a fascinating story and a great journey led by this part of the New World, so far away from everyone else in Western civilisation. We were the leaders down here, at the tail end of the Pacific, but I think that we still have a long way to go.

The default position for any young woman when she fills out an application, whether it be her student ID card or an application for her licence, is that her title is automatically assumed to be Miss. I put it to members in this house: whose business is it whether or not this woman is married? It is no-one's business. I am pleased to say that my daughter has used Ms from the very beginning for that very purpose. The marital status of an individual is no-one else's business. It is not important for a male to identify whether or not he is married; why is it important for a female to do that? I would certainly like to see further progress in that area. With those remarks, I support the motion.

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (16:32): I would like to congratulate the member for Florey on bringing forward this motion and also the government on allocating sufficient time for us to properly engage in this discussion. It is very refreshing when we are able to have private members' business move into government time to allow the fulsome treatment of the topic. A previous speaker, the member for Ramsay, mentioned the US midterms. I think it is somewhat inevitable that our minds are turning to what is occurring with our American cousins at present.

I am reminded of a turn of phrase the previous president, Barack Obama, used some time ago when contemplating the comings and goings of human progress. He said something like, 'The trend of history is towards progress, towards compassion, towards people caring about each other, but it is not linear, nor is it inevitable.' He went on to say that the highest office in the land is not that of an elected official—president, or member of parliament in our case—but that of a citizen. Of course, to truly be a citizen, to truly be in a position to fully participate in that trend of human history, you need to have rights.

For far too long, we decided who did and did not have rights. Most of Australia decided that Aboriginal people did not have rights that were commensurate with their humanity. For too long, across the world we decided collectively that women did not have the right to fully participate as citizens and to be part of the determination in how our history goes.

From my views of politics, one can take some comfort that there is a trend towards progress, towards compassion and towards the fair application of justice, but one should never be complacent. There is no force and no engine of history that propel us that way. It is only through human endeavour that we make decisions here in this chamber, out in the community and across the world that will or will not advance our general human experience.

The great gift of the Enlightenment, way back in the late 1700s, was a sense of common humanity being more important than what divides us, alongside a fabulous acknowledgement that doubt must exist and so must evidence. These ideas are fundamental to where we have arrived today in women being treated as equal citizens with men, equal in their rights and equal in their obligations. It took a long time from those ideas being born to change in fact occurring. As the member for Unley, the Minister for Skills and Industry, pointed out, there is a big gap between the granting of the right to stand for parliament and its application by one Joyce Steele.

More than that, it takes the courage and the self-sacrifice of individuals, and predominantly in this case females, women who identified themselves as suffragettes—Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the US, Canada—to have the courage to put their own comfort, and at times their safety and their lives, on the line in order to deliver that step forward in progress, that tilt towards compassion and towards equal justice. I salute those women. I have not had to show that level of courage to be where I am. I have not had to because they did, because they had the courage and the self-sacrifice not just for their generation but for every generation that has followed.

However, again, we must not be complacent. This idea that things have got better does not mean that they stay better or that they will continue to be so. The way in which we conduct ourselves in this chamber, and the way in which we conduct ourselves in public life, has significance for how people feel about their role as citizens, how young women, contemplating the full variety of options in front of them, look at this job and work out whether it is something they want to be part of.

I fear that we still do not always conduct ourselves in a way that makes young women feel that they would be welcome and safe to be part of this profession. I think it behoves each of us to contemplate how we speak to each other, in particular how we speak to each other when it comes to women's voices being different, when it comes to women's perspectives, experience and presence still not being the norm, still not being at 50 per cent. How that is treated in this chamber and out in public life has resonance.

I make no particular criticism of any particular members, nor do I in any way seek to say that some behaviour exists more on one side of parliament than on the other. That is not what this speech is for. We are the keepers of a gift presented to us by the women who sacrificed themselves to give women the right to vote and the right to stand. We should hold that as being precious, and we should contemplate how we will pass on that gift to the next generation.

I ask everyone to think about the way in which they talk about politics, the way in which they talk about women's voices in politics and the way in which women are treated and spoken about in order to encourage the next generation to take up the role that they utterly deserve and utterly merit, but I fear that we will still not get to 50 per cent of the people entering this parliament being women. I thank the member for Florey not only for this motion but, as others have acknowledged, for her unwavering dedication to this cause. I thank her for continuing to be here to voice it.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (16:40): I rise in support of the member for Florey's motion. In 1893, 125 years ago, New Zealand's Governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new electoral act into law. This led to New Zealand becoming the first self-governing country in the world to give women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

It was eight years earlier, on 22 July 1885, that Dr Edward Stirling introduced a resolution into the South Australian parliament's House of Assembly. Cautiously, he moved in favour of women's suffrage for both houses of parliament, limited to property-owning widows and single women. I say the approach was cautious as the resolution excluded married women. Dr Stirling explained that he thought a restricted proposal would have a good chance of acceptance, as opposed to a more universal approach.

