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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-06-20 Daily Xml
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ANNA STEWART MEMORIAL PROJECT

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (15:18): My question is to the Minister for the Status of Women. Will the minister advise the chamber of the Anna Stewart Memorial Project and the launch she attended with this year's participants?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (15:18): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. Anna Stewart, a journalist and a Victorian union official, was a passionate and dedicated advocate for women's rights, including pay equity and improving work conditions and creating a space for women in the union movement. She was a dedicated activist and had many achievements in the union movement for gender equity that were quite landmark decisions in that time.

Tragically, Anna passed away in 1983 at just 35 years of age, and the Anna Stewart Memorial Project was created to honour her in the best possible way. First held in Victoria in 1984, the project has been running in South Australia since 1985, this year marking the 28th anniversary of the project. The Anna Stewart Memorial Project is aimed at increasing women's participation and activity in the union movement to enable greater acceptance and understanding of women and women members' issues.

The program is designed to give women an insight into how unions operate and how women can be more engaged with their unions. The program which runs across the two-week period gives a group of women union members the opportunity to be placed in different unions, and the participants are shown firsthand how a union is organised and the relationship between unions and other organisations.

I was pleased to be invited to speak to this year's participants and to enjoy lunch with them here at Parliament House. I was a former Anna Stewart Memorial Program participant myself many years ago, and I enjoyed being able to discuss with the participants my time with the Australian nurses federation (as it was then) and how my union principles have guided me through my career. I believe, particularly for women, it is through collective action, unity of purpose and strong support networks that gender equity in our society is achieved.

There were 17 women who participated this year. They came from across the state, and included one from Sydney and one from Laos, and a number of unions were involved. I have always been very pleased to be able to continue my longstanding association with the Anna Stewart Memorial Project and have no doubt that this year's participants, like many other women who have gone before them, will use their experiences from the program to become active leaders in their union, their professions and their personal life.

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