One hundred years after Australia elected its very first female parliamentarian, Annabel Crabb presents Ms Represented, a raw and honest account of politics from the female perspective.
Powered by intense interviews with an unprecedented cast of female “firsts”, in Ms Represented Crabb investigates the experience of women in Parliament, from early struggles for the most basic of facilities to the persistent problems of harassment that plague the system to this day.
Chapter One: Getting There: Most people know that South Australia was the first place in the world where women could both vote and run for Parliament.
What hardly anyone knows is that it only happened due to a major strategic blunder from one of female suffrage’s most dedicated opponents, a former journalist, train enthusiast and celebrated booze-hound called Ebenezer Ward. The series opens with the cast of Ms Represented telling the story.
Not that it was plain sailing from then on. The brand-new Federal Parliament of Australia gathers in 1902 to approve federal voting and candidacy rights for women across Australia, but a last-minute amendment means that the new rights extend only to white women.
Annabel digs around in the Hansard record of the debate and finds material that renders the cast speechless.
It took until 1921 for a woman to be elected anywhere in Australia (congratulations Edith Cowan, elected as the Member for West Perth) and until 1943 for any women to be elected to federal Parliament. What did they have in common, these early women? They were all busting. The Senate didn’t install ladies’ toilets until 1974.
Female candidates found that they were asked different questions, judged differently, and expected to do different things for the cameras. Ros Kelly (ALP, first woman elected to the Lower House from the ACT) recalls the time she faked up a campaign mince cookbook to make herself seem more “womanly”.
Kate Sullivan (Lib, elected 1974, first woman to serve in both houses of Parliament) talks about being asked by the Queensland Liberal Party to change her name and stop smoking cigars.
Oh, and Cheryl Kernot tells the story behind That Feather Boa.
Accompanying the 4-part series is a companion podcast hosted by Annabel and comedian Steph Tisdell, with all six episodes available in the ABC listen app on Tues 13 July.
Production credits: Ms Represented is an ABC Production. Series Creator & Writer: Annabel Crabb, Director/Producer: Stamatia Maroupas, Producer: Geraldine McKenna, Executive Producer: Frances O’Riordan, Head of Entertainment: Nick Hayden, Head of Drama, Entertainment & Indigenous: Sally Riley.