In his speech, Dr Stirling pointed out that women's influence should be open. He argued that women were a responsible sex and that some were unfairly saddled with taxation, yet had no say in the disposal of those moneys. He argued that some were employers who were unable to vote while often employing disenfranchised male labourers who could vote.

Significantly, Dr Stirling recognised the value that the opinion of women could contribute on topics such as education, especially of the young; the condition and treatment of the poor and sick; the discipline and management of prisons and reformatories; the regulation of hours of labour for women and children in factories and other places; the efficient maintenance of charitable institutions and the distribution of charities; and the laws relative to the protection of females.

In July 1888, at a public meeting held just up the road from here in Gawler Place, the Women's Suffrage League was formed. The league spearheaded the campaign for the women's right to vote in South Australia. Dr Stirling was the league's first president, but stood aside after four years, becoming the vice president. This allowed for the appointment of Mary Colton as president at the May 1892 annual meeting and Mrs Mary Lee was elected as secretary. The electorates of Lee and Colton now carry their names on into this place.

Over time, the league successfully maintained public pressure on politicians on the question of suffrage. It arranged regular public meetings, drew public reporting, held public addresses, was involved in the sale of literature, used the press to publish favourable reports and used the correspondence pages to generate public debate. Women also filled the public gallery any time the question of women's suffrage was debated in parliament.

Arguably, one of the most influential tools used by the league was petitions. Upward of 20,000 signatures appeared on the earliest petitions. It is said that Mary Lee sent them out in all directions. In September 1891, Mary Lee wrote, 'I see that New Zealand is moving on bravely. We are racing each other! How grand it is.' Most of us watched the Melbourne Cup yesterday and may have experienced for a fleeting moment the competitive spirit that Mary Lee had. There is no question that these women were leading the way in South Australia and keeping a keen eye across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand and even further across the globe.

Regrettably, due to political and economic factors, no bill was presented in 1892. However, it was in 1892 that the Woman's Christian Temperance Union's offer to assist in collecting signatures for the league's petition was accepted. Persistently, the league continued to campaign on the single issue of women's suffrage and was ultimately supported by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in August 1889, when the union adopted women's suffrage as one of its main aims.

Between April and August 1894, the league made a large effort to circulate the new petition throughout the colony. Mary Lee boarded the train and travelled as far north as Quorn, talking to groups of people. There were 17 signatures from men from the remote town of Andamooka. At Orroroo, male signatories included their occupations: milk hand, carpenter, farmer, labourer, blacksmith, miller, bank manager, engine driver, and Baptist minister. There were also signatures from the South-East, as far as Mount Gambier.

The petition was signed by 11,600 people, about two-thirds of whom were women. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union claimed to have collected 8,000 of those signatures. End to end, the petition measures some 122-metres long.

The final suffrage measure was introduced in the Legislative Council on 4 July 1894 by chief secretary John Gordon, who had guided it through the debate and the committee stage. While recognising the right to vote, the bill excluded women from standing for parliament. At this time, Ebenezer Ward, an outspoken opponent of women's suffrage, successfully moved that the clause excluding women from standing in parliament be removed. While his goal was for the seemingly ridiculous amendment to result in the bill being voted down, his plan backfired. The amendment was accepted, giving the women of South Australia complete parliamentary equality with men.

Meanwhile, the petition was presented to the House of Assembly by the Hon. George Hawker on 30 August 1894. The legislation passed on 18 December 1894 and was signed by Queen Victoria on 21 March 1895. Significantly, Mary Lee did not stop her advocacy after women had won the right to vote. She was active in voter education, encouraging women to enrol to vote. By her 75th birthday, 60,000 women were registered on the electoral roll.

It is due to their tenacity and perseverance that South Australia has such a proud, political history. I am proud to be here as a woman, representing my constituents from the electorate of Adelaide. I am proud to be the second female state member for Adelaide and the first female Liberal state member for Adelaide.

