QUEENS’ LAND
As Queensland prepares to celebrate its 163rd birthday, remarkably for the first time the state’s top jobs are all held by women
It’s a snapshot in history, a moment in time captured on the cover of today’s Qweekend. Queensland now has four women representing the highest executive, legislative and judicial positions in the state. No other state in Australia, possibly in the world, has achieved this: Queensland has a female Governor, Jeannette Young; a female Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk; a female Chief Justice, Helen Bowskill; and a female Police Commissioner, Katarina Carroll.
What better way to celebrate the upcoming Queensland Day (June 6) than to show how far we’ve come since the days women were expected to leave work once they married or had children, and were limited to what sorts of careers they could pursue.
Of course, we celebrate the great men of this state also, but just for this moment in time, just for this snapshot of history, let’s celebrate this new breed of cover girls: celebrated for their minds, their tenacity, their hard work and spirit.
As they’ll tell you, they are standing on the shoulders of other Queensland women before them, women like Irene Longman, Margaret Mcmurdo and Dame Quentin Bryce, but they’re also blazing a path, lighting the way forward for generations of Queenslanders to come.
HER EXCELLENCY THE HONOURABLE DR JEANNETTE YOUNG, 59 GOVERNOR OF QUEENSLAND SINCE NOVEMBER 2021
What’s your Queensland story?
My very first memory of Queensland is coming here for Expo ’88. I was a junior doctor in Sydney at the time, and I just thought it was magic, the most amazing celebration. Later on I came up to Rockhampton in December 1994, and I thought it was pretty special. I was a single mum, my daughter Rebecca was four years old and we went on a great adventure together. We went to Great Keppel Island and it was so beautiful. We spent four years in Rocky where I was the executive director of medical services at the Rockhampton Hospital, and it was a very special time. The people of Rockhampton were brilliant, they made us feel so welcome. When I looked at my next step, it was very easy to decide to stay in Queensland and move to Brisbane.
What do you see as the challenges ahead?
I think we have a fantastic future and are going in a great direction, but there are still inequities across our state. I believe the best way to counter this is through education. Our education system is good, but everyone needs to be able to access it easily; everyone in our state must have access to the best education they can receive, and we have to work at removing any barriers towards this.
Queensland currently has a female Governor, Premier, Chief Justice and Police Commissioner. This is unique in Australia and possibly the world. How does that make you feel?
Oh, extremely proud to be part of it, but also remember this hasn’t happened by accident. We are travelling in the footsteps of other Queensland women. Look at Anna Bligh, Leneen Forde, Dame Quentin Bryce, we had the most brilliant women to pave the way, and then look at our current Premier, and her path to where she is. There are plenty of examples here of outstanding women.
Just a couple of decades ago this would have been unheard of, Queensland was very conservative, and women were largely kept to traditional roles. What do you think changed?
I actually think it was the progressive men in Queensland who did it, the ones who mentored those women, because we needed men to step up and commit to this, not just as tokenism.
Men like (former Queensland premier) Wayne Goss, who appointed the first female governor. Or Peter Beattie, who made it very clear he was mentoring Anna Bligh, and was responsible for appointing Dame Quentin as Governor of Queensland. He was also critical for me becoming the chief health officer.
What barriers have you had to push through to succeed as a female leader?
Childcare! Until I had my first child, I didn’t see what the fuss was, but gee whiz, when you have a child and you’re trying to have a career it becomes impossible without access to affordable, flexible and good quality care. It is so hard, and it really influenced my career. It’s still tough and I genuinely believe childcare is still the biggest barrier women face because women largely still take on and are the primary caregivers.
Speaking now to young Queensland women, what would you say to them about their future?
First and foremost, it’s exciting, they should be very excited about their future here because there’s so much opportunity. I would say to find their passion and explore it, and always maintain a link to the workforce. Take the time out you need for whatever reason, but keep a link to work, because it can be really hard to reestablish yourself. Also, take the opportunities offered to you; I did and I’m so glad I did.
THE HONOURABLE ANNASTACIA PALASZCZUK, 52 PREMIER OF QUEENSLAND
SINCE FEBRUARY 2015
What’s your Queensland story?
