Celebrating Women

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Nga manu tiori ori, e koro mā, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Nau mai, haere mai ra ki Te Whare Kawana o Te Whanganui-a-Tara Distinguished, ladies and gentlemen, warm greetings to you all, and welcome to Government House Wellington

I specifically acknowledge: Hon Hekia Parata, Minister of Education and Hon Anne Tolley, Minister of Police - tēnā koutou katoa

It is a great pleasure for Janine and me to welcome you all to Government House for this reception to celebrate the contribution women have made and are continuing to make in our communities and for New Zealand.

This past year, we have taken the opportunity to mark the fact that, 120 years ago New Zealand became a trail blazer by being the first country in the world to give women the right to vote in nation-wide elections. That ground breaking moment was the beginning of 120 years of achievement by women in this country.  Throughout 2013 we have celebrated the adoption of universal suffrage, holding two special women only investitures and special receptions like this one, in Auckland, Whanganui and Hamilton.  They have been memorable and thought provoking occasions, giving us cause to stop and reflect on the progress made since 1893.

To say women were “given” or “gifted” the right to vote somewhat undermines the huge effort it took to get the government of the day to consider the issue.  The good gentlemen of Parliament didn’t just wake up one morning in 1893 and say to each other what a jolly good thing it would be if women could vote.  The reality is that universal suffrage was fought for, by both women and men, in what must be one of the most successful mobilisation campaigns ever staged in this country.

Led by Kate Sheppard, three petitions, each one larger than the one before, were presented to Parliament on women’s suffrage.  The third suffrage petition, presented in 1893, had more than 30,000 signatures of women 21 years and older.  To put it in context, that was around a quarter of the adult women population.

It was an incredible feat of organisation given the constraints around transport and communications in 1893.  There were no telephones, and the first motor cars weren’t imported until 1898.  Arrangements were made by word of mouth, leaflets and letters; and delivered face-to-face on foot, horseback and buggy!

The introduction of universal suffrage earned New Zealand a reputation as a social laboratory.  A new kind of society, being forged in the Antipodes, was underscored that same year by the election of Elizabeth Yates as Mayor of Onehunga.  Elizabeth Yates was the first lady mayor in the British Empire.  Queen Victoria and Premier Richard Seddon both sent messages of congratulations.  Unsurprisingly perhaps, Her Worship’s male colleagues were rather less enthusiastic.  Four councillors and the town clerk resigned in protest, and Council meetings were disrupted by jeering spectators, all of which was reported with great glee by the local newspaper.

Elizabeth Yates was defeated in the polls the next year.  However, despite the difficulties she had faced, Elizabeth Yates achieved a lot during her term.  Her achievements included liquidating the borough debt, establishing a sinking fund, reorganising the fire brigade and upgrading roads, footpaths and sanitation.  Although her blunt manner may have put her at odds with some of her councillors, all conceded she had been an effective administrator.

Elizabeth Yates was a trailblazer in local government.  While we didn’t get our next woman mayor until 1979, women began to make their presence felt in council’s nationwide.  From the 1980s onwards more and more women stepped forward to take the top roles in local government.  Wellington was no exception.  Fran Wilde was elected the city’s first woman mayor in 1992.  A slow uptake, however, Wellington is notable in that since 1992, three of the last four mayors have been women – Fran Wilde, Kerry Prendergast and incumbent Celia Wade-Brown.

There are now 16 women nationwide, from a mix of backgrounds running municipal or regional councils.  Some have been active in community work; some are business women, while others like Christchurch’s Lianne Dalziel and Rotorua’s Steve Chadwick are former MPs who have decided to work locally.  It also works the other way with women who have been blooded in local-body politics running for national office.  One time Malvern County Councillor, and later Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley springs to mind as a great example of the interplay between local and national government.

The women who signed the original suffrage petition would no doubt be delighted at the political change that has resulted from their herculean, or should I say Xenean, efforts.  I doubt they would ever have dreamed that what they wrought would culminate in a time when all the constitutional roles – Head of State, Governor-General, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Attorney General and Chief Justice – would be held by women, as they were in 2001.  That may have seemed a pipe-dream in 1893.

It is thanks, in part, to those early suffragists that New Zealand has its reputation as an egalitarian society where all people regardless of gender, ethnicity or otherwise can, and do, succeed.  And in relation to women, the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report recently ranked us number 7 on the list of most equal countries.  The Economist has us at the top of its ‘Glass-Ceiling Index’ as the country where women have the best chance of equal treatment at work.

It is no wonder then that New Zealand women have excelled as entrepreneurs, in academia, in the judiciary, in sport, in the arts and indeed in every field of endeavour. Pick a field, any field of endeavour, and you will most likely be able to identify the name of a New Zealand woman at the top.  The success of New Zealand women is not limited to the home front.  International achievers include writer Katherine Mansfield, politician Helen Clark and squash player - now Race Relations head - Dame Susan Devoy.  The spotlight is now on two young New Zealand women taking major strides in music and literature.  Ella Yelich-O’Connor (aka Lorde), has topped the US Billboard Hot 100 list with her song ‘Royals’, and Eleanor Catton won the 2013 Man Booker Prize for her historical novel The Luminaries.  We have much to be proud of.

Ladies, you have been invited here tonight because you are women who are also making a difference.  You are doing that, both on your own merits, and as representatives of New Zealand women.  Your daily lives are very different from those of the 30,000 plus women who signed the suffrage petition in 1893.  Those who signed that petition did so because of their desire to contribute and make change for the better in our society, for girls and boys.  They wanted equality.  They wanted the full rights as citizens of their country.  We are quite rightly celebrating what has been achieved, and yet we must also guard against being complacent.  Just as we treasure the rights and liberties we all enjoy today, we must make sure that the work begun in 1893 continues to be built on.  As someone once said, “Not only is women's work never done, the definition keeps changing.”

Thank you for accepting our invitation and I trust you enjoy your time here with us this evening and the hospitality of the house.

Kia ora huihui tātou katoa