EIGHTEEEN years after leaving State Parliament, Labor’s doyenne of women says some of her beliefs transcend politics.
Victoria’s sole woman premier, Joan Kirner, who has been appointed a Companion in the Order of Australia, says a lack of respect in politics has led to regressive policies from both major parties
A champion of her gender, Ms Kirner says her main values are: “No.1, people matter, and, No.2, people are allowed a say over their own life. If you stick with that, people start to gradually realise who you are, not just who they think you are.”
Ms Kirner’s Queen’s Birthday honour recognises her eminent service to State Parliament, including her contribution to gender equality, civil rights and social inclusion.
But while one of the state’s most outspoken feminists is the 58th woman appointed a Companion, Australia’s greatest civic honour has been awarded to more than five times that number of men (330) since 1975.
Ms Kirner, who was also honoured for the development of education and training programs, said her government lifted school retention rates in the western suburbs from about 40per cent to more than 70per cent.
Ms Kirner’s legacy includes founding Emily’s List Australia in 1996 to get more women into parliament.
Ms Kirner, who turns 74 next Wednesday, entered Parliament’s upper house in 1982, one of 17 women in the Cain administration, becoming the member for Williamstown in 1988.
The mother of three never expected to become the first woman premier but did so at the beginning of a double-dip recession. “I didn’t think John [Cain] would step down, so when he stood up in the caucus room and put his hand on mine and said, ‘I’m going to resign now,’ I, the tough woman of caucus, burst into tears,” Ms Kirner said. “Caroline Hogg, who was sitting next to me, said, ‘You’re acting premier; stand up and chair the meeting’. There began a whole new life.”
As to the legacy she has left younger women, Ms Kirner said she thought the insults fired at women would finish after she and the first Australian state premier, Carmen Lawrence, exited parliament. “I thought, oh well, OK, we’ve copped it all. I thought [the disrespect] would disappear, but I mean, what’s happening to [Prime Minister] Julia [Gillard] is outrageous. Frankly, the Julia that most of the newspapers write about, I don’t even recognise. It’s not the Julia I know.”
How does the friend and mentor to Ms Gillard and a champion of human rights reconcile this with the PM’s opposition to same-sex marriage. “I personally don’t agree with her stance, but that’s up to her. If you want to stay friends with these young people, you’re there to support them, not to tell them what to do.”
