CHAPTER 11 - Post-War 1945 and after - In Our Own Right

'Even though circumstances were against our being seriously heard, we proceeded with what we believed in, and I think that is all you can do. '
Yvonne Smith

Our Women Number 4 July 1952 Journal of the Victorian Section of the Union of Australian Women
"News and Articles for the housewife and working woman - city and country. State Library of Victoria

In this chapter we show preparations for post WW2 peace 1...1945 LETTER TO 'AUSTRALIAN DELEGATES TO UNITED NATIONS' ORGANIZATION'   What women were promised 2...HOPES AND PROMISES and what they got 3.. .AFTER THE CELEBRATIONS 4...1945 THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS 5...1948 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 6...1948 U.A.W. NEW HOUSEWIVES' ASSOCIATION 7...WAR WIDOWS BOYCOTT ANZAC DAY   8... PRICES PROTEST There were reactions to this activism 9...ATTACKS ON WOMEN'S WAGE RATES 10..JUST MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS, WIVES AGAIN but 11..A QUIET MOVEMENT DIDN'T STOP THEM 12..PEACE CONVENTION

13..EQUAL PAY RALLIES 14..KATH WILLIAMS CAME OUT FIGHTING 15..1950'S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (IWD) Committee 16.. WOMEN COMMUNISTS AND ASIO 17..1953 IWD 18..1954 IWD And new campaigns 19..1956 WOMEN'S STRUGGLE TO BECOME TRAM DRIVERS IN MELBOURNE 20..1964-5 IWD Facing war again 21..1965 - SAVE OUR SONS (SOS) 22..MORATORIUM AGAINST VIETNAM WAR 23..WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (WILPF) 24..1966 - UNION OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN 'BOYCOTT WAR TOYS' Campaign 25..1968 COUNCIL OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN 26..IN OUR OWN RIGHT

1...1945 LETTER TO 'AUSTRALIAN DELEGATES TO UNITED NATIONS' ORGANISATION'

Eleanor M Moore: 'San Francisco, USA March 6 1945

On the eve of your departure for San Francisco, the members of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom wish to express to you their confidence that you will there maintain the best democratic traditions of Australia. The reported statement of the Hon S M Bruce, that as one of the smaller countries, it is our place to do as we are told, would, if acted upon, be a bar to progress and a lasting cause of discontent. It would, moreover, make attendance at any international conference a mere empty form.

As you know, many so-called smaller peoples have been, and are, outstanding in high-grade social institutions. Such have been the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia itself. The suggestion that these should have their future policy dictated to them by others, simply because these latter have larger populations and, therefore, more potential military power, has no basis in equity nor common sense. In the past, Australian statesman, of whose loyalty to the best interests of the Empire there could be no question, have time and again successfully taken an independent stand on points of freedom and the right of self-determination.

We believe that you and your colleagues will go to Conference in the spirit of that same courage, and will thus not only safeguard the future well-being of this Commonwealth, but will also assist in upholding the rights of other lesser nations, who, because of the cruel ravages of war, cannot now speak for themselves with the freedom which, happily, is still possible for us. Eleanor Moore' Letter from Eleanor M. Moore, Hon. Sec. Australian Section, WILPF in Melbourne, from Workshop for WILPF TRIENNIAL 2000, Brisbane, created by Hellen Cooke, WILPF AC

Eleanor Moore: 'In 1945 thirteen delegates left Australia to attend a meeting of the United Nations Organization at San Francisco. Among them was one women, Mrs Jessie Street, of Sydney ... Another gratifying event was the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 to Emily Greene Balch ... In that same year, Melbourne women organized a combined protest against further manufacture and use of atomic bombs ... At the public meeting held in the Assembly Hall on August 4, Mrs Julia Rapke, JP, presided. The speakers were Mrs D Blackburn ... and Miss Eleanor Moore. Miss E Goldstein also presented a statement from her sister, Miss Vida Goldstein.

The meeting not only protested against the use of atomic energy for destructive ends, but asked for the outlawry of all major weapons of mass destruction; further, that scientific research should be free from military and political control and that scientists should not be hindered from making known to one another and to the public the results of their investigations. These resolutions were given wide circulation. In 1947 a movement was organized in protest against the setting up in Central Australia of a range for testing rocket bombs. Here the chief movers were the Presbyterian Board of Missions and the Women's Christian Temperance Association.' p 152 The Quest for Peace As I Have Known It In Australia

2...HOPES AND PROMISES

Suzane Fabian, Morag Loh: 'By 1945 there was a sense that a new and better era was dawning. For women in Australia, the war had presented opportunities and opened up vistas for change. With their labour in demand, some had worked in jobs formerly reserved for men, winning substantial pay rises and in some cases equal pay. In many other occupations the female rate increased from 54% to 75% of the male wage. There was hope that these gains could be retained and even extended and increased. In order to encourage women to enter the wartime workforce, the Commonwealth government, from 1943, funded some child care services. Prominent ALP figures and parliamentarians not only spoke of the need for "a home for every Australian family" and the importance of education in promoting social change, but outlined plans for community centres incorporating nursery schools, playgrounds and libraries. This encouraged activists to anticipate better living conditions and expanded opportunities for women after the war.' Check book page number

As early as 1941 Muriel Heagney, in an unpublished paper, said: 'Women's Place in Post-War Reconstruction - Restoration of the 'status quo' or a more equitable social system? The right to work is not the prerogative of men alone. One third of the workers in industry, commerce and services of all kinds are women ... unless all sex differentials are eliminated from the recruitment, training and pay in wartime industry, new problems of post war reconstruction will be inescapable and devastating. ... Glance around and see what are the results of the present social system with its sex-discrimination and underprivileged masses. Hospitals filled with cases of preventable diseases, orphanages crowded with lovely children for whom no home life is available, child delinquency rampant, prostitution a menace in all cities, prisons full, and a large sections of the community harassed and worried by financial troubles due to inadequate and intermittent income, and general social insecurity.'Muriel Heagney papers State Library of Victoria

Eleanor Moore: 'The end of the war brought with it singularly little sense of release. It might have been expected that when the bombing and ship-sinking stopped, and so many countries delivered from enemy occupation, a great wave of gladness would sweep around the world. It was not so. In Australia V-Day celebrations contained no element of spontaneous rejoicing. So undefined was the transition to peace that within a year few could have named the date when Italy, Germany or Japan surrendered. The Allies gained a complete victory, but it shed no lustre. It looked dirty and smelled of ruin. Ex-belligerents found themselves face to face with the usual results of war: the homelessness, the hunger, the mess, the misery. Added to these some new forms of ugliness showed themselves: the hanging of defeated enemy leaders, a growing enmity between quondam allies and the shame and horror of the atomic bomb.' p150 The Quest for Peace As I Have Known It In Australia

