Women 's suffrage in New Zealand - Wikipedia Women 's suffrage in New Zealand Kate Sheppard was the most prominent member of New Zealand 's women 's suffrage movement Part of a series on Feminism Women Girls Femininity History Social Feminist history History of feminism Women 's history American British Canadian German Timelines Women 's suffrage Muslim countries US Other women 's rights Suffrage by country Australia Canada Japan Kuwait New Zealand Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Wales United States In states Utah Waves First Second Third Fourth Variants ( general ) Analytical Anarchist Atheist Conservative Cultural Cyber Difference Eco - Vegetarian Equality Fat French French post-structuralist Gender Global Hip - hop / Activism Individualist Jineology Labor Lesbian Radical lesbians Liberal Equity Lipstick Marxist Material Maternal Neo - New Post - Postcolonial Postmodern Anti-abortion Post-structural Multicultural Black Chicana White Indigenous Native American Radical Separatist Sex - positive Social Socialist Standpoint Third world Trans Transnational Womanism Africana Variants ( religious ) Buddhist Christian Neopagan Dianic Wicca Reclaiming Hindu Islamic Jewish Orthodox Mormon Sikh Concepts Criticism of marriage Children 's literature Effects on society Embedded feminism Equality Female education Female genital mutilation Femicide Feminism in culture Feminist movement African - American women 's suffrage movement Art movement In hip hop Feminist stripper Gender equality Girl power Honor killing International Girl 's Day and Women 's Day Language reform Male gaze Matriarchal religion Media Men in feminism Misogyny Networked feminism Oedipus complex Opposition to feminism Political lesbianism Lesbian separatism Pro-feminism Protofeminism Reproductive justice Sex workers ' rights Sexual harassment Sexual objectification Socialist feminism State feminism Theory in composition studies Triple oppression Victim feminism Violence against women Views on BDSM Views on pornography Views on prostitution Views on sexual orientation Views on sexuality Views on transgender topics War on Women Women 's health Women 's rights Theory Feminist method Gender studies Gender mainstreaming Gynocentrism Kyriarchy Matriarchy Women 's studies Men 's studies Patriarchy Écriture féminine Feminist... anthropology archaeology architecture art art criticism literary criticism film theory biology composition studies criminology pathways perspective economics fpda geography international relations constructivism legal theory pedagogy philosophy aesthetics empiricism epistemology ethics justice ethics existentialism metaphysics political ecology political theory pornography psychology revisionist mythology science fiction sex wars sexology sociology technoscience theology thealogy womanist theology By country Albania Australia Bangladesh Canada China Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Egypt Ethiopia Finland France Germany Ghana Greece Hong Kong India Indonesia Iran Iraq Republic of Ireland Feminism in Israel Italy Japan Latin America Argentina Brazil Chile Haiti Honduras Mexico Feminism in Paraguay Trinidad and Tobago Lebanon Malaysia Mali Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Northern Cyprus Norway Pakistan Philippines Poland Russia Syria South Africa South Korea Sweden Taiwan Thailand Turkey Vietnam Ukraine United Kingdom United States History of women Lists and categories Lists Articles Feminists by nationality Literature American feminist literature Feminist comic books Conservative feminisms Countries by women 's average years in school Ecofeminist authors Feminist art critics Feminist economists Feminist philosophers Feminist poets Feminist rhetoricians Jewish feminists Muslim feminists Feminist parties Suffragists and suffragettes Women 's rights activists Women 's studies journals Women 's suffrage organizations Categories Women 's rights by country Feminists by nationality Feminism portal Women 's suffrage in New Zealand was an important political issue in the late nineteenth century. In early colonial New Zealand, as in other European societies, women were excluded from any involvement in politics. Public opinion began to change in the latter half of the nineteenth century, however, and after years of effort by suffrage campaigners, led by Kate Sheppard, New Zealand became the first self - governing colony in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections. The Electoral Bill granting women the franchise was given Royal Assent by Governor Lord Glasgow on 19 September 1893. Women voted for the first time in the election held on 28 November 1893 ( elections for the Māori electorates were held