Tasmanian women have a long history of becoming involved in elected politics through involvement in community organizations, says a Member of the Australian island state’s upper House.
Hon. Kerry Finch,
MLC, in Hobart. Mr Finch, a former radio broadcaster, has been an independent Member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council since 2002. He is the Third Deputy Chair of Committees.
Today Tasmania has women represented across all sectors of society. In many areas it is no longer newsworthy that a woman has reached a senior role in society. The current Tasmanian Premier is a woman, Hon. Lara Giddings, MP, two of the six Supreme Court judges are women, with the first only appointed in 2005, and there are many prominent
businesswomen and community leaders. This situation has not been the norm over the more than 200 years since European settlement in Tasmania. It was not until 1948 that the first woman, Margaret E. McIntyre, was elected to Parliament. It was 1953 before two women were elected to the House of government, the House of Assembly.
How has Tasmania changed in 306 | The Parliamentarian | 2011: Issue Four
these 50 years that has led to the current situation?
Making history A major factor that affected the role of women in Tasmania has been greater access to education. Enrolments at the University of Tasmania are now dominated by women with 14,233 of the 24,454 or 58 per cent of students enrolled during 2009 being female. This would suggest that the next generation of community and business leaders may be dominated by women as they will be the majority of the highly trained sector of the population.
History has also had an impact on the roles occupied by women in Tasmania with early European settlement, dominated by male convicts and their soldier guards, a predominately male society.
Hon. Kerry Finch, MLC
Although there were female convicts and a few free female settlers in the early decades of the nineteenth century, women were very much in the minority. This gave them a level of influence which grew as the European population increased. Prior to European settlement women played a pivotal role in