3...AFTER THE CELEBRATIONS

After the celebrations came the reality - Muriel Heagney collected these figures on the costs of war up to 1956: "Defence, War and Repatriation Expenditure (includes all Defence Expenditure, irrespective of the fund from which the provision is made for the expenditure): 1901-2 to 1954-55: From Revenue 4 140 134 805 pounds, Loan Fund 1 964 776 151 pounds - TOTAL 6 104 910 956 pounds, From Revenue Department of L&NS 1954-5 1 756 496 pounds, 1955-6 (estimate) 1 931 000 pounds. Muriel Heagney papers State Library of Victoria

The money had to come from somewhere. Cheryl Griffin: '1945 brought inflation, cuts to public transport, housing shortages, evictions from Camp Bell.' A Biography of Doris McRae 1893-1988 PHD University of Melbourne

Molly Hadfield: 'Even when the war was finished, people were living in places like Camp Pell - families living in Nissan army huts. My husband remembers that people were living under bits of tin at the 'flats' in South Melbourne - Dudley Flats it was called. When Fred came back from the war, he spent time in and out of hospital. It was there that I saw the physical and emotional impact the war had on these men and, of course, the families who also suffered. This is still upsetting.…' Women's Web www.womensweb.com.au

'Dudley Mansion' Dudley Flats State Library of Victoria mp010449

For Yvonne Smith war was a matter of personal anguish - 'I had been shocked by Hiroshima. I couldn't reconcile it with morality. Later, after my husband died of a brain tumour, in 1958, it occurred to me that he had been stationed at Hiroshima. Had he been ill from radiation sickness?' Women's Web www.womensweb.com.au

People just picked themselves up and continued as best they could.

4...1945 THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

Amelia Walford: 'The League of Women Voters came into being with the merger in August 1945 of the Victorian Women Citizens Movement, the League of Women Electors and Women for Canberra. At the time they were concerned about peace, the United Nations and were involved in International Women's Day. tate Library of Victoria

League of Women Voters Newsletter: 'An Abiding Interest in Peace': "In 1951 Edith Hedger and Louise Walford as Hon Secretary and assistant secretary respectively with Doris Blackburn ex MHR as President (all League members) of the International Women's Day Committee called an all day conference. The final paragraph of the main resolution:

'We, the women of Australia, call upon the Australian Government to urge the UN to convene a special World Conference of Women, representing every nation and, irrespective of the legal status of women in the various lands, to consider steps which can be taken in the urgent matter of world disarmament and prevention of war.' State Library of Victoria

One thing they did was to hold "Model Parliaments" -
Louie Walford, Belle McKenzie: 1946 1st Session Women's Model Parliament, 6th Sitting passed: "An Act to eliminate sex discrimination, and accord the same status, opportunity, responsibility and remuneration as men in the community".

1950 League of Women Voters Model Parliament, Room 13, Floor 6, Kurrajong House, Collins St Melbourne Hon Sec Miss Louie Walford, 3 Gaven St Burwood WM3095
- Standing Orders Opening of 6th Session April 27th 1950
Governor General: Myra Roper, MA Canterbury
Speaker: Julia Rapke, JP
Prime Minister: Dora Nankivell
Leader of the Opposition: Mabel Johnson
Clerk of the House: Louie Walford
Sergeant at Arms: Catherine Blackburn State Library of Victoria

Now, "THE LEAGUE aims to encourage people, young and old, to regard their vote as a privilege and a right to be exercised seriously. We hold functions to celebrate Victorian women first gaining the vote (1909) and the right of women to stand for Parliament in Victoria (1924). We are committed to the UN Convention for the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Optional Protocol. Our international link is with the International Alliance of Women."

Alison Alexander: 'The Country Women's Association was also extremely strong, with 2,700 branches and 117,000 members. It pressed not only for better amenities for girls, but for more educational opportunities for girls, and a referendum among women to ascertain their views on abortion, before this was decided by an all-male parliament.' A Wealth of Women Australian Women's Lives from 1788 to the Present Duffy & Snellgrove, 2001

5...1948 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (IWD)

International Women's Day papers: 'The theme was peace. Women around the world were asked to send messages 'as there was considerable war hysteria in Australia at present' and many were received, including from Madame Sun Yet-Sen from Shanghai. This is an example of a letter sent to organisations and women who donated to IWD:

'State Secretary, Builders Labourers Federation, 35 Victoria Street, Melbourne
The IWD Committee, 7th Floor 167 Collins St Melbourne
30 March 1948

Dear Sir, We enclose herewith official receipt ... we wish to thank you most sincerely ... You will be interested to learn that this year's celebration was the most successful we have yet held. We had a capacity house and a further two hundred people were unable to gain admittance.

The meeting passed a resolution asking our Committee to arrange a deputation to Dr Evatt asking him to raise at UNO the question of placing an embargo on the export of arms. We are at present awaiting advice from Dr Evatt as to when he could receive this deputation, and as soon as a date has been fixed, we will advise you in the hope that you will be able to be represented on the deputation.'

Draft leaflet: 'Women's experience of suffering caused by war has taught them that huge armaments expenditure is not the way to peace. But, hopes alone will not secure peace; knowledge and organisation will lead the way to action that will halt the drift to war.' State Library of Victoria

IWD papers: 'The 1948 IWD Committee included President Mrs E Pethridge, Secretary Miss R Smethurst, Assistant Sec Mrs P Eden, Treasurer Mrs D Monsbourgh. Committee: Mrs F Williams, (Society of Friends); Mrs M B Wollaston (Unitarian Church); Mrs Dwyer (Association of Creches); Miss E Nesbit (League of Women Voters); Mrs D Nankivell (Status of Women Council); Mrs M Mayall (Aust-Soviet House); Mrs G Cameron (Federal Clerks' union); Miss L Savage (Opportunity Clubs for boys and girls); Mrs E Rothfield (Nat. Council of Jewish Women); Mrs E Pethyridge; (Aust. Women's Charter Committee); Miss H Bridger (Women's Branch of the Victorian Teachers' Union); Miss R Smethurst (Women's Committee Aust. Communist Party); Mrs E Hampton (War Widows and Widowed Mothers Assn.); Mrs P Eden (Editorial Board Aust Women's Digest); Miss V Bonner (Eureka Youth League); Miss Anderson (Business & Professional Women's Club); Mrs Z Lees (Clothing Trade Union); Day Nurseries Development Assn; Italia Libera; Albanian Assn; Madame E Lorton Campbell; Miss D McRae; Mrs Chesterfield; Miss E Hedger; Mrs D Monsbrough; Mrs Harrard (Friends of Democratic Austria); Mr J Downey - Tramway Employees union.' State Library of Victoria

Public Meeting, Assembly Hall, Collins Street, Monday 7 March 1949 8pm
Mrs Jessie Street speaker.