on 20 December ). In 1893, Elizabeth Yates also became Mayor of Onehunga, the first time such a post had been held by a woman anywhere in the British Empire. Contents 1 History 1.1 The struggle for women 's suffrage 1.2 Further advances in women 's political rights 2 See also 3 References 4 Further reading 4.1 Primary sources 5 External links History The struggle for women 's suffrage Portrait of an unknown suffragette, Charles Hemus Studio Auckland, circa 1880. The sitter wears a white camellia and has cut off her hair, both symbolic of support for advancing women 's rights. Women 's suffrage was granted after about two decades of campaigning throughout New Zealand, by women who included Kate Sheppard and Mary Ann Müller. The New Zealand branch of the Women 's Christian Temperance Union ( WCTU ) led by Anne Ward was particularly instrumental in the campaign. Influenced by the American branch of the Women 's Christian Temperance Movement and the philosophy of thinkers like Harriet Taylor Mill and John Stuart Mill, the movement argued that women could bring morality into democratic politics. Opponents argued instead that politics was outside women 's ' natural sphere ' of the home and family. Suffrage advocates countered that allowing women to vote would encourage policies which protected and nurtured families. WCTU campaigners and suffragettes organised and delivered a series of petitions to Parliament : over 9,000 signatures were delivered in 1891, followed by a petition of almost 20,000 signatures in 1892, and finally in 1893 nearly 32,000 signatures were presented -- almost a quarter of the adult European female population of New Zealand. From 1887, various attempts were made to pass bills enabling female suffrage, the first of which was authored by Julius Vogel, the 8th Premier of New Zealand. Each bill came close to passing. Several electoral bills that would have given adult women the right to vote were passed in the House of Representatives but defeated in the upper Legislative Council. In 1891 Walter Carncross moved an amendment that was intended to make a new bill fail in the Legislative Council. His amendment was for women to become eligible to be voted into the House of Representatives and in this way Carncross ensured that the conservative Upper House would reject the bill. This tactic infuriated the suffragette Catherine Fulton, who organised a protest at the 1893 election. An 1892 Electoral Bill, introduced by John Ballance, provided for the enfranchisement of all women, but controversy over an impractical postal vote amendment caused its abandonment. Tribute to the Suffragettes sculpture at the Kate Sheppard National Memorial, Christchurch. The figures shown from left to right are Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia, Amey Daldy, Kate Sheppard, Ada Wells, Harriet Morison, and Helen Nicol. By 1893 there was considerable popular support for women 's suffrage. The 1893 Women 's Suffrage Petition was presented to Parliament and a new Electoral Bill passed through the Lower House with a large majority. During debate, there was majority support for the enfranchisement of Māori as well as Pākehā women ; the inclusion of Māori women was championed by John Shera, who was married to a part - Māori. Lobbyists for the liquor industry, concerned that women would force the prohibition of alcohol, petitioned the Upper House to reject the bill. Suffragists responded with mass rallies and telegrams to Members of Parliament. They gave their supporters in Parliament white camellias to wear in their buttonholes. The Upper House was divided on the issue, and Premier Richard Seddon hoped to stop the bill. Seddon needed one more vote to defeat the measure in the Upper House. A new Liberal Party councillor, Thomas Kelly, had decided to vote in favour of the measure, but Seddon obtained his consent by wire to change his vote. Seddon 's manipulation incensed two other councillors William Hunter Reynolds and Edward Cephas John Stevens, so they changed sides and voted for the bill, allowing it to pass by 20 votes to 18 on 8 September 1893. The two opposition councillors had been opposed to women 's suffrage without the ' electoral rights ' safeguard of postal voting, seen as necessary to allow all women in isolated rural areas to vote, although seen by the Liberals as rendering the vote open to manipulation by husbands or employers. Eighteen legislative councillors petitioned the new governor, Lord Glasgow, to withhold his consent in enacting the law, but on 18 September 1893 the governor consented and The Electoral Act 1893 gave all women in New Zealand the right to vote. Both the Liberal government and the opposition subsequently