I was born in Corinda, Brisbane. My mum’s mum was a dressmaker at Oxley and I have fond memories of spending weekends at her big, timber Queenslander. As kids we played in the yard, always outside, in the mandarin and mango trees. I also remember trips to the Big Pineapple, The Spit and Somerset Dam.
What do you see as the challenges ahead?
We never know what will be thrown at us. Never in my lifetime did I expect to be caught up in a worldwide pandemic. But I think we can all be proud of the way we came through it.
Just in my time as Premier we have faced 65 natural disasters from cyclones to floods and bushfires.if we can get through all of that we can do anything.
Queensland currently has a female Premier, Governor, Chief Justice and Police Commissioner. How does that make you feel?
Very proud. At the height of the pandemic we had a media conference. Afterwards I turned to someone in my office and said: “Do you realise we just had a media conference with the Premier, the Chief Health Officer and the Commissioner and all of us are women?” He hadn’t even noticed.
I think that to have so many women in so many key roles and for it to be accepted as unremarkable is an extraordinary achievement. It’s like “this is how it’s supposed to be”.
The head of our public service, my directorgeneral, Rachel Hunter, is a woman. That’s a first too.
Just a couple of decades ago, this would have been unheard of – women were not represented in influential positions. What do you think changed?
Women are 50 per cent of the population. We should be represented. Now it is accepted but women know this has been hard fought-for.
It is often said that we can’t be what we can’t see and I think that is true. I want young girls and women to grow up thinking “I can pursue any career. I can pursue any dream”.
The more society sees women doing whatever they want to do – whether it is trades or professions or sport – the sillier it seems that it wasn’t always this way.
What barriers have you had to push through to succeed as a female leader?
I was in a fairly senior role in Canberra and the only woman in a room. Someone tried to give me their coffee order. Another time I was the only woman in a meeting and the men asked me to leave while they presumably discussed serious topics.
Speaking now to young women, what would you say to them about their future?
It’s yours. You know that. Take every opportunity that comes your way.
THE HONOURABLE HELEN BOWSKILL, 52 CHIEF JUSTICE OF QUEENSLAND SINCE MARCH 2022
What’s your Queensland story?
I was not born in Queensland. I was born in Benoni, which is near Johannesburg in South Africa. I came to Brisbane just before I turned 10 with my family: my parents and older brother and sister. As we arrived in December, at the start of what I came to know as the long, summer school holidays, and we stayed temporarily in a block of units in East Brisbane which had a swimming pool, my first impression was of a glorious, warm, sunny holiday place.
What do you see as the challenges ahead?
There are a number of significant challenges – although we are not alone in this. Some of the most significant, I think, are to try to find a way to address the mental health crisis that besets so many in our community, and which is a source of so much misery and hardship; to address the causes of domestic and family violence and abuse; and do more as a community to enable women and girls to feel and be safe. Interlinked with all of those are the fundamental problems within our society caused by drug and alcohol abuse and addiction. The fact that our First Nations people suffer the social problems of our society at a much higher rate than others is also a national tragedy which needs to be addressed.
Queensland currently has a female Chief Justice, Governor, Premier and Police Commissioner. How does that make you feel?
I feel very proud of the collective achievement, and honoured to be amongst this impressive group of women. I am also very grateful for those who have blazed the trail before me, and to those women and men who have supported, encouraged and helped me in my career.
Just a couple of decades ago this would have been unheard of. What do you think changed?
I don’t think there was one thing … it has been a combination of things: some positive action, together with persistence and determination, courage and solidarity. When barriers – real or perceived – present themselves, if you just go ahead and do it anyway, you never know what might happen. The great gift to women of my generation, from the women of earlier generations, was the freedom to assume you could follow whatever career path you might choose and the confidence to try.
What barriers have you had to push through to succeed as a female leader?
Sometimes the main barrier to success is yourself: self-doubt, insecurity, the dreaded “impostor syndrome”, even paralysing perfectionism. But one of the really powerful skills is to turn what you might think is a weakness into a strength.