Jessie Street had just returned from her work as Australia's delegate to the United Nations Status of Women Commission and was in Melbourne the main speaker. Her talk was called 'The Women of Europe and their Work for Peace'.

Jessie Street: '(Weapons manufacturers) say the best defence for peace is to prepare for war. It is certainly a good slogan for them. They have a tremendous lot of money, sending tanks, guns etc to all sorts of people.' See Appendix 1 Papers

Doris Blackburn: 'To IWD - The need of today is for unity ... Unity is one of the first steps in the direction of world-peace. And deliberate action and careful thought must be opposed to the present spate of war-mongering. If those present at tonight's meeting are sincere they must give untiring work for a better world.'

Draft Resolution: ' We believe that the building up of weapons of war constitutes the gravest menace to world peace and living standards, and therefore call upon our Federal Government to give support for the proposals of the Soviet Union submitted to the General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation for the outlawing of the atom bomb and bacteriological warfare and for one third reduction in armaments by all member countries, and to any other proposals that will lead to total disarmament.' State Library of Victoria IWD papers

In 1948, also, 'the New Housewives' Association formed at Unity Hall, Melbourne, on November 17. Four hundred and fifty women attended despite a transport strike, some from Ballarat and Wonthaggi'. p 22 Taking Time A women's Historical Data Kit compiled and edited by Yvonne Smith, Union of Australian Women

Alison Alexander: '... the New Housewives Association was formed, on the initiative of mainly communist women. Four years later they decided to change their name and broaden their role, resulting in the Union of Australian Women, which aimed to identify more closely with working-class women and include employed women's concerns, such as equal pay. Though the union was not large, with about 2,000 members, it was active. Its main interests were peace, the status of women, the standard of living, Aboriginal rights and the rights of children.' A Wealth of Women Australian Women's Lives from 1788 to the Present Duffy & Snellgrove, 2001

Lesbian News March/April 1988: 'A Blast From the Past -
International Women's Day 1950 - Assembly Hall, Collins Street, Melbourne, 'Think About Peace, Talk of Peace, Work for Peace' Barb Friday papers, Women's Liberation archives, University of Melbourne See Chapter 18 - Environment Matters

6...THE UNION OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN (UAW) in Victoria was formed out of the New Housewives Association in 1950. See Appendix 1

'WOMEN! UNITE AGAINST WAR Come to the Assembly Hall next to Scots Church, Collins Street, Melbourne on Monday 31st July 1950 at 8pm. And take part in the Opening Meeting of the Strong Newly Formed Union of Australian Women:
- Enduring Peace
- Full Equality in Employment with Men
- Raising of Women's Social Political Status
- Better Housing and Living Conditions.'
HEAR Mrs A Dickie (Chairwoman), Dr Gwen Fong, Mrs M Hartley, Mrs Kath Williams, Mrs Nance Wills, Mrs Mary Bird, Mrs Ailsa O'Connor and Others. Speak up for women as United Workers, Mothers, Housewives, Industrial and Professional Women. Also films of interest to all.' Women's Liberation archives University of Melbourne

Joan Curlewis: 'The leaflet produced for the inaugural meeting of the UAW in Victoria was headed "Women! Unite Against War!" ... A 1951 election leaflet appealed for a re-introduction of price control, no conscription, homes and hospitals and schools before guns and bombers, higher pensions, and a new deal for Aborigines.'

At the 25 years celebration in 1975, Joan Curlewis said of the UAW "Years of Carrying the Banner" - 'The Union of Australian Women came into being in 1950, in the post-war world of baby boom, inflation and scarcity. During the war many married women had taken jobs, but when the men began to return after the war these women were sacked. With vivid memories of pre-war employment, they gave up their jobs to men without complaint. Nevertheless they had exploded the myth that a woman could not handle a "man's" job and many of them returned to the workforce in future years. Production had been geared to the war effort, with a ban on home building and restrictions on consumer goods, so looking for a home proved a nightmare.' ... Joan Curlewis papers State library of Victoria

Cheryl Griffin: (Also) at the 25th anniversary celebrations, Alison Dickie said that society in 1950 "called for a women's organisation which would take militant action around the needs of the family, for world peace, and the rights of women". A Biography of Doris McRae 1893-1988 PHD University of Melbourne

From the UAW biography -
Suzanne Fabian, Morag Loh: 'The women who founded the UAW wanted a world which minimised the risk of war through disarmament and an Australia where wealth and opportunity were more equally distributed. They were prepared to work publicly for their goals ...' Left Wing Ladies - The Union of Australian Women in Victoria 1950-1998 Suzanne Fabian Morag Loh Hyland House 2000

Forty years from its inception Thelma Prior wrote of the UAW -
Thelma Prior: 'Here in Victoria the UAW women have been involved in the struggles for - Equal Pay; Economic Justice; Peace; Abortion Reform and the Right to Choose; Child Care; Minimum Wage for all Adults; Shorter Working Week; Support for Lebanese Clothing Workers; Calling for Women's Refuges; The Fairlea Five Save Our Sons Protest; Campaign to Boycott War Toys; Campaign to Save Queen Victoria Hospital; DES Action; Women's Health; Increase in Pensions; Affordable Housing and Accommodation; Equal Opportunity for Women; Maternity Leave and Parental Leave; Better Public Transport; Supporting United Nations Decades; March on May Day and International Women's Day; Weekly Broadcast on 3CR Community Radio; "Our Women" magazine; "Taking Time"; involvement in the "Women's Charter".

"Your War Spending Injures Our Children; Lower Food Prices; Children First"

The UAW publication was called 'Our Women' and here are a few excerpts:

- (The) first important action of the newly formed UAW to assist working women was in 1951 when women's wages were slashed from 90% to 75%. Many women struck in defence of their wages. The UAW has supported this in every way possible.

- One of the most popular campaigns ever conducted by the UAW was for increased child endowment and maternity allowance. First initiated in 1957 it resulted in 30,000 signatures to a petition presented to Federal parliament by the largest women's deputation (250 strong) ever to visit Canberra.