claimed credit for the enfranchisement of women and sought women 's newly acquired votes on these grounds. Further advances in women 's political rights In 1893, Elizabeth Yates became the first woman in the British Empire to become mayor, though she held the post in Onehunga, a city now part of Auckland, only for about a year. In 1926, Margaret Magill, an openly lesbian teacher and school administrator was elected to serve on the Executive Board of the New Zealand Educational Institute ( NZEI ). She became president of the organization in 1933, and her election to that post marked the first time it had been held by a woman. Women were not eligible to be elected to the House of Representatives until 1919, when three women stood : Rosetta Baume ( in Parnell for the Liberal Party ), Ellen Melville ( in Grey Lynn for the Reform Party ), and Mrs Aileen Cooke ( in Thames ). Elizabeth McCombs was the first woman to win an election ( to the Lyttelton seat held by her late husband, via widow 's succession ) in the 1933 by - election. She was followed by Catherine Stewart ( 1938 ), Mary Dreaver ( 1941 ), Mary Grigg ( 1942 ) and Mabel Howard ( 1943 ). Grigg represented the National Party, while Stewart, Dreaver and Howard were all from the Labour Party. The first Maori woman MP was Iriaka Ratana in 1949 ; she also succeeded to the seat held by her late husband. Women were not eligible to be appointed to the New Zealand Legislative Council ( the Upper House of Parliament ) until 1941. The first two women ( Mary Dreaver and Mary Anderson ) were appointed in 1946 by the Labour Government. In 1950 the `` suicide squad '' appointed by the National Government to abolish the Legislative Council included three women : Cora Louisa Burrell of Christchurch, Ethel Marion Gould of Auckland and Agnes Louisa Weston of Wellington. In 1989 Helen Clark became the first female Deputy Prime Minister. In 1997, the then - current Prime Minister Jim Bolger lost the support of the National Party and was replaced by Jenny Shipley, making her the first female Prime Minister of New Zealand. In 1999, Clark became the second female Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the first woman to gain the position at an election. In 2017, Jacinda Ardern became the third female Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the second woman to gain the position at an election. The New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal 1993 was authorised by the Queen by Royal Warrant dated 1 July 1993, and was awarded to 546 selected persons in recognition of their contribution to the rights of women in New Zealand or to women 's issues in New Zealand or both. Kate Sheppard, New Zealand 's leading suffrage campaigner, appears on the current New Zealand ten - dollar note. Sophia Taylor, a suffragette leader from Northland, who opposed women standing for office. Mary Ann Müller, a pioneering campaigner for women 's suffrage women 's rights. Elizabeth Yates, who in 1893 became the first female Mayor in the British Empire and second in the world. Elizabeth McCombs first female MP, winning the Lyttelton by - election in 1933. Catherine Stewart, second female MP, first to win a seat in a general election ( 1938 ). Mary Dreaver, first woman to sit in the New Zealand Legislative Council, third female MP ( 1941 ). Iriaka Ratana, the first female MP of Maori descent ( 1949 ). Mabel Howard, who in 1947 became the first female Cabinet Minister. Whetu Tirikatene - Sullivan, New Zealand 's longest serving female MP, 29 years between 1967 and 1996. Catherine Tizard, the first woman to serve as Governor - General of New Zealand ( 1990 -- 96 ). Jenny Shipley, first female Prime Minister ( 1997 -- 99 ). Helen Clark, second female Prime Minister ( 1999 -- 2008 ), first to be elected ( and re-elected ) to the post. First female Deputy - Prime Minister ( 1989 ). See also Feminism portal Category : New Zealand suffragists Women in New Zealand Women 's history # Australia and New Zealand Women 's suffrage History of voting in New Zealand List of suffragists and suffragettes Timeline of women 's suffrage List of women 's rights activists Women 's suffrage organisations Henry Fish ( opponent ) References Jump up ^ ' New Zealand women and the vote ', URL : http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/womens-suffrage, ( Ministry for Culture and Heritage ), updated 17 July 2014. Jump up ^ New Zealand Electoral Act Jump up ^ Mogford, Janice C. `` Yates, Elizabeth 1840 -- 1848 ? -- 1918 ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 7 April 2011. Jump up ^ Brief History of Women 's Suffrage Jump up ^ A Brief History of Women 's Suffrage in New Zealand Jump up ^ Entwisle, Rosemary. `` Fulton, Catherine Henrietta Elliot -- Biography ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 29 July 2012. Jump up ^ Binney, Judith, ed. ( 1968 ). The Shaping of History : Essays from the New Zealand Journal of History. Bridget Williams Books. p. xiii. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Grimshaw, pp 70 -- 71, 92. Jump up ^ Grimshaw, pp 70 -- 71, 92. Jump up ^ `` Women and the vote : Introduction ''. New Zealand History. Women 's Suffrage. Wellington, New Zealand : New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. nd. Retrieved 13 February 2018. Jump up ^ Atkinson, pp 84 -- 94, 96. Jump up ^ Atkinson, Neill ( 5 December 2016 ). `` Elizabeth Yates Biography ''. New Zealand History. Wellington, New Zealand : New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017. Jump up ^ Laurie, Alison J. ( 2003 ). Lady - Husbands and Kamp Ladies : Pre-1970 Lesbian Life in Aotearoa / New Zealand ( PDF ) ( PhD ). Wellington, New Zealand : Victoria University of Wellington. p. 189. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017. Jump up ^ `` Margaret ' Maggie ' Magill ''. Heritage NZEI. Wellington, New Zealand : New Zealand Educational Institute. n.d. Archived from the original on 19 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017. Jump up ^ `` Beaches and Bathing ''. 119 ( 105 ). Wellington, New Zealand : The Evening Post. 6 May 1935. Retrieved 19 June 2017. Jump up ^ New Zealand Honours : Distinctive NZ Honours Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Jump up ^ Malcolm, Tessa ( 30 October 2012 ). `` Sheppard, Katherine Wilson ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara -- The Enclyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 25 April 2016. Jump up ^ Harris, Jan. `` Sophia Louisa Taylor ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 26 August 2016. Jump up ^ `` Müller, Mary Ann '', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Jump up ^ Mogford, Janice C. `` Yates, Elizabeth 1840 - 1848 ? -- 1918 ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 7 April 2011. Jump up ^ Jean Garner. ' McCombs, Elizabeth Reid ', from the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 13 November 2013. ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Nicholls, Roberta. `` Stewart, Catherine Campbell ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 10 November 2013. Jump up ^ Laracy, Hugh. `` Dreaver, Mary Manson - Biography ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 22 July 2012. Jump up ^ Ballara, Angela ( 1 September 2010 ). `` Ratana, Iriaka Matiu - Biography ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 6 December 2010. Jump up ^ McAloon, Jim. `` Howard, Mabel Bowden 1894 - 1972 ''. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 15 November 2011. Jump up ^ `` NZ 's longest - serving female MP passes away ''. The New Zealand Herald. 22 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011. Jump up ^ McLean, Gavin ( October 2006 ). The Governors : New Zealand 's Governors and Governors - General. Otago University Press. ISBN 1 - 877372 - 25 - 0. ^ Jump up to : Skard, Torild ( 2014 ) `` Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark '' in Women of Power -- Half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide. Bristol : Policy Press, ISBN 978 - 1 - 44731 - 578 - 0 Further reading Dalziel, Raewynn. `` Presenting the Enfranchisement of New Zealand Women Abroad '' in Caroline Daley, and Melanie Nolan, eds. Suffrage and Beyond : International Feminist Perspectives ( New York University Press, 1994 ) 42 -- 64. Grimshaw, Patricia. Women 's Suffrage in New Zealand ( 1988 ), the standard scholarly study Grimshaw, Patricia. `` Women 's Suffrage in New Zealand Revisited : Writing from the Margins, '' Caroline Daley, and Melanie Nolan, eds. Suffrage and Beyond : International Feminist Perspectives ( New York University Press, 1994 ) pp 25 -- 41. Markoff, John. `` Margins, Centers, and Democracy : The Paradigmatic History of Women 's Suffrage, '' Signs : Journal of Women in Culture & Society ( 2003 ) 29 # 1 pp 85 -- 116. compares NZ with Cook Islands & Finland in JSTOR Ramirez, Francisco O., Yasemin Soysal, and Suzanne Shanahan. `` The Changing Logic of Political Citizenship : Cross-National Acquisition of Women 's Suffrage Rights, 1890 to 1990, '' American Sociological Review ( 1997 ) 62 # 5 pp 735 -- 45. in JSTOR Primary sources Lovell - Smith, Margaret, ed. The Woman Question : Writings by the Women Who Won the Vote ( Auckland : New Women 's Press, 1992 ) Smith, William Sidney ( 1905 ). Outlines of the women 's franchise movement in New Zealand. Christchurch : Whitcombe and Tombs, Limited. External