CASE STUDY: WOMEN IN TASMANIA
ran as candidates and in 1948 Margaret McIntyre was elected to the Legislative Council almost entirely by male voters due to the restricted franchise for the Council. Margaret McIntyre was a very influential citizen. In her speech to the League of Remembrance in Launceston 1948, she said:
“As the world has been run by men for so long, and they do not appear to have made a very good job of it, isn’t it time we women tried to use more influence in national affairs? It is no use just sitting back and bewailing the state of the world and thinking how helpless each of us is to alter it. Everyone can do some little thing to help – mothers and teachers especially.”
Born in a tent in Maitland, New
South Wales, where her geologist father was surveying coalfields, Margaret McIntyre’s aspirations were fostered by her mother, Caroline David, who was the first woman principal of Hurlstone Teachers Training College. Margaret graduated from Sydney University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1907. She married in 1908 and had two sons and two daughters. After the First World War the family settled in Launceston.
Margaret became involved in many community activities and her interests included baby care, health, youth, education and women’s issues. She was involved in dramatic productions and believed drama would help to foster team spirit in young people. Margaret was active in many community groups, including lobbying for the establishment of community schools, and in 1947, she was awarded an Order of the British Empire for community services. The next year, she stood as an independent for a seat in the Legislative Council and defeated the sitting Member with a clear majority. At that stage, voting for the Legislative Council was not universal but was subject to
property qualifications. The only women who were entitled to vote were returned servicewomen and nurses who had served in the First World War.
She was elected at a tumultuous time in Tasmanian politics and during her first weeks of sitting was one of three Legislative Councillors who voted against an attempt to block supply. Unfortunately, Margaret died in a plane crash less than six months after her election. The case of Dame Enid Lyons indicates how women in a small community can often lead the larger nation in establishing rights and equality. She was the first women elected to the Commonwealth of Australia Parliament and then rose to become the first female cabinet Minister.
She said in her Maiden Speech in the House of Representatives in 1943:
“This is the first occasion upon which a woman has addressed this House. For that reason, it is an occasion which, for every woman in the Commonwealth, marks in some degree a turning point in history. I am well aware that as I acquit myself in the work that I have undertaken for the next three years, so shall I either prejudice or enhance the prospects of those women who may wish to follow me in public service in the years to come.”
Born in a timber camp in northwest Tasmania, by 1915 she was working as a teacher at the age of 17 before she married Joe Lyons, then State Treasurer and Minister for Education and Railways. She gave her first political speech in 1920 to encourage women to be interested in politics. Joe Lyons was Premier of
Tasmania from 1923 until 1928. Both Enid, by then the mother of seven children, and her mother stood for the Australian Labor
Party in the 1925 state election. In 1929, Joe entered the federal Parliament and became Prime Minister in 1932 at the head of his new United Australia Party. Enid, by then the mother of twelve, took on the role of the Prime Minister’s wife with her family spread across three states. In 1937, Enid was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. Joe Lyons died in office in April 1939. In 1943, Enid was elected to
the federal House and focused on family, welfare and women’s rights.
“Tasmania is a very different place in many ways now; but the important role of women in driving much of this change must be acknowledged.”
She became Australia’s first female cabinet Minister in 1949 when she became Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Menzies government. She retired from politics in 1951 but she continued to be active in public life working as a newspaper columnist, serving on various boards and commissions and publishing two autobiographies.
Modern politics In the last 30 years there have been a number of firsts for women in Tasmanian politics that mirrors a rise of influence of women in the broader Tasmanian community. Tasmania is a very different place in many ways now; but the important role of women in driving much of this change must be acknowledged.
It is difficult to isolate the
importance of the smaller community in allowing this situation to develop; but it is hard to ignore the grassroots origins of many of these women. The small community often imposes an imperative for women to step up to more influential positions. Since Gillian James became
Tasmania's first female Minister in 1980 after serving as Deputy Speaker, other women have been appointed as Ministers and as party Leaders, including the first female Premier, Hon. Lara Giddings MP. The current makeup of
Tasmanian politics shows a considerable influence of women and suggests that this will continue to increase into the future. In the Legislative Council, six of
the 15 Members are women, including the President, Hon. Sue Smith MLC.
In the House of Assembly, six of the 25 Members are women, including the Premier, Hon. Lara Giddings. Hon. Michelle O’Byrne is Leader of the House in the House of Assembly. In cabinet, two of the eight current Ministers are women. Women are also active in local government with representation increasing over recent years and programmes are being put in place to encourage further participation. The percentage of women councillors rose to 27.4 per cent in the 2009 election from 23.8 per cent in 2007. A WomenCan campaign facilitated a range of events and activities designed to encourage and support women in running for local government. In small communities like
Tasmania the starting point for many political careers and community activists is in local government.
An effort to increase female involvement at this level is likely to provide a pathway to a fuller participation in civil society in Tasmania. The benefits of this activity take time to materialize but will certainly benefit the entire Tasmania community over time.
The Parliamentarian | 2011: Issue Four | 309
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