- Miners' wives on the deputation also presented petitions against the closure of mines ...

- Who's Afraid of Peace? Who wants another war, anyhow?

- There are people who want war. They want the world in a state of turmoil, constantly preparing for conflict. They are the armament manufacturers, small in number but powerful. So powerful, in fact, that they are in a position to dictate policy to governments throughout the Western world. The arms race is big business! The names Westinghouse, General Electric, Ford and General Motors are familiar ones. They are international monopolies. They make our household goods - refrigerators, washing machines, motor cars. They also make armaments ... Our Women Anniversary Edition 1963

Editorial: Twelve years ago when the UAW was formed one of our first acts was support of the Stockholm Peace Appeal calling for the banning of nuclear weapons. This is still our stand today and so we joined recently with peace marchers who won strong public support for their demand - no nuclear bases, weapons or tests! ... As women, as mothers, let's make our stand clear. Let the world know we support a nuclear free Southern Hemisphere. June - August 1962

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Yvonne Smith: '... Look at the things the women in the Union of Australian Women have done. They weren't allowed to march carrying placards in the 1950's, when carrying placards was banned, so they wrote the messages they wanted to get across on aprons. They marched in single file wearing the aprons so they couldn't be charged with obstruction.' Women's Web www.womensweb.com.au

7...WAR WIDOWS BOYCOTT ANZAC DAY

Joy Damousi: 'Public Mourning became a contentious issue in relation to Anzac Day. In the 1953-54 annual report of the War Widows Guild, (Mrs Jessie) Vasey noted that 'a matter of concern' to the guild 'was that the Melbourne ceremony for Anzac Day 1953 'from the war widows point of view' met with 'almost universal disapproval'. The widows were offended by being placed 'well to the side on rough forms and opposite a trodden piece of turf in which they were asked to thrust little wooden crosses' ... The widows' resentment of their neglect reached a crisis in the furore which arose over the Anzac day ceremony in 1954. (The War Widows Guild decided it would no longer 'take part officially in the Anzac Day Service under the present arrangements)'.

They organised a Remembrance Day (November 11th) ceremony in 1954 in its place for war widows, mothers and other relatives to mourn and grieve. The Labour of Loss Mourning, Memory and Wartime Bereavement in Australia, Cambridge University Press, p.155

8...PRICES PROTEST

The Guardian April '49: 'Five housewives tried to mount the steps of Parliament House last Tuesday to deliver a protest resolution on high prices to the Premier ... In the pouring rain, the women stood their ground for 10 minutes, arguing that they should be allowed to pass. In Spring Street, 50 members of the New Housewives Association held placards aloft and called to the crowd that women wanted homes, peace and lower prices - not bombs.' Left Wing Ladies - The Union of Australian Women in Victoria 1950-1998 Hyland House 2002

9...PATRIARCHAL REACTION - ATTACKS ON WOMEN'S WAGE RATES

Megan McMurchy, Margot Oliver, Jeni Thornley: 'In the late 1940's and early 1950's there were at least two successful attacks on the wage rates and jobs that women had managed to achieve during the war. Employers won their application to the High Court for the cancellation of the Women's Employment Board regulations, under which various groups of women in the metal trades were still receiving 90% of the male rate of pay ... Women were supposed to be decorating their homes, not out fighting for the right to paid work.' p.128 For Love Or Money: a pictorial history of women and work in Australia Megan McMurchy, Margot Oliver, Jeni Thornley ed Irina Dunn design Pam Brewster Penguin 1983

10..JUST MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS, WIVES AGAIN - A 1955 Good Housekeeping Article

'THE GOOD WIFE'S GUIDE:
- Have dinner ready.
- Prepare yourself.
- Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him.
- Clear away the clutter.
- Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc. and then run a dishcloth over the tables.
- Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by.
- Prepare the children.
- Be happy to see him.
- Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
- Listen to him.
- Make the evening his.
- Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquility where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.
- Don't greet him with complaints and problems.
- Don't complain if he's late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night.
- Make him comfortable.
- Arrange his pillow and offer to take of his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
- Don't ask him questions about his actions or question his judgement or integrity.
A good wife always knows her place.' Housekeeping Monthly 13 May 1955

Helen Palmer and Jessie MacLeod: 'Suburbia - It was "Sunday Sport Not Allowed"; Keep Off the Grass"; "Dogs Found Will be Destroyed; "Commit No Nuisance", and countless other kindred elements of a half-world between city and country in which most Australians lived.' p 255 The First 200 Years Longman Cheshire 1981

Women are eternally children according to this world view - and this was the world view promulgated by the main media in the 1950's -

Jo Phillips: FOR THE BIRDS -
'Whose little bird are you? / dolly bird / cleo bird / nova bird / bells bird /
Daddy's little darling bird / Mother's little helper bird / My chick's a beut bird?

Some bird this chick / Little fluffy yellow bird / tweeting pecking baby chick /
long legged strutting heron /head in the sand ostrich / stuffed turkey for Xmas /
big fat mother hen / tough old chook / dicky bird / goose / birdbrain

Are you a nameless bird / an egg machine in a cage / society makes you think is gilded /
pea hen to some cock?' Sally Mendes papers University of Melbourne archives

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Suzane Fabian, Morag Loh: 'Sadie Kirsner took refuge in the Union of Australian Women for reasons that were as much social as political: "I didn't know when I should have been born, earlier or later, but the 1950's wasn't the time for me. It was so conformist. People would ring up at tea-time and you wouldn't be home and they'd say 'Where were you?" Left Wing Ladies - The Union of Australian Women in Victoria 1950-1998 Hyland House 2002

Marjorie Tipping: 'I found the transition from career woman to housewife and mother extremely difficult. ... we met at Jean's placed to help begin the Victorian Day Nurseries Development Association. The Women of the University had been conducting nurseries for working mothers in Hawthorn, Elsternwick, Camberwell and at Christchurch in South Yarra. When we were threatened with closure (after the end of hostilities) we enlisted the help of other friends with professional qualifications and outlook, including Jessie Clarke and her sister-in-law Peggy Brookes, to lobby for a real Community and Child Care Centre at Fawkner Park. ... I became president of the new Fawkner Park pre-School Centre, when it began in 1947, after inveigling the Melbourne City Council into giving us the facilities of an old kiosk to use for four different types of child care. There was already a baby health centre and we established a unique system, using the building to its capacity by providing three extra types of child care - a morning kindergarten, afternoon play group, and a full day service for working mothers, with widows or single mothers having the highest priority. p 380 Marilyn Lake & Farley Kelly, Double Time, Women in Victoria - 150 Years Penguin 1985