links Cartoons and article on women 's suffrage in New Zealand Female MPs 1933 -- 2002 ( graph from above website ) Women in Parliament 1933 -- 2005 on elections website Suffrage Basic topics Universal suffrage Women Black Youth Resident foreigners Expatriates in country of origin Voting age Demeny voting Suffragette Compulsory voting Disfranchisement Women 's liberation movement By country Australia 1902 Commonwealth Franchise Act aboriginal women Japan Hong Kong Kuwait New Zealand Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom women Wales laws 1832 1918 1928 United States women Native Americans foreigners District of Columbia Puerto Rico amendments 15th 19th 23rd 24th 26th 1965 Voting Rights Act Events International Woman Suffrage Alliance conferences 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 1 July marches 2014 protests UK Mud March ( 1907 ) Women 's Sunday ( 1908 ) Black Friday ( 1910 ) Great Pilgrimage ( 1913 ) Open Christmas Letter U.S. Seneca Falls Convention Declaration of Sentiments Rochester Convention Ohio Women 's Convention National Women 's Rights Convention Suffrage Hikes 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession Silent Sentinels Night of Terror `` Give Us the Ballot '' Selma to Montgomery marches Related Age of candidacy US Voting Rights Museum Umbrella Movement Women Suffragists Timeline of women 's suffrage US in majority - Muslim countries Women 's suffrage organizations and publications Women 's rights activists Suffragette Memorial Pankhurst Centre Pankhurst Memorial Belmont - Paul Monument International Women 's Day Susan B. Anthony Day Women 's Equality Day Eagle House Justice Bell 1920 US presidential election Leser v. Garnett Popular culture `` The March of the Women '' ( 1910 song ) The Mother of Us All ( 1947 opera ) `` Sister Suffragette '' ( 1964 song ) Shoulder to Shoulder ( 1974 series ) Not for Ourselves Alone ( 1999 documentary ) Iron Jawed Angels ( 2004 film ) Great Petition ( 2008 sculpture ) Selma ( 2014 film ) Suffragette ( 2015 film ) Susan B. Anthony dollar 2020 US ten - dollar bill John Ballance 27 March 1839 -- 27 April 1893 Prime Minister of New Zealand ( 1891 -- 93 ) Leader of the Liberal Party ( 1889 -- 93 ) Leader of the Opposition ( 1889 -- 1891 ) Premiership 1891 -- 1893 Elections 1890 Other elections Rangitikei by - election, 1875 1889 leadership election Constituencies Rangitikei Wanganui Related articles New Zealand Liberal Party Women 's suffrage in New Zealand Electoral history Liberalism portal Commons Wikisource texts New Zealand articles History Timeline Military history Treaty of Waitangi New Zealand Wars Women 's suffrage New Zealand and Antarctica Colony Dominion Independence Geography Biodiversity Caves Climate Earthquakes Environment Geology Islands North Island South Island Lakes Marine reserves National parks Rivers Time zones Cities Auckland Christchurch Dunedin Hamilton Invercargill New Plymouth Napier -- Hastings Nelson Palmerston North Rotorua Tauranga Wellington capital Subdivisions Regions Territorial authorities Politics Constitution Elections Electoral system Political parties Foreign relations Human rights Disability Intersex LGBT Transgender Judiciary Supreme Court Chief Justice Law enforcement Military Monarchy Parliament ( House of Representatives ) Government Cabinet Governor - General list Ministers Prime Minister list Ministries Economy Agriculture Dairy farming Wine industry Companies Energy Rogernomics Taxation Telecommunications Tourism Transportation Society Citizenship Crime Demographics Ethnic origins Education Immigration Languages Māori New Zealand English New Zealand Sign Language LGBT issues People `` Kiwi '' Māori Women Culture Architecture Art Cinema Cuisine Literature Māori culture Media Music National symbols Coat of arms Flag Public holidays Radio Religion Sport Television Outline Book Portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Women%27s_suffrage_in_New_Zealand&oldid=837138526 '' Categories : Women 's suffrage in New Zealand Feminism in New Zealand 1893 in New Zealand Hidden categories : Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL Use New Zealand English from April 2015 All Wikipedia articles written in New Zealand English Use dmy dates from January 2017 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from September 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages فارسی Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Nederlands Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 18 April 2018, at 23 : 44. 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Question: in 1893 new zealand became the first country in the world to grant voting rights to
Answer: women