Dyson Ruth: Address to Her Excellency the Governor-General 
Dyson Ruth: Address to Her Excellency the Governor-General 
[Volume:617;Page:13203] 
Hon RUTH DYSON (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 Mr Speaker may I begin by saying what a genuine privilege it is to be a member of Parliament to be a Minister in the Cabinet of this Government and to speak in this debate commemorating 150 years of our Parliament. We have heard during the course of this debate some unusual cross-party agreement reflecting our pride in the leadership that New Zealand has shown in many aspects of our democracy from the quite unusual step then of establishing our country as being the first in the world where women won the right to vote for Parliament and to ensuring indigenous representation. I am particularly interested in the history and actually the future of women’s representation here. New Zealand women won the right to vote in 1893 but it was a further 26 years until 1919 before we could stand for Parliament. It took 14 attempts by women in as many years before Elizabeth McCombs took her seat in 1933. Elizabeth won her seat in a by-election following her husband’s death and became the member of Parliament for Lyttelton. Lyttelton is of course the seat to which I was elected 60 years later. Lyttelton is also the electorate that has twice had a Minister of Women’s Affairs as its MP and we have elected more women MPs than any other electorate in the country. That is just one of the many reasons that I consider it is the best electorate. 
Both Elizabeth McCombs and Mary Grigg the first National Party woman to be elected—that was in 1941—were chosen to stand in place of their husbands as was IriakaRatana in 1949. Mabel Howard WhetuTirikatene-Sullivan and Judith Tizard all followed their fathers into Parliament but of course each of those women earned selection and election in their own right. Until 1960 all women except Catherine Stewart had won their seats in by-elections and nearly all our early women MPs came from a background of local body politics trade unions and extensive community work. Many more recent women members of Parliament have also had extensive experience in local body politics and almost all have had a close involvement in community activities. But of course we are entering Parliament at a much younger age rather than waiting until our families have grown up. The first two women Cabinet Ministers Mabel Howard and Hilda Ross were given portfolios particularly related to women’s and children’s issues although Mabel’s later responsibilities became health and social welfare. But when WhetuTirikatene-Sullivan was appointed a Cabinet Minister she was deliberately given an economic rather than a social portfolio and of course since 1984 women have held a variety of portfolio responsibilities. 
Women in Parliament have worked hard at what could be considered to be a tension between raising issues of particular concern to women—which men did not consider as priorities—while ensuring that all issues are recognised as women’s issues. I think we have that balance about right now. We do have women in portfolios both in the Opposition and in Government that were previously not considered to be the domain of women and of course we have women chairing select committees similarly. But we also have women united on some policy issues that are of particular concern to women and that fact will continue to be a great strength within our parliamentary system. 
It is also a particular strength that despite our small numbers as a percentage of the whole Parliament women MPs have been able to achieve internationally regarded ground-breaking measures for women. Elizabeth McCombs’ work led the Government to prepare legislation concerning women’s nationality upon marriage. Mary Dreaver obtained the right for women to serve on juries and to be appointed to the Legislative Council. Mabel Howard did much to make women’s concerns as consumers publicly acknowledged—work that was carried on and greatly extended by Margaret Shields during her time in this House. IriakaRatana’s work to improve Maori living conditions land use and education was extended by WhetuTirikatene-Sullivan into areas such as electoral law and the recognition of rights under the Treaty of Waitangi. Ethel McMillan Dorothy Jelicich and Mary Batchelor were vigorous supporters of equal pay and Mary Batchelor fought for protection against domestic violence for many years until legislation was passed. Fran Wilde successfully promoted law reform concerning adoption and rape. Anne Collins helped to bring about the abolition of corporal punishment while Judy Keall Jennifer Kirk and Helen Clark worked tirelessly to allow midwives to be in sole attendance at normal births. Marilyn Waring and Helen Clark were largely responsible for the peace issues and particularly for our nuclear-free status becoming part of Government policy. Ann Hercus Marilyn Waring and Colleen Dewe broke new ground in their membership of the Public Expenditure Committee and of course Ruth Richardson’s becoming Minister of Finance in 1990 was unparalleled in Western countries. World leading too was the appointment of Jenny Shipley as Prime Minister and then the election of Helen Clark as Prime Minister. 
But we still do not have true representation of women in Parliament and so while celebrating the many many successes of women in our parliamentary history we need to look at that lack of representation. Parliament as an institution has become more accommodating of those with the primary responsibility for caregiving for children by reorganising our sitting sessions. As the first woman whip Fran Wilde was able to influence those changes though it took the determination of Elizabeth Tennet before a creche was finally provided for all workers in the complex. But many women still criticise the time wasted on empty point-scoring debate preferring the generally cooperative spirit that prevails in the work of the select committees although those are not the parts of the parliamentary process that are generally seen by the public either directly or via the media. I would like to see more public awareness of the workings of our select committees while understanding that often the media interest turns an otherwise intelligent debate into a theatre performance. There are still some parties in Parliament that do not have a fair number of women in their caucus and I urge the leaders of those parties to consider what a disservice they do to the country as a whole by not having such representation and to address that if they intend their parties to continue to be represented in our House. We need to ensure that we do have an increasing number of women at all decision-making levels of our society so that our laws our policies and our other decisions are truly representative of our whole nation. 
To all our women members of Parliament both past and present I pay tribute to their contribution to this House and to our country. We are privileged to represent our electorates and our parties in this position and we do have an additional responsibility as women and often still as the primary caregiver for our families. I want to pay a tribute to our families as well—not just to the families of the women members of Parliament but to the families of all members of Parliament. Being a member of Parliament is a hugely challenging stimulating and satisfying job. But it does have a cost for us all in terms of the time we spend away from our families and the additional burden that public life places on our families. So I thank all our families for sharing a family member with this House and for the often unrecognised contribution that they have made to our democracy and our society. We are so lucky to be New Zealanders and to have this democracy this land to live in and our quality of life. We in this Parliament have the responsibility to ensure that our democracy is enhanced our land is protected and our quality of life is improved. We have a responsibility to ensure that our time here is put to its best use for the benefit of others. Mr Speaker I want to congratulate you on your many years of valuable contribution to our House. I congratulate you Dave McGee and the staff on organising this special sitting as such a fitting tribute to our 150 years of Parliament.