11..A QUIET WOMEN'S MOVEMENT DIDN'T STOP THEM

It didn't stop women in the 1920's and it didn't stop them now. They picked themselves up, adjusted, and made the best of things:

Yvonne Smith: 'During the Cold War when things got pretty bad for anyone with Communist connections, Don, my husband, joined but I didn't. By that time I had two small children. Don came home one day and told me about a meeting to establish a Union of Australian Women. He thought I might be interested. I went to the railway housing estate in Sunshine and heard Alison Dickie speaking. I was very impressed with her, such a gentle, honest person. She spoke on peace and the danger of the US dropping the atom bomb. We also identified local issues for women at that meeting such as a gas levy which had been imposed on the area.' Women's Web www.womensweb.com.au

Thelma Prior: 'After reading Bread and Roses I feel great admiration for the incredible strength and determination of all these ordinary women who go out into the streets and join together to march and demonstrate outside government departments and markets, demanding women's rights. I am very much akin to two of the women in this book as, like them, I also worked in a textile factory, packing stockings. I became a Shop Steward at the age of 15 years. I saw speedup and unguarded machinery which caused the death of a girl. I did a safety course at night school for 12 months to help improve safety on the job. I was involved in many campaigns for reduced working hours - from 44 hours to 35 hours a week. In 1949 I was sacked for fighting for an increase in junior wages of 2/6 a week. I was blacklisted throughout the trade. In the same year I transferred to the Federated Iron Workers Association and got a job as a process worker for Lightning Zip-Fasteners. I was elected shop steward and remained there for 37 Years.

Today (1990) women are represented on union executives, however back in my time, this was not so. As a shop steward I had great trouble getting co-operation from the unions on problems facing women in the workforce. I relied very much on discussions with the women at work, in the Union of Australian Women (UAW), and other women's groups, to help me with many of the problems faced by women at work and at home. These women signed petitions against high prices, for peace and Ban the Bomb and supported many of the campaigns the UAW took up.

In 1956 I was elected by my workmates to represent them at the Second World Peace Conference. The workers at my factory helped to pay my fare. Peace was something these girls understood - many of their people had been killed in the war. ... So, may the experiences of the three militant women in the book Bread and Roses, so in keeping with those of their many sisters, serve as an inspiration to future generations. I have great pleasure in recommending this book. Thank you.' Thelma Prior, at the launch of Bread & Roses, A personal history of three militant women and their friends 1902-1988, Audrey Johnson, LEFT BOOK CLUB 1990 Women's Web, Women's Stories, Women's Actions Women's Web www.womensweb.com.au

1953 slogan: EQUALITY OF WOMEN IN A WORLD OF PEACE

12..PEACE CONVENTION

After learning more about atomic weapons and the Korean War many women did not feel peace was secure. This letter, promoting a peace convention and conference, was written by Muriel Heagney in 1953:

1. Are We at War or Peace? On the answer to this question depends our own and the world's happiness - possibly survival.
2. We women (and, we hope, thousands of others in this country) are anxious to co-operate with those clergy and other citizens who have inaugurated a nation-wide convention on peace and war.
3. Believing that all women must desire that international differences should be settled by negotiation and not by armed force, we call upon them to come together to discuss ways to achieve this attainable end.
4. Believing in the world wide need for equality of opportunity for women, we also believe that this equality can only be obtained in a world at peace.

Will you support with us the National Convention on Peace and War to be held in Sydney in September and the conference to be held in Melbourne in October? State Library of Victoria Muriel Heagney papers

13..EQUAL PAY RALLIES in the 1950's

Zelda D'Aprano: 'There were equal pay rallies in 1955, and 1957, an equal pay petition that attracted 40,000 signatures in 1956 and the Roy Morgan Gallop Poll of June 6 1956 "stated that public opinion was in favour of equal pay'. Yet (Premier?) Bolte's response was clear. He said the State Government would not legislate to give women public servants the same salary as men. The Herald reported him as saying that equal pay for the sexes would have a tremendous effect on Victoria's economy:

"Other Ministers said equal pay now would force up the cost of living to a dangerous level. ... It was also remarkable that when the Tramways Board last year tried to employ women tram drivers at equal pay rates with men, the union threatened to strike to stop the move. In view of this, how much of the present equal pay campaign is genuine and how much is political bally-hoo?" p.104 Zelda D'Aprano Kath Williams The Unions and the Fight for Equal Pay

Poster University of Melbourne State Library of Victoria

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14..KATH WILLIAMS CAME OUT FIGHTING after Bolte's comments:

'How long does Mr Bolte think his or any government is going to buck the demands of over three quarters of a million women wage and salary earners, backed by the trade union movement, and becoming more aware every day of the rank injustice of paying them less for their labour than men?'

She wrote of the difference in salaries of women and men in the postal service, female and male clerical assistants in the public service and female and male doctors in hospitals, and suggested women should march on Parliament as they had in England.

'If women went on strike for equal pay, the Women's Christian Temperance Union would probably support them' the State Secretary, Mrs F J Nicholls, said today. 'We were behind the suffragettes once and we have sent petitions to the Government. I imagine we would support women in a strike.'

... The same issue of the Herald quoted the Principal of the Melbourne University Women's College, Miss Myra Roper, as saying that: 'Today's women doing the same work as men should get men's pay'; she then went on to speak of the tendency for commercial interests to use women as cheap labour.' Zelda D'Aprano Kath Williams The Unions and the Fight for Equal Pay

Published by Spinifex Press www.spinifex.com.au

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15..1950'S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (IWD) Committee

Cheryl Griffin: '... by the early 1950's International Women's Day "the loss of the spirit of unity, and the growth of the Cold War led to drop-outs, ... some women wanted to distance themselves from the more direct and provocative approach of left-wing organisations such as the Union of Australian Women. Doris McRae said that "calls for creches, kindergartens, children's playgrounds, youth clubs as well as peace were looked on as Red". (Doris's underlining) A Biography of Doris McRae 1893-1988 PHD University of Melbourne

Letters to the International Women's Day organizing committee, to Mrs D Irwin, Secretary, IWD Committee c/- Women's Christian Temperance Union -

Joan E Basquil, GPO Mail Branch deputation: 'You have probably heard the report in today's Argus of the dismissal of about a hundred women from the General Post Office Mail Branch ... ' See Appendix 1 Papers

Lyn Chambers, 'November 9 1953: ' The Wonthaggi Miners' Women's Auxilliary have asked me to write to you regarding the IWD Committee meeting to be held on Thursday Mov 12. We are unanimously with you in your action for peace. We regret (we cannot send anyone), but as we may be able to send a person on March 8th, if you could tell us of your meetings decisions, we could work together for the celebrations next year. I remain, Yours ... ' IWD papers, State Library of Victoria

16..WOMEN COMMUNISTS AND ASIO

Jennifer Clark: 'Shirley Andrews graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1937, one of only four women in her class, and took a job at CSIRO as a scientific information officer. This position gave her experience in research techniques that she then employed to great effect in her after-hours activities.