In terms of other barriers, though, my peers and I are lucky to have had incredible women in the legal profession, who did the “pushing” before us. These include Agnes Mcwhinney, the first woman admitted as a solicitor in Queensland, in 1915; Una Prentice, the first woman admitted as a barrister in this state, in 1938; and Naida Haxton, the first woman to practice as a barrister in Queensland. In more contemporary times, they include Chief Justice Susan Kiefel of the High Court of Australia; Margaret Mcmurdo, the former president of the Court of Appeal; and Catherine Holmes, my recent predecessor – and many others. I never felt as though I was pushing barriers or roadblocks. Perhaps they were there, and I was not aware of them. But I just did what I did, and worked hard, and opportunities arose.
Speaking now to young Queensland women, what would you say to them about their future?
The main thing I would say to young Queensland women, and men, is don’t panic. There seems to be so much pressure on young people now – to know what they want to do, which path they want to take. That is really hard when you’re just leaving school. Don’t panic if you have no idea – something will emerge later on. Whatever path you choose to take, have the courage to be your authentic self. Be open to ideas and opportunities because you never know where they will take you.
Stand up for yourself and don’t settle for things that do not seem right or fair, whether that is in personal relationships or work arrangements. I see great individual courage in young people, who have the strength of conviction to stand up for what they believe and call out things that are wrong or unjust.
In life there will always be hurdles, but I’d like to think that a bright future awaits young Queenslanders.
KATARINA CARROLL, 58 COMMISSIONER OF QUEENSLAND POLICE SINCE JULY 2019
What’s your Queensland story?
I was born in Innisfail in Far North Queensland, to my parents who were Croatian immigrants. I was raised on a tobacco farm, where my siblings and I spent a lot of time working in the fields with our parents. My childhood epitomised a rural Queensland lifestyle – lots of freedom and independence. While we worked hard helping my parents on the farm, my youth was wonderful and full of fun. I was driving tractors, cars and motorbikes from a very young age and spent endless hours outside.
We also worked and lived with people from so many backgrounds – Croatians, Italians, Indians, First Nations and the list goes on. My parents embraced everyone and treated them with respect and fairness – that is how we were raised. That is a true Queenslander to me.
What do you see as the challenges ahead?
Queensland has just come away from one of the most difficult periods in recent times. Now, adjusting to “living with Covid”, I think we can focus on some of the other challenges. Natural disasters are a huge challenge – what we have seen in recent years are some incredibly significant disasters, from floods and cyclones to bushfires. We are always working to ensure Queenslanders are prepared for whatever disaster Mother Nature may throw at us.
We will also turn our attention to getting ready for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. After my experience with G20 and the Commonwealth Games, I can imagine how much work is going to be involved and it will really have a big impact on people in the southeast with some amazing legacies.
We are travelling in the footsteps of other Queensland women … we had the most brilliant women to pave the way JEANNETTE YOUNG
Queensland currently has a female Police Commissioner, Governor, Premier and Chief Justice. How does that make you feel?
It is fantastic to be surrounded by so many incredible and inspiring female leaders. Even when I started my career, women were pigeonholed into certain roles, and being a police officer was not a traditional role for a female. You might have been pushed into “stereotyped” roles like nursing or teaching. And while these are important careers, it is so crucial that women have equal opportunity to choose whatever they want to do in life.
Just a couple of decades ago this would have been unheard of. What do you think changed?
I truly think society had to change. Women have so much to offer, and just within our service I have seen how our women have made an incredible impact over the decades. When I joined the QPS, only 4 per cent of the organisation was women. We now have close to 30 per cent women in the organisation and a third of our executive leadership team are women. This is a dramatic and positive shift.
And while a lot has changed, even in my lifetime, what I would like to see is more change and equality for women.
What barriers have you had to push through to succeed as a female leader?
There were many barriers when I became a police officer in what was a very masculine and hierarchical organisation. The barriers and comments that really stood out early in my career were when senior men would tell me women should not be in the service. In fact, we were told it was not our place and we were taking the places of good men.
I worked and studied hard all my career, and stuck to my own values, to be able to prove I was a capable officer. It took even more work to prove myself as a leader. But it certainly was not all harsh treatment and there were some exceptional male mentors (as there were few senior women) who gave me opportunities. I am where I am because of good men and my husband has played a big part in that.
Speaking now to young women, what would you say to them about their future?
Young women starting their careers should dream big and pursue their dreams fearlessly. We are lucky enough to live in a state where you can go out and chase opportunities.
I would say work hard for what you want to achieve. I truly believe in Queensland we are lucky enough to be able to chase our dreams.