With the election of the Marshall Liberal government, it is the first time the position of Deputy Premier has been held by a woman and the first time that the position of Attorney-General has also been held by a woman, both positions being held by the member for Bragg. In August this year, for the first time, there was an all-female meeting of the state's Executive Council at Government House, with the member for Bragg being the Acting Premier, and the Lieutenant Governor, Professor Brenda Wilson, being Acting Governor.

We can only imagine how proud Mary Colton and Mary Lee would have been had they known what their tireless efforts were to achieve in the future. The contribution of these women to South Australia was profound. We can be proud of their legacy and their significant contributions to the political landscape of South Australia, which have been suitably recognised since 1993, after the electoral redistribution and creation of the neighbouring seaside electorate districts of Colton and Lee. I thank the member for Florey for bringing this motion and I commend the motion to the house.

Mr BROWN (Playford) (16:48): I thank the government for bringing this motion in on ordinary government time to allow more people to participate, which I think is very good. In the close to 25 years that I have known the member for Florey, it could be said that we have not agreed on too many things.

Ms Bedford: I don't think we have spoken for about half of it. You have to speak to disagree.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Duluk): Order!

Mr BROWN: But one thing I have always respected and admired about her is her commitment to making sure that we properly acknowledge our suffragette movement. The people of South Australia, especially female members of the community, have a real debt to those people who came before them. As a father of three daughters, I find it almost difficult to understand how we had a society here in South Australia where women were not able to participate and to run for parliament.

I think all of us should acknowledge the achievements of those who came before us. While there has been a lot of talk about how the female members of this parliament feel, as a male member of the parliament I think that it is important that we recognise that there were male members who were convinced, cajoled, or, where necessary, even defeated, in order to make sure that the legislation passed. I commend the motion to the house.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (16:49): I thank all members who have spoken during the debate. I am grateful for their contributions and the thought they have given to putting those contributions together. I would like to mention particularly the member for Croydon's contribution that, while 125 years may seem recent, it is actually not so obvious in retrospect when you consider that our sisters elsewhere are still struggling to get driver's licences, and even now we are considering the results that are going to be part of the midterm elections in America today, so there will be lots of firsts spoken about from now on there.

As the member for Bragg said, we did have to struggle here in South Australia. It is probably not recognised because there was no violence attached to it, but the struggle was long, hard and tenacious. Drunkenness in the colony led not only to violence but to the lack of money that women had to spend on their families. There will be plenty of time to discuss all angles on that next year when we get to look at our achievements in detail.

I thank, too, the member for Elder. I have reminded myself when looking at her and the new female MPs particularly who have come in that it is now their efforts that will carry the struggle forward. We can certainly be here to remind them and encourage them, but it is now their energy that will move the debate and struggle further. As with the member for Ramsay, I experienced that momentous decision on the floor of conference when women were given affirmative action in the ALP, and I have my own scars to show for the work that has gone into my affirmative action within the Labor Party and politics in general.

I would like to thank, too, the member for Unley. I will be getting up a petition of members of parliament to make sure that the Minister for Transport does adjust some of those pedestrian lights, and I will be bringing back some information for him from New Zealand. I cannot see any reason why we cannot have that in place by next year.

The member for Port Adelaide made a terrific contribution. I particularly pick up on her points of having the courage of your convictions and how important citizenship is. It goes to the heart of exactly what New Zealand women were trying to achieve. The member for Adelaide brought up the formation of the Women's Suffrage League here in South Australia. I remind the house that a man called Charles Matters was part of that original committee, and we all know how famous his niece went on to become.

The names of the seats, too, were mentioned. I am so very pleased that a new federal seat will be called Spence, without referring to the fact that we have lost Spence here in South Australia and the circumstances around that. I am now thinking of other names that we might use to replace that third seat. Colton is the Mr Colton or the premier Colton. We might have to think of some acronym to name a new seat, but we can talk about that later on.

Petitions of course were very important in the struggle and it is vital that we remember the contribution of Elizabeth Webb Nicholls, the third almost forgotten person in the tapestry who no-one talks about. Yet, in New Zealand, the contribution of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union is always at the forefront. The line I always think about, 'How will you use your power and influence?' is something that we will be able to think about next year.

Of course, this motion is about New Zealand. In closing the debate, I will be very pleased to be part of whatever happens in New Zealand on 28 November, which is the anniversary of the first time that women voted. I commend the motion to the house.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Duluk): Thank you, member for Florey. I for one am very grateful for your continued fight within the Labor Party for fairness as well.

Motion carried.

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