Unlike other women in the workforce, she enjoyed equal pay at CSIRO and so was able to save (she explained that there wasn’t much to spend her money on in the immediate postwar years anyway). When CSIRO began to restructure, she took the opportunity to try something new and used her savings to travel to the World Youth Festival in Berlin with the Unity Dance Group. Margaret Walker also invited the activist for Aboriginal rights, Faith Bandler, to join the group. Together, they performed a prepared program that examined issues of racial discrimination and, afterwards, toured communist Europe in smaller groups.

Shirley Andrews was a communist but she speaks of herself as being politically conservative, thinking of communism not so much as a means to revolution but rather as a vehicle for social justice and reform. Because of her communism ASIO became interested in her and established a file. She was followed around Melbourne, her activities were monitored and her friends and acquaintances observed. ASIO knew where she went, where she lived, what vehicle she drove and even when she went on holidays. They knew when she applied for the position of bio-chemist at Royal Park Mental Hospital in 1953.

The Public Service Board decided that she could only be employed as a warder’s assistant in the laboratory and not as the bio-chemist but the notification to that effect was received too late: the appointment had already been made and demotion would have amounted to a breach of contract. So Andrews kept her job and worked at the hospital from 1953 to 1977. During that time she made an important discovery about the psychiatric effects of bromureides. Many disoriented patients admitted into the hospital were taking preparations containing bromureides not realising that the bromine was accumulating in the blood and exacerbating mental dysfunction.' (see Chapter 16 In Our Own Hands) http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2004/aug04/article4.html

17..1953 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY (IWD)

Peace, job security and equality for Aboriginal people were the themes. Proposals were: Australian Aborigines - 'This meeting of Melbourne citizens celebrating IWD, March 10, 1953, expresses strong disapproval of the policy of inequality adopted towards Australian Aborigines. We call upon both the State Govt. and the Federal Govt.

(a) to institute research and enquiry into the best methods of educating and preparing Aborigines to enjoy political, educational and social equality.

(b) to institute a fund to enable Aboriginal students to reach secondary standards and to pass on to the universities.

(c) to provide a social environment which gives an incentive which makes study meaningful and worthwhile; and

(d) to extend to Aborigines the same rights to old age pensions as are given to other citizens. State Library of Victoria IWD papers

The reaction -
'THESE PEOPLE' - Response from the Chief Secretary, Old Treasury Building, Spring St Melbourne: 'Mrs D Irwin, Hon Sec IWD Committee, c/- WCTU, Centreway, Collins Street M.C1 1st May 1953 Dear Mrs Irwin,

I am in receipt of your letter of the 29th ultimo regarding the economic position of aboriginal women. No doubt the resolution was intended to apply to Australia as a whole. In Victoria there are today very few aborigines, the total number, so far as is known, not exceeding thirty in all. All aborigines and those of mixed blood have full civil rights in this State, and, so far as the State law is concerned, they are not legally debarred from receiving any benefit available to the ordinary citizen. They are entitled to vote at all State elections; the compulsory provisions of the Education Act apply to their children, and any child who gives sufficient promise and qualifies is entitled to the same privileges of secondary education as any other child; whilst hospital and other social benefits are available to them in the same way as to white people.

It is within my knowledge that children of mixed blood have attended secondary schools with success, but teachers who have taught these children in groups have reported that, whilst they attain average results to about the fourth grade standard, thereafter their attention wanders and they are anxious to leave school, and in this they are frequently encouraged by their parents. The majority of these people live the life of ordinary citizens, and you will appreciate that their actions cannot be restricted to any greater extent than that of any other citizen. Efforts are made to help and advise them, but they cannot be compelled to accept such assistance.

However, I feel that you should know that in this State no restrictions are placed on these people in any way.' State Library of Victoria IWD papers

Response from the State Government: 'To IWD from Premier John Cain - "... On 23rd March 1953 the Victorian Cabinet approved of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value and agreed to the ratification by the Commonwealth of the (UN) Convention dealing with this matter, and the Secretary of the Department of Labour and National Service, Melbourne, was advised accordingly." State Library of Victoria IWD papers

Women continued their struggles -
IWD papers: ' Wage Reductions for Women - "This meeting of Melbourne men and women gathered to celebrate IWD March 10th 1953 endorses the principle of equal occupational rates for men and women and registers its emphatic protest against proposed reductions in present rates of pay for women which:
(a) would lower their living standards and reduce their purchasing power, and
(b) would promote a pool of cheap labour and constitute a threat to men's employment ...' It calls upon all organisations to protect women's rates of pay by urging the Federal Govt. and all State Govt's to intervene in the case at present before the Arbitration Court in order to oppose the reduction in women's wages sought by employers."

Peace - 'In view of
(1) the world's grave need for better production and more equitable distribution
(2) the terrible threat of global war
(3) the struggle of Asian people to develop and govern their own country without foreign domination and exploitation
(4) the present devastation in Korea
(5) Australia's need for men and women able and willing to shape a domestic and foreign policy leading to international co-operation and peace:

- WE CALL upon all men and women of goodwill to exercise to the utmost their spiritual and mental powers, and to work together in a spirit of mutual tolerance for these aims:
1. An immediate armistice in Korea
2. The cessation of war propaganda
3. That money and materials now being used for war preparations should be directed towards meeting the basic needs of human beings.

- WE CALL on our Federal Govt. to press for a special meeting of the five great powers with the aim of signing a pact of peace.

- We, the women of Australia, call upon the Australian Government to urge the United Nations to convene a special world conference of women, representing every nation and irrespective of the legal status of women, in their respective lands, to consider the steps which can be taken in the urgent matter of world disarmament and prevention of war.

