Suffrage 125

I was moved and inspired by the celebration of the 125th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in Aotearoa at the Isaac Theatre Royal this afternoon.  Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was the Keynote Speaker and 40% of the audience were young women from local schools.  After a karakia by Aroha Rereti-Crofts, the introduction by Joanna Norris brought much cheering and clapping which continued throughout the event.  Bel Canto from Burnside High School sang two items, then Mayor Lianne Dalziel spoke with an injunction for us all to be proud of our city and its history.

Bel Canto on stage, Jacinda at left

Jacinda welcomed everyone, especially the babies in the room, and observed that on this day in 1933 Elizabeth McCombs won a by-election in Lyttelton and became our first female member of Parliament.  Ordinary women who have done extraordinary things were honoured.  Jacinda told the stories of two who had signed the suffrage petition.  The first was Christina Henderson who taught at Christchurch Girls’ High School.  The second was Catherine Wiltshire who in 1876 was hailed as the ‘Greatest Female Pedestrienne in the World’.  Catherine was Jacinda’s great-great-grandmother.

Nineteen young women then came on stage to ask questions of the Prime Minister, and these are some of her responses:

Q  What lessons have you learned from the Suffrage movement?
A  Never give up

Q  Has gender affected the way you’ve been treated?
A  The path was laid by women before me.  Occasionally I note an interesting form of language, but I don’t let it distract me.

Q  Why was New Zealand the first to give women the vote?
A  We’re inclined to say ‘why not?’.  (For a long time our most popular TV programme was Fair Go.)

Q  What are the most pressing matters facing women today?
A  Low-paid work, pay equity, domestic violence.

Jacinda said her hope for women is that they will have financial security and constant confidence.  We can do it differently and do it on our own terms, and we need to choose hope over blame and fear.  Asked if we need the feminism label, she said “Yes!” and that if you believe in equality and fairness you are a feminist.  She expects the next big change in New Zealand to be pay equity which needs to be prioritised.  ‘You’ll always have a seed of doubt but you can do anything in spite of it.’

In closing Megan Woods gave Jacinta a copy of The Lion in the Meadow by Margaret Mahy.  Jacinda stood to take a selfie with the audience, and after a karakia we all left.

‘Our P.M. tells it like it is
she absolutely is a whizz.’