Claire Trevett

Bold women helped pave the way for others in Parliament, writes

Take Action: The library is transformed into a place of civic action and debate with free workshops, exhibitions, discussion, art and craftivism. Until November 11

Arts collective The Coven puts a queer Oceanic spin on the suffrage movement. A new project Uwha by artist T¯ıpare explores wa¯ hine suffrage. Until November 17

” 125: Celebrating Women from the Collection: Portraits, personal ephemera and illustrations of traditional roles of women through to challenging and bold statements of identity. Until February 17, 2019

Te Tohe mo¯ nga¯ Take

Wa¯ hine / Doing It for Themselves: Women Fight for Equality TePapa curators have collected — the tools women have used to make their voices heard and markers of their success — into a pop-up exhibition. Until February, 2019

The Suffrage Petition, which was presented to Parliament in 1893, can be seen at He Tohu at the

An online version is available at nzhistory.govt.nz .

The very first words uttered by a woman in Parliament’s debating chamber were a warning to the men that “women are never satisfied unless they have their own way”.

They were said by Elizabeth McCombs, who became the first woman MP in 1933, winning the Lyttelton byelection after the death of the sitting MP, her husband James McCombs.

“It happens,” she added in her maiden speech, “that the woman’s way is the right way.”

It was not always easy, turning the old boys’ club of Parliament into what it is today — 38 per cent of its MPs are women, the highest proportion so far. The Herald talked to some of those other women who were not satisfied until they got their own way. seat. She was one of only two women in the government caucus and four in Parliament.

Waring became famous for rumbles with her boss Rob Muldoon and for the night Muldoon called a snap election, blaming Waring and her pesky feminism for making it impossible to govern.

That was after Waring told National, which had a majority of just one, that she would cross the floor to support a Labour Party bill to make New Zealand nuclear-free.

Waring says she crossed the floor more than 100 times on bills, including industrial relations reforms that she believed impacted unfairly on low-paid women workers.

She remembers the night of July 14, 1984, hiding out from the media.

She snuck out the rubber door of Parliament in the middle of the night and bumped into then unionist and women’s rights advocate Sonja Davies.

“Sonja saw me and said ‘thank you. Rest. You don’t have to do another thing’.”

It caught up on her nine years later in 1993. Waring took part in a nationwide tour for the 100th anniversary of suffrage. “I’d start to talk and I wasn’t sobbing, but I’d just start to cry because I obviously hadn’t healed. So I got some help then.”

It wasn’t all hellfire and brimstone. Waring was a “mad knitter” and would always wear suits of New Zealand wool when overseas.

“I completed 32 garments while I was a Member of Parliament in the House. It can be intolerably boring for women in the House.”

When it comes to what is left to be done, her answers are the same as they were in 2000: family violence, pay equity, recognition of unpaid work by women, pay for 24/7 carers such as those looking after relatives who are sick or disabled.

Then there is abortion law reform, due to be reviewed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

“There are a whole lot of people who still go to public meetings every Sunday and are told what to do and do it. People are just going to have to be staunch and brave.”

Turia recalled Ratana, a Labour MP, telling her of the time Labour had refused to agree to Ma¯ori housing at Ratana Pa so Ratana went to National to secure it.

“Aunty Iriaka was a very interesting woman. She was quite strongminded and I can recall at one point there was talk of her not being able to stand on the marae.

“She made the comment that if it was the case that she couldn’t speak on the marae to the people, well then, those people would have to take it to the men instead of her when it came to having their issues addressed.

“I would imagine she would have meant it.”