- That the IWD Committee organise a Peace Conference of Victorian women.' State Library of Victoria IWD papers

18..1954 (IWD)

Union of Australian Women leaflet: 'The results of the American hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific have shocked the world. This bomb has 2,000 times the power of the atom bomb that razed Hiroshima. Australian mothers feel particularly alarmed at the effect any future tests in the Pacific could have within our continent. Dr Evatt has warned "The damage and injury caused by the (first) explosion is a solemn warning to mankind, and of very direct importance to Australia" ... Dame Edith Lyons has warned "We can no longer leave this in the hands of governments". Well, our demands are simple:

1. No more hydrogen or atom bomb tests here or in the Pacific.
2. Ban all horror weapons ...

Let's use our view as women to get a return to sanity -
Union of Australian Women, Room 1, 4th Floor, 229 Collins St Melbourne Central 2429: "We, the undersigned, ask that the dangerous Hydrogen Bomb tests be cancelled and that, through the United Nations, further efforts be made to ban all atomic weapons. Signed .................................. "

Suzanne Fabian, Morag Loh: 'In 1954 there were speakers on Britain, Israel and China. In 1958, although the general topic was The Awakening of the Asian Woman, speakers from India and Israel alternated with discussion on the growing campaign for equal pay. ... By the end of the decade members of the ALP Women's Organising Committee, the WCTU, WILPF and the Aborigines' Advancement League attended the celebrations.' Left Wing Ladies - The Union of Australian Women in Victoria 1950-1998 Suzanne Fabian Morag Loh Hyland House 2000

19..1956 WOMEN'S STRUGGLE TO BECOME TRAM DRIVERS IN MELBOURNE 1956-75

Margaret Bevege: 'As International Women's Year approached, planning Australia's contribution fell largely to the Union of Australian Women. Among the organisers was Lorri Manning, a bus conductress attached to the North Fitzroy depot. Lorri was the first woman to stand for the position of union delegate and after three attempts became the first woman delegate on the Victorian Executive ... International Women's Year activities build up through 1975 and Lorri Manning called a meeting at the North Fitzroy depot to prepare a concentrated campaign to have the matter resolved before the end of the year. Women met on the 29th June. In July Joyce Barry and Cath Stone appeared before the National Committee on Discrimination, and by August the report was on its way to the Minister for action. Campaigning stepped up in the depots ...

On 5th September Joan Elkington, thoroughly frustrated by her efforts, resigned from her employment with the Board. She had always felt intensely that women had a moral and legal right to train. A thoroughly competent driver of various machines, she was less concerned that "a tram driver with just over a year's experience could earn as much as a woman who spent 15 years working as a conductress". To her the moral issue was all pervasive and its rejection devastated her.

The Collingwood Town Hall was the venue for the next general meeting and the promised facilities were made available for discussion of a motion to rescind the 1956 ban. Speakers were restricted to three a side and only allowed 5 minutes each. A conductress from Essendon spoke against rescinding (the ban), arguing that when women get into trouble they always call for a man. A driver used the existence of women bus drivers in NSW to make his point:

"What will be the situation when your sons are looking for jobs as bus drivers and can't get them because women are doing it? From the time a woman leaves the church or registry office, he is bound by law to support his wife and family. A woman is not. Given time, women will get a monopoly on this job of driving"...

The final count was declared as 267 for rescinding and 181 against. By this time women employed by the Tramways numbered only 270 in 4,500. Although Preston and Essendon depots immediately took action to prevent women training at their depots, Joyce Barry, aged 52, became the first classified woman driver on 5 December 1975. She had been a conductress for 27 years. History of Women's Struggle to become Tram Drivers in Melbourne, 1956-1975, paper presented at Women & Labour Conference 1975 Bon Hull papers University of Melbourne archives.

WW2 Tram Conductress State Library of Victoria an 014637

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20..1964-5 IWD

Between the mid 1950's and the mid 1960's the Women's Movement was quiet, although conditions for women were not good. Their average wage was just two thirds of that men received. Their lives were mainly private, individual affairs. They were expected to live through their families. What brought many women together again was the French nuclear tests in the Pacific -

1964 International Women's Day: 'Protect Children - Stop French Tests'

1965 Leaflet: 'Issues were prices and wages (opposing the "total wage" principle; equal pay; adequate universal education; Lake Tyers (condemns closure and demands Aboriginal people be given land tenure. Condemns past and present policies of successive State and Fed Governmentsts and demands equal wages be paid to all Aboriginal workers); Negro civil rights (support and encourage); Nuclear disarmament (work to eliminate French tests, support French women opposing tests); SE Asia (enduring peaceful relations); Conscription:

'This gathering of citizens on IWD ... in solidarity and friendship with women throughout the world, strongly deplore Australian Govt legislation for compulsory military service for Australian youths as a grave threat to peace and goodwill between Australia and the peoples of Asia. We therefore believe a referendum should be taken before any youths are conscripted for overseas service.

'That the IWD Committees in the various States be approached to co-operate in organising demonstrations and deputations to protest against the Conscription Bill and to ask for a referendum.' State Library of Victoria

21..1965 - SAVE OUR SONS (SOS)

Joan Coxsedge: 'On 29 April 1965, Prime Minister Menzies announced that Australia would join the United States in its war against the 'Communists of Vietnam', because he reckoned they were a direct military threat to Australia. No official declaration, just a bald statement. ... A few weeks after Menzies made his pronouncement, fifteen Sydney women met and established Save Our Sons, and independent pressure group opposing conscription for overseas service. Jean McLean organised a similar meeting in Melbourne ...

We saw Buddhist monks setting fire to themselves and napalm raining down on powerless human beings and defoliants drenching and destroying the earth, and I felt sick to the core. Some people joined the ranks of the demonstrators and some stayed at home and remained silent. Our country split down the middle. Cold Tea for Brandy Vulcan Press 2007

Yvonne Smith: 'Save Our Sons movement sought repeal of the National Service Act, which conscripted young men, by ballot, for overseas service in the war against Vietnam. p.25 TAKING TIME: A Women's Historical Data Kit, Compiled and Edited by Yvonne Smith, Union of Australian Women - Melbourne

Vote No Conscription Campaign
Co-ordinator Glen Tomasetti, 29 Avoca St., South Yarra
Do you believe in forcing our youth to go all the way?
VOTE NO CONSCRIPTION !
Muriel Heagney papers State Library of Victoria

Edith Morgan: 'One of the catalysts for women getting involved in issues was certainly the Vietnam War. We only have to look at some of our members of the Union of Australian Women who were arrested at a rally and charged with obstructing - I think there were five of them. That rally led to quite an action out at Fairlea where they were imprisoned. Huge crowds were outside the prison, the women inside were supporting our women who were there. It was just wonderful. Then we marched around to the governor's place. That rally joined together people who were concerned about what was happening. I think as a catalyst for action that was one of the most successful things that were done. And those women, Save Our Sons, would be there day after day after day.

