The Women's Petition continued

from w
Here are some pictures from today's event at Federation Square in Melbourne. The old trams on display show that the women's carriage was enclosed and protected and the men's carriage copped the sun and the rain! Brave sods were they? Two women dressed up as suffragettes (note the white, green and purple - the colours of International Women's Day) walked about giving out papers about the Women's Vote event, and three women from the Women's Circus walked about on stilts.

Hundreds of people watched the stage items - a girls choir, and a few speeches from politicians as expected. The lunch was a bit crowded and hot so I didn't stay long. A few of us shared photos with one another at one stage of our grans or great-grans who were the suffragettes or petition writers from the 30,000 signatories of 1891. The move allow to women the vote (and later to stand) was a long haul indeed and there was plenty of opposition. In 1900 Frank Madden MLA said 'Women's sufrage would abolish soldiers and war, also racing, hunting, football, crdicket and all such many games'. Really! And even in 1955 Marucie Duverger said 'They still have the mentality of minors.' But of course today it's really improved with many women in parliament and even Deputy Prime Minister.