Yvonne Smith: 'The feeling was that Australia was being more and more led by USA. Five SOS leaders were arrested and jailed. They were known as the Fairlea Five. Because of the conscription the young people formed their own movement: Youth Campaign Against Conscription, I think it was called. That was the first time I got picked up by a policeman. Not arrested, literally picked up.' Women's Web www.womensweb.com.au

Joan Coxsedge: 'Many SOS actions were low-key, which appealed to our largely middle-class support base ... but as time wore on there was scope for more militant actions. Networking was an important part of our work back then, long before it became the in-thing for a later generation of femocrats ... SOS women held regular vigils in Melbourne's old City Square, where we walked around and around in a sedate circle holding up anti-war placards. No shouting of slogans or chiacking of opponents, we were warned, although I was sorely tempted to retaliate when a middle-aged man in a business suit sidled up and hissed "You should all be crucified" ...

The broader movement took greater risks. We burned flags, effigies and draft cards, upsetting the RSL and upright citizens who told us to cut our hair and get a job and we told them to get stuffed in various permutations. We also letter boxed our neighbourhoods with up-to-date information about protest actions and handed out leaflets outside railway stations and major shopping centres, frequently copping a fair amount of abuse ... p 75 - 76

Published Vulcan Press 2007

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22..MORATORIUM AGAINST VIETNAM WAR

Yvonne Smith: 'This was the beginning of the movement which became the moratorium against the war. I remember the huge demonstration out at Fairlea prison where so many people came along to support the release of the 'Fairlea Five' women who were imprisoned from "Save Our Sons". It was a glorious day and I remember how my sixteen-year-old son stood out, with his gleaming, long red hair shining in the sunlight. And really appreciating what a wonderful thing those women had done for our children. In those early days, and I am going back further, UAW was very active in the peace movement of the 1950's and against the atomic testing in Australia, the blasts at Woomera and Maralinga as well as the French tests in the Pacific Islands. We organised demonstrations in the city. We walked through shops carrying placards saying – Don't buy French Goods, for example.

"They were all actions that preceded public awareness. I think we can be proud that we did do those things when other people weren't speaking out, even though we were not listened to – at least not to the point of action being taken on what we had to say." Women's Web www.womensweb.com.au

23..WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM (WILPF)

Marjorie Waters: 'During the Vietnam War WILPF members in Melbourne, emulating an idea which originated in America, maintained a silent vigil every Wednesday from 12.30 to 1.30 pm over a period of five years until all Australian troops were withdrawn from Vietnam. Held on the lawns of the Melbourne library, more than 40,000 leaflets were distributed. Bon Hull papers Melbourne University archives

24..1966 - UNION OF AUSTRALIAN WOMEN 'BOYCOTT WAR TOYS' Campaign

'We are organizing a 'No War Toys Campaign' as war toys have a negative effect on children, encourage acceptance of violence as a norm and engender disrespect of others with different views, customs and nationality. War is not child's play and violence is not fun! The Boycott War Toys Campaign was successful in having at least one large toy distributor declare they would not stock war toys' p.26 TAKING TIME: A Women's Historical Data Kit, Compiled and Edited by Yvonne Smith, Union of Australian Women

Eileen Capocchi: '(The UAW) kept me sane. I felt I was doing something important on the one hand; on the other I felt I had some control over my life. I learnt everything I knew in the UAW. I think this was probably the same with so many women. Because whatever happened in the home - and some of those grand Party blokes were absolute tyrants in the home - the women were so busy doing things in the UAW, that if the bloke came home and went on, 'What's for dinner? Shut the kids up!' then that was peripheral. But membership fell. The UAW was not alone in this. The Housewives' Association thought of folding; the YWCA undertook new activities to keep numbers up; and the CWA reported declining numbers too. Left Wing Ladies - The Union of Australian Women in Victoria 1950-1998 Suzanne Fabian Morag Loh Hyland House 2000

Dr Jocelynne Scutt: 'There wasn't a lot of reinforcement or support - we didn't know about Jessie Street and we didn't know about Muriel Heagney. There was a tendency to think women's organisations were a bit 'old hat'. Women's Web www.womensweb.com.au

25..1968 COUNCIL OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN

Yvonne Smith: 'A group of women travelled Victoria discussing land rights and the formation of the Council of Aboriginal Women. Mrs Geraldine Briggs was President and her doughter Margaret was Secretary. These women played a vital role in marshalling support for the tent embassy. 120 women who arrived in Canberra for their first Federal Council meeting marched over as a group to demonstrate their solidarity with the men. There were Hyllus Maris, Lotti and Vi Briggs, Eleanor Harding, Geraldine, Margaret, Leah, two other daughters, Miss Josie Briggs, Miss Ferguson, Elizabeth Hoffman, Merle Jackanos and women from Cummeragunja, Shepparton and Mooroopna.' page 77 Taking Time a Women's Historical Data Kit pub Union of Australian Women May 1988

26..IN OUR OWN RIGHT

Yvonne Smith: '... In the sixties, the influence of the women's movement meant we started to see ourselves as a group of women in our own right, not just as handmaidens of the left-wing movement. Left Wing Ladies - The Union of Australian Women in Victoria 1950-1998 Suzanne Fabian Morag Loh Hyland House 2000

The Argus 20 August 1968: 'Women Have to Work Now - Full Arbitration Court Equal Basic Wage Case - Miss Muriel Agnes Heagney of the Federated Clerk's Union, Sydney, and the hearing's first woman witness, told the Court present economic conditions were forcing many women to return to work after marriage. Main contributing factor was that husband's wages were inadequate for young couples to put a deposit on a home or buy furniture. Women of between 40 and 50 years were also returning to work to allow their children to continue studies -

Judge Foster: Miss Heagney, are you able to say that ten pound a week basic wage is within the capacity of the economy?
Miss Heagney: There are no reliable figures in Australia on distribution of national income.
Judge Foster: It looks as though it is going to be a perilous guess on our part.
Miss Heagney: Risks have been taken before.
Chief Judge Kelly: It looks as though you would encourage us.
The hearing will resume this morning.

The Argus 20 August 1968

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The next chapter, 'Chapter 12 Working Together Again' continues the equal pay struggles and shows examples of the emergence of Women's Liberation.

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